Trojans in Rio are ready to capture the top of the podium
2016 is a leap year, and for sports fans around the world this automatically translates into one thing, the Olympic Games. And if you are in a way related to the Trojan Family, this should be even more interesting to you. For the last 104 years, USC has been the only University to have at least one athlete compete in summer Olympics and bring home gold every time. The streak hopefully won't be broken in Rio, and here some events to look carefully, where Trojans will try to make "The Star-Spangled Banner" play out loud in front of the world.
Volleyball
Played in the Maracanizinho Arena, both teams have Trojans in their squads. The men's team qualified after winning the World Cup in Japan last September. They previously got gold in Beijing, but fell to Italy in the quarterfinals in London. Among the favorites, they will have the hard task to prevent home team Brazil to win a long-time missing gold medal (Athens 2004, win over Italy) in front of the home crowd. The women's team qualified at the beginning of the year after winning the North American qualifier in Lincoln, NE. After two back to back silver medals (both times loss to Brazil in the final) they will be haunting for their first Olympic gold in Rio.
Micah Christenson
The Hawaiian setter will be a crucial point for the team coached by John Speraw. Graduating class of 2015, Christenson started to play with the senior national team well before the end of his college career, when he was called to play at the NORCECA Championships. A year later he conquered gold in the World League Finals in Florence, Italy. He helped team USA winning the World Cup in 2015, where he was voted as best setter in the tournament. After he graduation he moved across the ocean where he's playing pro for the Italian team Cucine Lube Banca Marche Civitanova, where he's currently in 1st place in regular season and competing in the European Champions League.
Murphy Troy
From St. Louis, MI, the opposite graduated from USC in 2011. He was also part of the squad that won gold in the World League Finals in Italy and the World Cup in Japan. After graduation he started playing pro in Europe, starting in Italy playing for Top Volley Latina for two seasons. He then moved to France and Poland, where he currently plays for the Lotos Trefl Gdansk, competing in the European Champions League as well.
Natalie Hagglund
Class of 2013, the 5' 10" libero from Encinitas, CA took gold at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Mexico and fell short to directly qualify for the Olympics in Japan, finishing third. After graduation she started playing pro in Europe for Volero Zurich, winning both the Swiss championships and Swiss Cup in 2015. She competed in the Club World Championships and is currently playing the European Champions League
Swimming
Coached by Dave Salo, both swimming teams have produced a great number of champions who will try to step on top of the Olympic podium in Rio.
Katinka Hosszu
First competed at the Olympics in 2004, when she was 15, the Hungarian star will haunt her first gold medal at her fourth attempt, after reaching a fourth place in the 400 meters medley in 2012. Nicknamed Iron Lady due to her incredible abilities in all the styles, she currently holds five world records. Her palmares includes 5 gold medals at the world championships and 9 at the European championships. A gold medal in Rio will definitely qualify her for a spot in the history of this sport. She graduated from USC in 2012 with a degree in psychology.
Haley Anderson
Class of 2013, she qualified at the World Championships in Kazan last summer. In Rio she will try to take revenge of her British silver medal, after falling short in the end of the 10 kilometers open water to Eva Ristov from Hungary for less than a second. Her palmares also includes medals from the world championships. In 2013 she won the 5 kilometers in Barcelona.
USC, if treated as a country, would rank 12th for number of gold medals. These five are not the only ones with a chance for gold. Less than 200 days separate us from the opening ceremony. We'll see who is going to show the Trojan pride to the Cariocas and the whole world.
Swimming
Coached by Dave Salo, both swimming teams have produced a great number of champions who will try to step on top of the Olympic podium in Rio.
Katinka Hosszu
First competed at the Olympics in 2004, when she was 15, the Hungarian star will haunt her first gold medal at her fourth attempt, after reaching a fourth place in the 400 meters medley in 2012. Nicknamed Iron Lady due to her incredible abilities in all the styles, she currently holds five world records. Her palmares includes 5 gold medals at the world championships and 9 at the European championships. A gold medal in Rio will definitely qualify her for a spot in the history of this sport. She graduated from USC in 2012 with a degree in psychology.
Haley Anderson
Class of 2013, she qualified at the World Championships in Kazan last summer. In Rio she will try to take revenge of her British silver medal, after falling short in the end of the 10 kilometers open water to Eva Ristov from Hungary for less than a second. Her palmares also includes medals from the world championships. In 2013 she won the 5 kilometers in Barcelona.
USC, if treated as a country, would rank 12th for number of gold medals. These five are not the only ones with a chance for gold. Less than 200 days separate us from the opening ceremony. We'll see who is going to show the Trojan pride to the Cariocas and the whole world.
No way the legacy will end there! The trojans have an amazing reputation for sports not only domestically but around the world. We will continue to win the Olympics for ever, fight on!
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this post! I did not know that USC was the only university to have a gold at every summer Olympics. I definitely think our winning streak will continue. I'll have to revisit this post when I watch the Olympics this summer because this was super helpful!
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy to think that USChas been the only University to have at least one athlete compete in summer Olympics and bring home gold every time, and that if treated as a country, would rank 12th for number of gold medals. This demonstrates the school is a well-rounded athletic powerhouse (not just football).
ReplyDeleteIt's awesome to see your passion in USC's involvement in the Olympics. After reading your post, I realized that it's crazy to think that some of the athletes you've listed may have been in some of my classes in the past.
ReplyDeleteCool to see that a student I taught in Fall 2009 -- Murphy Troy -- is still playing volleyball -- and that he can do it professionally in Europe? Wow. Thanks for this post.
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