Olympic hope: interesting facts about the US team

Фото: Depositphotos

5 August in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) will start the Olympic Games-2016, the largest team which will be the US team.

Currently 555 athletes are qualified, reports NBC Sports. It is significant more than the main competitor - China (416 athletes) - and the Brazilian hosts (462 athlete).

For the second time in US history, the number of women (292) in the national team is greater than that of men (263).

The oldest athlete turns 52 of the year, and the youngest is 16. For the first time since 1948, the US team at the Summer Olympics has no athlete younger than 16 years.

The American airline United Airlines has published a video with the participation of leading athletes of the US team, which is rapidly gaining popularity in social networks.

The filming took place at the airport in Los Angeles and aboard the real Boeing-787 Dreamliner.

A 60-second video entitled “One Journey. Two Teams" will be shown on television for the first time during the opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics on August 5.

And if the video has caused universal delight and approval, then with a form in which American Olympians will appear at the opening of the Olympics, not everything is so smooth.

July 29 US National Olympic Committee presented the team uniform for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio, designed by the designer Ralph Lauren’s house.

Observant users of social networks literally immediately noticed the colors of the Russian flag on T-shirts of American Olympians, which caused a storm of criticism in social networks.

But, despite this small incident, the team is actively preparing and set up resolutely.

The ShareAmerica portal tells the stories of some members of the US Olympic team. We offer you the most interesting of them.

Among the Olympians there are athletes with dual citizenship, writes ShareAmerica.

Norik Vardanyan

Weightlifter Norik Vardanyan hopes to achieve his goal and get into the composition of the Olympic team of his second country. Vardanyan performed at the 2012 Olympics for Armenia, his country of birth, and took 11's place in London.

Vardanyan, who has dual citizenship, then returned to the United States and is currently training on a full-time basis at the United States Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs (Colorado).

Vardanyan travels to Rio with several key achievements. He won the silver medal at the Pan American Games 2015 of the year and set US records in the snatch and double-event in the weight category up to 94 kg. In the snatch, the athlete lifts the barbell from the platform and puts it in a position above the head in one continuous movement.

According to Norik, he became interested in this sport thanks to his father, Yurik Vardanyan, who was an Olympic champion and seven-time world champion. “I decided: to whom, if not to the father, to seek advice?”.

To the Olympic team through army service

There are among Olympians and those who only recently received US citizenship through military service, reports ShareAmerica.

American military personnel Paul Chelimo, Shadrak Kipchirchir and Leonard Kairir, who were born in Kenya, received US citizenship just in time to qualify for a place in the American team going to the Olympics.

25-year-old Chelimo is one of five members of the US Army who joined the Olympic track and field team this year. Four of them went the same way: they were born and raised in the mountainous regions of Kenya, earned sports scholarships in American universities and after graduating from the university went to military service. For holders of permanent resident status, this is the most preferred option to obtain US citizenship.

Chelimo joined the US Army. He dreamed of participating in the Olympics.

“In fact, my main goal is to represent the United States. The best way to do this is to become an Olympian. So, in the army, I first found out everything about WCAP, ”says the athlete. “The program suited me perfectly: I could continue my military career and focus on realizing my talent.”

Head coach Dan Brown explains why there is a unit in the US Army whose servicemen are preparing for upcoming competitions, such as the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"They are outstanding representatives of the US Army," said Brown, himself a former Olympian. “They personify readiness for deprivation, determination, loyalty, devotion, that is, all the main features of an army character.”

Since the United States launched the WCAP program in 1997, 65 graduates have participated in the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This year the army sends to the Olympic Games ten athletes: four runners, a participant in the race walking competition, four shooters and one pentathletes. In addition, those in military service, an archer and a swimmer, were entitled to participate in the Paralympic Games for athletes with disabilities. The Paralympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro after the end of the Olympic Games at the same stadiums.

As part of the US wrestling team, the recently naturalized athlete from Uzbekistan also goes to Brazil.

Athletic honor of the United States will also protect athletes of different faiths.

For example, sablistka Ibtihadj Muhammad, who passed many tests to deserve this place, writes ShareAmerica.

When Ibtihaj puts on an oval fencing mask over the hijab at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she will not only represent her country, but also become the embodiment of her worldview.

“I remember there were people who told me that I had no place in this sport because I was black or there was no place for me because I was Muslim,” she admits.

In saber fencing, opponents armed with blades with a dull blade strive to strike the opponent's torso above the waist. Of the three types of fencing weapons, “the fastest is the saber,” explains 30-year-old Muhammad. “The saber fights are closest to what you can see in the movie ‘Zorro’.” She is referring to the fictional masked hero who fought injustice with his blade.

Muhammad, born in Maplewood (New Jersey), has always challenged people's subjective assessments.

As a high school student, she came to the training room of Peter Westbrook, a participant in the six Olympics, who had established a foundation that allows them to teach children from disadvantaged areas of New York. “When I came to the Foundation, I saw in the hall not only people who were like me, but also Olympians,” she recalls.

Classes led by Peter Westbrook Foundation coaches gave her confidence. Muhammad established herself as one of the best swordsmen at the university level, but when she considered the possibility of performing as part of the American women's Olympic saber woman team, she saw the lack of diversity. This was a motivating factor for Muhammad. “I made the decision to become a member of this team because I wanted to change it.”

In 2012, the rupture of the ligament of the hand prevented her from winning the right to participate in the London Olympics. But this year, the medal she received at the World Championship of the International Fencing Federation in Athens provided her a ticket to Rio, where she will be the first American athlete to take part in hijab competitions.

On the advice of her mother, Muhammad took up fencing when she was 13 years old. This sport allowed her to participate in trainings and tournaments, without making changes to her equipment, which always caused her a certain sense of awkwardness while practicing other sports.

Muhammad admits that even after her disappointment in 2012, she was philosophical about the situation. “My faith is a huge part of who I am, and it helps me remember the most important things.”

She has famous fans. President Obama noted it while visiting a mosque in Baltimore and asked to “bring the gold home”.

Muhammad gave a fencing lesson to First Lady Michelle Obama.
Photo: Twitter

Muhammad gave a fencing lesson to First Lady Michelle Obama one day during her April visit to New York.

Cancer is not a barrier to sports

There are among Olympians and those who managed to overcome cancer.

“At first, the oncologist thought it was a benign tumor,” said Gillion Potter, who awoke after the rugby tournament in 2013, with swelling under the tongue.

Gillian Potter.
Photo: Twitter

But he was wrong. Potter got sick with a rare form of soft tissue cancer, one of the most misdiagnosed in the world. Synovial sarcoma stage III forced her to leave the rugby field and go to the hospital room. During the course of treatment, she felt as if she had the worst case of flu in the world. She walked around the University of Colorado Hospital with a gaming T-shirt and shoulder pads hanging from a mobile rack on which an IV was inserted for intravenous medication.

It seemed another cruel disappointment. In 2010, she suffered an injury that could potentially end her career and was life threatening. During the match with the French team, Potter was knocked down and was under a bunch of players, which led to a spinal fracture and ligament rupture. She miraculously avoided paralysis.

"Just like in rugby, you are often knocked down," says 30-year-old Potter about his treatment. She continued to persuade herself: "Stand up on your feet and overcome difficulties."

Throughout her cancer treatment, her wife, Carol Fabrizio, remained her strongest ally. She always remained “confident that I could get through this and that we could get through this together,” Potter shares.

“As a child, I never dreamed that I would ever participate in the Olympics,” says Potter, who grew up in Texas. She began to engage in professional sports only after graduating from primary school. A University of New Mexico friend convinced her to try rugby strength.

Rugby was not an Olympic sport since 1924 of the year, but this year’s program included Rugby-7, a dynamic and highly productive type of rugby, in which the teams are not 15 players, but only 7. Potter says he loves the G7, because there are much more rapid breakthroughs, martial arts, quick defensive techniques, and interception initiatives.

After her battles off the field, Potter is ready to play in the first-ever women's Olympic rugby tournament as one of the captains of the US team. What does she look forward to most? “Opportunities to compete on the world stage, at the highest level. Play against the best athletes. ”

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