Aug. 5, 2008
TUCSON, Ariz. ' When the 2008 Summer Olympic Games begin Friday in Beijing,
China, the University of Arizona will be well represented.
A total of 30 athletes, coaches and support staff with ties to the school will
participate in the games of the XXIXth Olympiad. Twenty-three are athletes,
including four current Wildcat student-athletes, three are coaches and support
staff and three are athletes trained by UA coaches.
Fifteen of the 25 UA athletes scheduled to participate have previous Olympic
experience and seven of those have earned medals.
The Opening Ceremonies for the 2008 Beijing Olympics is Friday, Aug. 8.
Competition begins in earnest on Saturday, Aug. 9 and will conclude on Aug. 24.
University of Arizona Olympic Participation Notes
** A total of 103 University of Arizona athletes have participated in the
Olympic Games since 1952. Those athletes have made 135 Olympic appearances.
Here is a list of the Wildcats with the most Olympic experience:
No. Athlete Years Sport
4 George L. Young 1960, '64, '68, '72 Men's Track & Field
4 Amanda Beard 1996, 2000, '04, '08 Women's Swimming
4 Ryk Neethling 1996, 2000, '04, '08 Men's Swimming
3 Sandra Farmer-Patrick 1984, '92, '96 Women's Track & Field
3 Claire Febvay 2000, '04, '08 Women's Diving
3 Dominic Johnson 1996, 2000, '08 Men's Track & Field
3 Caren Kemner 1988, '92, '96 Women's Volleyball
3 Leah O'Brien-Amico 1996, 2000, '04 Softball
3 Angelique Rodriguez 2000, '04, '08 Women's Diving
3 Roland Schoeman 2000, '04, '08 Men's Swimming
3 Chima Ugwu 1996, 2000, '04 Women's Track & Field
3 Juan Veloz 2000, '04, '08 Men's Swimming
** Arizona has had at least one athlete participate in every Summer Olympiad
since 1960. UA's first Olympians were George L. Young (USA/men's track &
field) and J. William Wagner (Mexico/men's basketball) in the 1960 Rome
Olympics. One athlete, women's diver Irma Lozano, represented Mexico in the
1952 Olympics prior to attending the University of Arizona.
** All time, Wildcat athletes have won a total of 62 Olympic medals: 32 gold, 17
silver and 13 bronze. No UA athlete has as many Olympic medals as Amanda
Beard's seven (3 gold, 3 silver, 1 bronze). Here is a look at the medal
count broken down by sport and individually:
Sport Medals
Swimming 38
Track & Field 8
Softball 5
Synchronized Swimming 4
Men's Basketball 3
Women's Diving 2
Women's Volleyball 1
Men's Water Polo 1
UA Total 62
Name (sport) Medals Years
Amanda Beard, women's swimming 7 (2G/4S/1B) 1996, 2000, '04
Amy Van Dyken, women's swimming 6 (6G/0S/0B) 1996, 2000
Peter Evans, men's swimming 4 (1G/0S/3B) 1980, '84
Crissy Ahmann, women's swimming 3 (2G/1S/0b) 1992
Leah O'Brien-Amico, softball 3 (3G/0S/0B) 1996, 2000, '04
Tracie Ruiz, synchronized swimming 3 (2G/1S/0B) 1984, '88
Roland Schoeman, men's swimming 3 (1G/1S/1B) 2000. '04
** As mentioned above, Arizona athletes have claimed 62 Olympic medals with the
majority of those gold. When a Wildcat wins an Olympic medal, chances are that
he or she will step to the top of the podium as UA's 32 gold medals are more
than its total of silver (17) and bronze (13) medals combined. Arizona's
first Olympic medalist was a swimmer ' Patty Kempner ' who earned a gold
medal as part of the U.S. women's 400-meter medley relay team in 1960.
** Here is the University of Arizona's medal total by Olympiad listed through
the years that included UA representation:
Year Location Medals UA Participants
2004 Athens, Greece 14 (8G/4S/2B) 26
2000 Sydney, Australia 7 (5G/1S/1B) 21
1996 Atlanta, Ga. (USA) 12 (9G/2S/1B) 17
1992 Barcelona, Spain 7 (3G/2S/2B) 15
1988 Seoul, South Korea 3 (0G/2S/1B) 10
1984 Los Angeles, Calif. (USA) 11 (5G/4S/2B) 16
1980 Moscow, Soviet Union 2 (1G/0S/1B) 7
1976 Montreal, Quebec, Canada 2 (0G/1S/1B) 6
1972 Munich, Germany 1 (0G/0S/1B) 5
1968 Mexico City, Mexico 2 (0G/1S/1B) 2
1964 Tokyo, Japan None 4
1960 Rome, Italy 1 (1G/0S/0B) 3
1952 Helsinki, Finland None 1
** Arizona's 25 Olympians in 2008 is the second-highest total in school
history. Only the 26 that participated in the 2004 Athens Games surpassed the
number.
** How's this for making waves' Of the 128 Olympic appearances made by UA
athletes since 1984, 52 have come from UA swimmers (41 percent). Additionally,
those swimmers have represented 15 different countries (Australia, Brazil,
Canada, Cypress, France, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico, New Zealand, Poland,
Romania, South Africa, Sweden, United States and Venezuela).
** Arizona athletes have participated in 11 different sports in its Summer
Olympic history: cycling, diving, kayak, mountain biking, softball, swimming,
synchronized swimming, track & field, volleyball, water polo and wrestling.
** With eight national championships to its credit, Arizona has been a fixture
atop the collegiate softball landscape for a generation. True to form,
Wildcats have been prominent on the international stage as well. Softball has
been a part of the Olympic program since 1996 and at least one Arizona player
has been a part of each of the three gold-medal winning teams. UA head coach
Mike Candrea, who guided the U.S. to a gold medal in 2004, returns with three
former Wildcats as a part of his roster.
** No stranger to NCAA championships either, the UA baseball program has its
first Olympic participant in 2008, as former standout shortstop Jason Donald
will represent the United States. Donald, who started all 177 games of his
career at Arizona was a third-round pick in the 2006 Major League Baseball
Draft and recently participated in the MLB All-Star Futures Game at Yankee
Stadium.
** UA diving coach Dr. Michele Mitchell won silver medals at the 1984 and 1988
Olympiads, and two of her pupils will be competing in Beijing ' Claire Febvay
and Angelique Rodriguez will represent France and Puerto Rico, respectively.
Neither Febvay nor Rodriguez are strangers to Olympic competition, as each will
be making their third Olympic appearance when the Games begin Aug. 8.
** Kim Glass is the third Wildcat to play for the U.S. Olympic volleyball team.
A three-time All-American as an outside hitter, Glass is making her first
Olympic appearance with the U.S. national team. Former Cats Caren Kemner
(1988, '92, '96) and Missy McLinden (1988) also made appearances with the
U.S. Kemner was part of the 1992 squad that claimed a bronze medal in
Barcelona.
Here are the UA participants in the 2008 Beijing Summer Games:
Athletes (25)
Name (UA year), Hometown Country Sport
Abdi Abdirahman ('99), Tucson, Ariz. United States Men's Track & Field
*Jean Basson ('10), Johannesburg, South Africa South Africa Men's Swimming
Amanda Beard ('01), Irvine, Calif. United States Women's Swimming
Simon Burnett ('06), Tetsworth, United Kingdom England Men's Swimming
Jason Donald ('06), Clovis, Calif. United States Baseball
Claire Febvay ('05), Lyon, France France Women's Diving
Lyndon Ferns ('06), Pietersburg, South Africa South Africa Men's Swimming
Jennie Finch ('02), La Mirada, Calif. United States Softball
Kim Glass ('05), Lancaster, Pa. United States Women's Volleyball
*Joel Greenshields ('10), Calgary, Alberta, Canada Canada Men's Swimming
Robertas Javtokas ('00), Siauliai, Lithuania Lithuania Men's Basketball
Dominic Johnson ('98), Tucson, Ariz. St. Lucia Men's Track & Field
Lovie Jung ('03), Fountain Valley, Calif. United States Softball
Caitlin Lowe ('07), Tustin, Calif. United States Softball
Ryk Neethling ('00), Bloemfontein, South Africa South Africa Men's Swimming
*Nicolas Nilo ('09), Bello Horizante, Brazil Brazil Men's Swimming
Lacey Nymeyer ('08), Tucson, Ariz. United States Women's Swimming
Jonas Persson ('05), Malmo, Sweden Sweden Men's Swimming
Angelique Rodriguez ('98), Guaynabo, Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Women's Diving
Roland Schoeman ('02), Pretoria, South Africa South Africa Men's Swimming
Albert Subirats ('08), Valencia, Venezuela Venezuela Men's Swimming
*Jake Tapp ('10), Langley, British Columbia, Canada Canada Men's Swimming
Darian Townsend ('08), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa South Africa Men's
Swimming
Juan Veloz ('03), Mexico City, Mexico Mexico Men's Swimming
Gerhard Zandberg ('05), Pretoria, South Africa South Africa Men's Swimming
* current UA student-athletes
Coaches (4)
Name Position
Frank Busch Assistant coach, U.S. swim team
Mike Candrea Head coach, U.S. softball team
Rick DeMont Assistant coach, South Africa swim team
James Li Manager, U.S. men's track & field team
Other non-Arizona graduates with UA ties (3)
Name
Jill Camarena U.S. track & field team (women's shot put)
Trained by UA throws coach Craig Carter
Matt Grevers U.S. swim team (men's 100-meter backstroke)
Trained by UA swim coach Frank Busch
Bernard Lagat U.S. track & field team (men's 1,500 and 5,000 meters)
Trained by UA cross country coach James Li
