Olympics

TAMYRA MENSAH STOCK WINS SECOND U.S. WOMEN’S WRESTLING GOLD MEDAL IN HISTORY

August 23, 2021 by Tara S

By Karen Price

Freestyle wrestler Tamyra Mensah Stock stood wrapped in the U.S. flag, alternating between sobs of joy and bouncing up and down with excitement.

The newest Olympic champion in the 68 kg. class had just accomplished what she said she knew she could from the moment she started in the sport.

The 28-year-old from Katy, Texas, won the gold medal.

“I knew I could do it,” she said. “I knew it would be hard. I prayed I could do it. In my wildest dreams I knew.”

The reigning world champion rolled through the Olympic tournament, finishing with a 4-1 victory over Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu in the gold-medal match in Tokyo on Tuesday night. Immediately after, she raised her hands above her head in a heart shape, as she’s done throughout, and the emotion swept over her face. She broke down in tears as she hugged her coaches and clutched the flag for a victory lap.

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US Wrestling Heavyweight Gable Steveson Takes Gold at Tokyo Olympics in Stunning Last-Second Victory

August 23, 2021 by Tara S

by: Jeff Metcalfe | USA TODAY

TOKYO – Named after wrestling royalty, Gable Steveson carved his own Olympic legend Friday.

The 21-year-old U.S. men’s freestyle heavyweight scored a pair of late takedowns, the second with less than a second remaining, to magically transform an 8-5 deficit into a 10-8 gold medal victory over Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili.

The 21-year-old collegian from Minnesota became the first U.S. freestyle heavyweight gold medalist since Bruce Baumgartner in 1992. The way it happened, after leading 4-0 in the first period then falling behind to the 2016 bronze medalist, is stunning almost to the level of Rulon Gardner’s Greco-Roman heavyweight upset of Russian Aleksandr Karelin at the 2000 Olympics.

“People are going to remember the name,” Steveson said. “I’m going to live in the moment right now.”

Gable Steveson celebrates after defeating Geno Petriashvili in the men's freestyle 125kg final.

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Army Officer Amber English Brings Home Gold Medal After Record Olympic Performance

August 23, 2021 by Tara S

By Paulina Dedaj | Fox News

U.S. Army First Lt. Amber English took home the gold medal in the women’s individual shotgun skeet event during the first week of the Tokyo Olympics but she says her journey to the podium was a team effort.

English, 31, said in an interview on “Fox & Friends” on Friday that after the sudden passing of her father in 2016, she was encouraged not to give up by fellow American shooter Vincent Hancock, who just took home his third gold medal.

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST WRESTLER TAMYRA MENSAH-STOCK: ‘I LOVE REPRESENTING THE US’

“It was a very tough battle, to be honest,” English said.

“It took a little bit for me to get back on the range and Vincent Hancock, who just won a third gold, was kind of the reason — he was in Colorado Springs, he said, ‘I believe in you. Come out here, we’re going to shoot.’ We cried after station one and I kept shooting.”

The goal was simple: “Don’t quit and believe in yourself and keep going.”

The Colorado Springs native set an Olympic record after shooting 56 of 60 in the women’s skeet final to defeat Italy’s Diana Bacosi, earning her first gold medal.

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Six Olympic Medals for USA Shooting, Best Performance Since 1964

August 20, 2021 by Tara S

USA Shooting earned a grand total of six medals at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, making this their best performance at the games since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

USA Shooting athletes won three gold medals in Men’s Air Rifle (William Shaner), Women’s Skeet (Amber English), and Men’s Skeet (Vincent Hancock), two silvers in Mixed Team Air Rifle (Mary Tucker, Lucas Kozeniesky) and Women’s Trap (Kayle Browning), and one bronze in Mixed Team Trap (Maddy Bernau, Brian Burrows).

“I’m proud of the contributions made by every member of this team. In a period when training and competitions have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, our shooters came prepared to compete and win,” said Matt Suggs, CEO of USA Shooting.

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ICC to Push for Cricket’s Inclusion in Olympics

August 10, 2021 by Tara S

The ICC has confirmed its intention to push for cricket’s inclusion in the Olympic Games going forward, starting preparations for a bid on behalf of the sport with the primary target being its addition to the Los Angeles 2028 itinerary.

A Working Group to lead the bid has been assembled by the ICC.

Thirty-million cricket fans live in the USA, making LA 2028 the ideal Games for cricket to make its return to Olympic competition. Cricket, till now, has made just one appearance in the Olympics, way back in 1900 in Paris when only two teams competed at the event – Great Britain and hosts France – meaning the sport’s inclusion in 2028 would mark the end of a 128-year absence.

The sport will feature in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games next year, which shapes as a perfect showcase for what the sport can bring to the Olympics, as well as being a momentous occasion on its own.

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Who is Jade Carey? Get to know U.S. gymnastics’ automatic individual Olympic qualifier

July 26, 2021 by Tara S

Emily AdamsUSA TODAY

Jade Carey, 21, was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona.
The Tokyo Games are Carey’s first trip to compete at the Olympics.
Carey has a chance to compete in the individual event finals on vault and floor exercise.

While the other gymnasts at the U.S. Olympic Trials pulled out all of their best skills and anxiously fought for the chance to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, Jade Carey was completely calm. That’s because Carey’s spot on the team was already guaranteed

Carey is one of the athletes taking advantage of the FIG’s new team structure when she competes as an individual in Tokyo. A vault and floor exercise specialist, Carey should give the U.S. extra opportunities to bring home medals in the individual event finals.

Jade Carey competes on the floor during the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Gymnastics competition at The Dome at America's Center.

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Jade Carey, an American Gymnast Competing as an Individual, Qualifies for Olympic Floor Exercise, Vault Finals

July 26, 2021 by Tara S

Jeff MetcalfeArizona Republic

TOKYO — Jade Carey’s untraditional path to the Olympics paid off.

The 19-year-old, competing as an individual instead of as part of the U.S. team, qualified for floor exercise and vaulting finals Sunday with her best performances of the year.

Carey and U.S. superstar Simone Biles, who had one of the roughest performances of her career in the third qualifying session at Ariake Gymnastics Centre, will compete in the vault final on Aug. 1 and floor final the following day.

MyKayla Skinner finished fourth overall in vault qualifying but is not eligible for the final because a maximum of two per country are allowed in the eight-woman event finals.

So it came down to one American knocking another out of contention for an individual medal for the U.S. spot open alongside Biles on vault and floor. Skinner tied with Jordan Chiles for the third-best U.S. score on floor.

“They did a good job,” said Tom Forster, USA Gymnastics women’s high-performance coordinator, of Carey and Skinner. “I’m fairly certain MyKayla is super happy to finally be an Olympian. She’s proud of herself as she should be.

“The people that made floor finals are the best athletes on floor, same on vault. It is what it is.”

U.S. gymnasts did not talk to the media after their session.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? CATCHING UP WITH 1984 OLYMPIAN CARMEN FOREST

March 12, 2021 by Tara S

USA Team Handball caught up with 1984 Olympian Carmen Forest, a talented multi-sport athlete in basketball, softball, volleyball, field hockey and tennis at the University of Missouri at St. Louis prior to discovering team handball and competing for the U.S. National Team for 10 years. Forest was invited to try out for the U.S. Women’s National Team in 1974. Six years later, the U.S. boycotted the 1980 Olympics and Forest continued her training with Team USA until the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, where she represented her country on the handball court.

Since her athletic career, Forest has been giving back to younger generations as a health and wellness instructor at Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kansas. She’s spent almost four decades teaching and coaching her students. Take a look at our Q&A below to learn more about Forest, her handball memories and the years since her athletic career:

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