Have you ever known an Olympian?

[Dookus]

In high school, my twin sister was very good friends with the daughter of Al Oerter, the legendary discus thrower (first person to win a gold in four consecutive olympics). I was friends with her too, and we went to their house often. He was ENORMOUS and very, very nice. He once picked me up and threw me about 10 feet into a pile of leaves. He was great.

His medals were in '56, '60, '64 and '68. Interestingly, he took up the sport again and was throwing better than he'd ever thrown in '80. He made the team, but we didn't attend the Moscow Olympics. He would've won gold that year, too.

[wickerwoman]

1. My friend's niece is the Olympic Women's Fencing gold medalist this year.

The first win for the U.S. women in fencing. Here she is, Mariel Zagunis:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5730110/

[Dookus]

2. most excellent

I watched the finals for that. She was really really cute and really excited to win.

[bluestateguy]

3. I also know a member of this year's US fencing team

A college classmate of mine. Sabre fencer.

[Snow]

27. My daughter learned fencing from the Olympic team armorer,

Dan Gustafson. Really nice guy, damn fine fencer & teacher. Looks like a typical Omaha guy, not in particularly good shape, big belly & so on. Looks are very deceiving in Dan's case.

[Nay]

4. The girlfriend of a coworker (this was 20 years ago) was some

sort of long-distance rifle shooter in one of the olympics back then. He always used to joke about how if she ever got really mad at him, he would have to be at least a thousand yards down the road before he would even begin to feel safe from her wrath. LOL!

[MichaelHarris]

5. almost

my best friend was an alternate on the shooting team. He became a right-wing militia and I haven't seen him since.

[flamingpie2500]

6. My son's friend from town was supposed to compete this year in the

martial arts, unfortunately he was called into Iraq a year and a half ago. He arrived safely back home in May of this year, but could not attend the olympics because of his service.

[Dookus]

9. that

well and truly sucks. I'm glad he came home safe, but what a lost opportunity!

[UrbScotty]

11. I hope to see him in Beijing!

Perhaps?

[dancing kali]

7. I worked for one.

when I discovered that she had been an Olympic athlete, it explained a lot about her personality. She approaches everything with the same kind of all consuming dedication and drive that it takes to be that kind of athlete. Since I'm a much more laid back personality type... it wasn't so much that we didn't get along, as it was a case of being from completely different realities. People skills were not her best quality, although I have heard that this has possibly changed for the better in recent years. She's also quite brilliant and I have a great respect for her and her work. We just didn't work well together. To be an Olympian takes something remarkable in a person... and whatever it is doesn't go away when the Olympics is over.

[RivetJoint]

8. Went to college with Alonzo Babers N/T

[GOPisEvil]

10. I've met the modern pentathlon folks, but I wouldn't say I know them.

The ones I have met are pretty nice folks.

[THUNDER HANDS]

12. A guy I went to college with is on a mens basketball team

not the U.S. though.

[Cheswick2.0]

13. Kent Ferguson

He was a diver.

I met him when he was dating a friend of mine in Ft Lauderdale.

[Dookus]

18. what a cutie!

post more pics... preferably in a speedo :)

[Bundbuster]

37. Here ya go

Not Kent Ferguson, but...

[Screaming Lord Byron]

14. Yeah. Kid I used to teach guitar, my mum's neighbour.

UK - Snowboarding.

[flamingyouth]

15. We had a neighbor who won a gold medal in yachting

I am embarrassed to say I can't remember which Olympics it was. :(

[blindpig]

16. do you mean that in a Biblical way? n/t

[eyesroll]

17. Tamika Catchings (women's b-ball, which I haven't followed)

was a teammate of my sister in high school.

[AVID]

19. wayne wells, munich '72 - wrestling gold medal

my wife's Uncle in OK

[matcom]

20. i am an olympian

errr

well, according to Mrs Matcom :7

[Dookus]

21. Yes

I'm sure you're the "fastest". :P

[matcom]

22. no silly

i can "put" the "shot" :P

but funny. very funny :thumbsup:

:D

[ellie]

23. My cousin was in

the windsurfing competition once. But I guess that doesn't count because I have never met him.

[scarlet_owl]

24. I was a hostess at a restaurant, and I seated Bonnie Blair.

She's from my town, and I think she still lives here, but I'm not sure.

[Arcturus]

25. No, but my brother once rode up a ski lift with Franz Klammer.

n/t

[bobthedrummer]

26. No, but my cousin's son was an All American that went pro with Seahawks.

He was Ron Dayne's roommate when they were Badgers. I am proud of his accomplishments in football.

[flamingyouth]

30. Who was he?

Just out of curiosity, as I had a friend who played for the Seahawks at one point.:)

[SiouxJ]

28. Bruce Jenner used to hang out at a health club that I worked at

when I was in HS. I only talked to him a couple of times though. He seemed to be pretty full of himself (this was in the 80's, quite some time after he won the whole enchilada).

[ronnykmarshall]

33. Was it before the scary face lift?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. In graduate school, I knew a then-Yale undergraduate

who won a bronze medal in the 1976 Montreal Olympics as part of the women's eight in rowing.

Her daily schedule was insane, consisting of two daily rowing practices (with the varsity team), a full class load, more physical conditioning (running and weightlifting on her own time), AND a singing group, which is where I knew her from.

[Red State Rebel]

31. Helen Stephens - Gold Medal in Track 1936 Berlin Olympics

This woman was amazing! Here is a link to her story: http://www.siu.edu/~siupress/titles/s04_titles/hanson_helen.htm she set a world record that year that held for 24 years.

I met her when my daughter was in the hospital and she was there to vist someone. The week before, I had seen a special on the early Olympics on the Disney Channel and I remembered seeing her on the special and she had a very deep unusual voice. While in the elevator at the hospital I heard her speak and recognized her voice. I introduced myself and had a nice conversation with her.

She talked about how Hitler flirted with her at the games and asked her to have dinner with him and she refused - didn't want anything to do with him.

She died in 1994 - she was a one of a kind!

[ronnykmarshall]

32. I met Dorthy Hamill

and I was bangin' one of her skaters.

Does that count?

[Spirochete]

34. Of course

I'm in Washington State; I've met several people who've lived in Olympia. hehe

[Bundbuster]

35. No, but

I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance!

[Bundbuster]

36. Seriously, yes

Two people I work with were U.S. Olympic sprinters.

A cousin was on the U.S. Olympic cross-country skiing team, and I knew Billy Kidd after his Olympic downhill skier days.

[mitchum]

38. Yes, John Carlos of 68 Olympics fame...

he is the uncle of a friend. A wonderful man who is still involved in community activism.

[Mr. Blonde]

39. 3 current olympians

a 2x gold medalist, a gold and silver medalist, another Olympian, and my Grand dad (is that one word?) was an alternate on the 1936 Olympic team. I have Jesse Owens autograph at home.

[Philostopher]

40. There was a woman who worked for a customer of ours ...

back when I worked front desk at a small cabling company. She was the IT director, so I dealt with her on the phone fairly often. Didn't know until I'd been dealing with her for a couple of years that she'd been an Olympic archer, and that she still trained young girls for the Olympic archery team.

That's been years ago -- I don't know if she still does, and I haven't worked at that company for a long time, but I remember seeing her on the local TV news and wondering if that was her. Her voice was very distinctive -- when they asked her a question, I knew it was her.

[greekspeak]

41. I went to high school with a guy who tried out for the olympics

as a boxer.

[SmileyBoy]

42. When I was a kid, my Judo teacher was a bronze medalist.

He won it in 1984 in Los Angeles, I believe.

[Zomby Woof]

43. I know dozens

I used to hang out a lot in Olympia, WA, the state capital, and met many Olympians. Nice people, but I never though it merited a thread of its own.

[lolly]

44. Olympic Baseball Team

One of my former students--Jaques Jones--was on an Olympic baseball team. Don't even know which year, I just remember seeing his name on the Trojan website and thinking "hey, I remember him!"

[Norbert]

45. My high school gym teacher was an olympic swimmer

Yoshinobu Oyakawa. He won the gold metal in Helsinki for the 100 meter backstroke.

http://www.hawaiiswim.org/legacy/Yoshinobu.html

[TheMightyFavog]

46. I took Raquetball lessons when I was 12 years old.

The woman who was our instructor played for the US raquetball team in the '88 games in Seoul.

[gmoney]

47. My brother-in-law former (non-us) Sailing Team member

Too bad he's such a bastard these days.