The 2008 Summer Olympics are in full swing and I cannot get enough of it. Ever since I was little, I have always enjoyed the Olympics and I love getting into the spirit of cheering for the American athletes in any sport.
I stayed up late to watch the exciting men’s 400-meter freestyle relay in swimming, which was the most exciting event of the early portion of the Olympics. An explosive anchor leg by Jason Lezak gave the USA a thrilling come-from-behind victory over the trash-talking French team. I was sitting up in my bed screaming at the television as Lezak made his final push to the finish. Yes, the Olympic spirit is alive and well in the Austin household.
The win was also of great significance because a member of the USA’s gold-medal team was African-American Cullen Jones, who swam the third leg of the relay for the Americans. He became the second African American to win a gold medal in swimming as part of the relay team that set a new world record. (The first was Anthony Ervin, who won a share of the gold in the 50-meter freestyle in 2000). Jones earned a spot on the relay team by swimming the fastest split on a team of alternates that set a world record in the prelims earlier that day. Jones is now a part of history as a participant in what is considered to be the greatest relay race in the history of the sport.
A former star at North Carolina State, Jones just missed making the Olympic team in the open 100-meter freestyle, but he joined the relay team and turned in a quick 47.61-second split in the semifinals of the 400-freestyle relay team that broke the world record set by the 2006 team, which he was also a part of at the World Championships. Jones has the distinction of being a member of the three-fastest 400-meter freestyle relay teams in the history of the sport.
Jones, a native New Yorker, is another prime example of the number of black Olympic athletes in Beijing that are stars in sports that you don’t normally associate with African-Americans. While much of the attention will be focused on basketball team members LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, track and field star Tyson Gay and women’s basketball players Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker, there are many other black people who will represent the USA well in other sports.
Jozy Altidore, an 18-year old soccer phenom from New Jersey, scored a goal in the USA’s surprising 2-2 tie against a highly-regarded Netherlands team in pool play. Altidore is one of five black members of the men’s soccer team. Altidore played the past three seasons for the New York Red Bull of the Major League Soccer (MLS), but he was recently signed by Villareal of Spain for a record transfer fee of $10 million for an American player.
Natasha Whatley, a former All-American at UCLA, is the starting shortstop for the powerful USA women’s softball team that is the world’s reigning dynasty. The brother-sister act of Keeth and Erinn Smart will represent the USA again in fencing. The Smarts come from the famed Peter Westbrook Foundation, a program that introduces the sport to young African-Americans in New York.
On the local front, we will all be watching the progress of former CBC standout Spenser Mango in Greco-Roman wrestling. The former two-time state champion has emerged as one of the world’s top performers in the 55-kg weight class. He made his Olympic debut on Tuesday night.
STL and USA boxing
St. Louisan Dan Campbell is the head coach of the USA Olympic Boxing team. Campbell, who grew up on North Grand, graduated from Hadley Tech. His five sisters still live in St. Louis.
Charles Johnson and Olivia Davis
In last week’s American, we listed the medalists from the recent AAU Junior Olympics in Detroit. A few names were omitted from the list. They are U. City Xplosion athletes Charles Johnson (second in the young men’s 2000-meter steeplechase) and Olivia Davis (7th in bantam girls high jump). Congratulations.
