Wolverines go for the gold

 
Some 26 current or former Michigan coaches and athletes are competing in the Summer 2012 Olympic Games in London, continuing more than a century-long tradition of Wolverine excellence. Since 1900 a total of 211 Michigan students and coaches have participated in the Summer and Winter Olympics, representing the United States and 23 other countries.

This year married athletes and alumni Jeffrey Porter and Tiffany Ofili-Porter will compete to bring home his-and-hers medals in men’s and women’s track and field events. Roommates Sam Mikulak and Syque Caesar will compete against one another in men’s gymnastics, representing the U.S. and Bangladesh, respectively. (Caesar is the first-ever Olympic gymnast representing Bangladesh, FYI.) And while Michigan alumni will be well-represented in the pool, Connor Jaeger (below) is the lone current Michigan swimmer on the U.S. Olympic roster.

Michigan Athletics has compiled a comprehensive online overview of athletes participating in the 2012 summer games. Read Athletic Director David Brandon’s blog, check out Q&As with the athletes, watch videos, and review Michigan’s Olympic history. Sports fans can check out a slideshow of Michigan’s finest Olympians. And trivia hounds can dazzle their friends with all sorts of interesting tidbits about Michigan and the Olympics.

(Top image: Connor Jaeger, courtesy of Michigan Athletics.)

Comments

  1. Terry Slonaker - 1963

    Notables excluded were Bob Webster, diver; Dick Kimball, diver and diving coach ; Bill Darnton, swimming, Dick Hanley, swimming, and several other swimmers in the 1960 and 1964 Olympics including Jon Urbanchec and Joe Gerlach both who defected from Hungary in 1956 Olympics and came to Michigan.

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  2. Melvin Shafron

    I should note that the first African American to win a gold medal was William Dehart Hubbard, a U-M student, who was a patient of mine many years ago. This occurred in track and field in 1924.

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