When the 2012 Summer Olympics begin Friday in London, athletes, coaches and media with ties to Kentucky will start popping up everywhere.
Most visibly, former University of Kentucky standout Anthony Davis will go for gold as a member of the U.S. men’s basketball team, and Lafayette High School graduate Tyson Gay will resume his rivalry with Jamaican Usain Bolt in track and field’s most high-profile event, the 100 meters.
Other athletes fans might not know so well now could become household names by mid-August, participants such as Lexington’s Reed Kessler and Lee Kiefer.
In events such as swimming, wrestling, cycling, fencing and equestrian, natives of the commonwealth can be found almost any time, any place at the Summer Games.
JOSE ACEVEDO
Track and field: Venezuela, 4-by-400 relay
Kentucky connection: University of Kentucky, 2009
Competition dates: Aug. 9-10
Briefly: A possible alternate on the relay team, Acevedo competed at the 2008 Summer Games in the 200 meters, placing fifth in a first-round heat (21.06). Earlier that year, he set a Venezuelan national record of 20.58. A 46.17 quarter-miler, he holds the Venezuelan junior national record at that distance.
CARLOS ALMEIDA
Swimming: Portugal, 100-meter breast stroke
Kentucky connection: University of Louisville 2012
Competition dates: July 28-29
Briefly: The NCAA 200-meter breast-stroke champion this year and runner-up in the 100 breast, he is a seven-time All-American. Almeida swam the 200 breast at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and holds four Portuguese records. He also excels in individual medley — he was Big East champ in the 400 IM and second in the 200.
ASBURY UNIVERSITY
Host Broadcast Network
Kentucky connection: Located in Wilmore
Operation dates: All
Briefly: Jim Owens, chairman of Asbury's media communications department, heads a party of 68 students, two faculty, one staff and nine alumni who will aid international broadcasters (including NBC) at the Games. Roles include camera operators, reporters, audio assistants, technicians and public relations.
SHARRIEFFA BARKSDALE
Track and field: United States, women's assistant manager
Kentucky connection: Lexington resident
Competition dates: Aug. 3-11
Briefly: A 1984 Olympian and former American record-holder in the 400-meter hurdles, Barksdale also helped with day-to-day logistics as an assistant team manager at the 2008 Olympics.
Swimming: United States, 200-meter breaststroke
Kentucky connection: Louisville, St. Xavier 2006
Competition dates: July 31, Aug. 1
Briefly: Placed second (2:09.97) to Scott Weltz (2:09.10) in the U.S. Olympic Trials — stunning 100-meter 1-2 finishers Brendan Hansen and Eric Shanteau. Burckle, now 24, placed fifth in the 200 at the 2008 U.S. Trials, when sister Caroline made the women's Olympic team. Swam in college for Florida and Arizona, winning the 2010 NCAA 200 breast and earning 11 All-America honors.
Cycling: United States, track
Kentucky connection: Lexington native; Louisville Ballard, 1991
Competition dates: Aug. 2-7
Briefly: Now residing in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Irvine, Calif., Bausch also made the 2008 Olympic team. International successes include a since-broken world record in May of 2010 with Olympic teammates Sarah Hammer and Lauren Tamayo, and a world championship silver medal in 2011 with Hammer and Olympic teammate Jennie Reed.
Basketball: United States
Kentucky connection: University of Kentucky, 2012
Competition dates: July 29-Aug. 12 (every other day)
Briefly: Led UK (38-2) to the NCAA title in his one season here and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. He won six National Player of the Year awards and was the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. He averaged team highs of 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks. His 186 blocks are a Southeastern Conference record and an NCAA freshman record.
Swimming: Brazil, 4-by-100 freestyle relay
Kentucky connection: University of Louisville, 2014
Competition date: July 29
Briefly: This has been a breakout year for De Lucca, having placed third in the 200 freestyle and seventh in the 100 free at the NCAA Championships. He also was a six-time Big East champion this year. His best long-course meet came in Brazil, where he swam 49.27 to make the Olympic relay team. He also swam a meet-record 1:48.26 in the 200 free at that competition.
Swimming: United States, 100-meter butterfly; 4-by-100 medley relay pool
Kentucky connection: Western Kentucky University, 2011
Competition dates: July 28-29 (butterfly), Aug. 3-4 (relay)
Briefly: From Lenoir City, Tenn., she is the third WKU swimmer to make an Olympic team and the first on a Team USA. She qualified by swimming a personal-best 57.57 for second place at the U.S. Trials. A Pan American Games gold medalist last year, she holds five WKU records, including two individual events.
EDRICK FLOREAL (Stanford bio page)
Track and field: United States, men's jumps coach
Kentucky connection: UK's newly named head coach; assistant coach, 1995-97
Competition dates: Aug. 3-9
Briefly: The new top Cat had been at Stanford since 1998, the past eight years as director of track and field. He had 91 Cardinal earn 197 All-America honors. A two-time Canadian Olympian (1988, '92), he served as assistant coach for Team USA at the 2002 World Junior Track and Field Championships. He was a five-time NCAA triple jump champion for Arkansas.
Track and field: United States, 100 meters, 4-by-100 relay
Kentucky connection: Lexington, Lafayette High School 2001
Competition dates: Aug. 4-5 (100), Aug. 10-11 (relay)
Briefly: The American record-holder and second-fastest of all time in the 100 (9.69), Gay was on top of his game in 2007 when he swept golds in the 100, 200 and 4-by-100 relay. In 2008, he won the U.S. Olympic Trials in a record 9.77, but tore his hamstring during the 200-meter quarterfinals. At the Beijing Olympics, his first outing after the injury, he made it through two rounds of the 100.
NBC-TV: Track and field play-by-play
Kentucky connection: Lexington; Lafayette High; UK, 1967
Broadcast dates: Aug. 3-12
Briefly: Has a reputation for broadcast excellence in many sports, including basketball, figure skating, football and horse racing. He will be calling the track action for a sixth consecutive Olympics. He'll be joined by reporter Lewis Johnson and analysts Ato Bolden, Dwight Stones, Craig Masback and Tim Hutchings.
Track and field: United States, men's distance coach
Kentucky connection: Asbury University graduate, 1962
Competition dates: Aug. 4-12
Briefly: The men's cross country coach at Malone University (Canton, Ohio) for 45 years, he has the winningest program in NAIA history. He also has been the women's cross country coach for 18 years, and has won multiple national championships with both programs. He coached Malone men's track and field for 28 years, the women's for three.
SUSAN HAZZARD
Track and field: United States, press officer
Kentucky connection: Leitchfield, Grayson County High, 1985; UK, 1995; UK sports information 1985-87, '90-95.
Competition dates: Aug. 3-12
Briefly: Hazzard will help coordinate media interviews with Team USA athletes at the Olympic Stadium and out-of-competition venues. Her year-round job is associate director of communications for Indianapolis-based USA Track & Field.
Track and field: United States, executive
Kentucky connection: Louisville native, Jesse Stuart High, 1976
Competition dates: Aug. 3-12
Briefly: As president and chair of the board of directors of USA Track & Field, Hightower will be on hand in an official supervisory role. An elite 100-meter hurdler, she competed on more than a dozen international teams and set American and world records. She made the 1980 Olympic team, but President Jimmy Carter led a boycott of the Moscow Games.
Track and field: Shot put
Kentucky connection: Louisville native
Competition date: Aug. 3
Briefly: Hoffa has finished in the top five at the U.S. Championships for nine years in a row, including a first-place finish in last month's U.S. Olympic Trials. Seventh at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Hoffa has won once indoors and outdoors at the World Championships, five national championships and once at the Pan American Games. His personal best is 73-7.
Wrestling: United States, Greco-Roman coach
Kentucky connection: University of Kentucky, 1981
Competition dates: Aug. 5-7
Briefly: A standout freestyler (190 pounds) for UK, Johnson is among five coaches on the Team USA Greco-Roman staff. After graduating, and after UK dropped the wrestling program in 1983, Johnson won three Greco-Roman national titles (220 pounds). He also was the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials runner-up. He now lives in Phoenix and is coach of the Sunkist Kids.
Equestrian: United States, show-jumping
Kentucky connection: Lexington resident
Competition dates: Aug. 4, 5, 6, 8
Briefly: The youngest equestrian athlete on Team USA, Kessler turned 18 on July 9. Age restrictions kept her from competing at the top level, and taking on the biggest jumps, until January. She will ride Cylana, the 10-year-old Belgian warmblood mare with which she won the 2012 USEF Selection Trials. She and her family relocated here from New York this summer.
Fencing: United States, foil
Kentucky connection: Lexington, Paul Laurence Dunbar, 2012
Competition dates: July 28 (individual), Aug. 2 (team)
Briefly: The silver medalist at last year's World Championships, Kiefer finished atop the qualifiers for Team USA's London contingent. The pride of the Bluegrass Fencers' Club goes to the Games ranked No. 1 in the U.S. and No. 7 in the world. She was the only fencer in the world to medal at the senior, junior and cadet World Championships in 2011.
Fencing: United States, foil coach
Kentucky connection: Bluegrass Fencers' Club, Lexington YMCA maestro
Competition dates: July 28 (individual), Aug. 2 (team)
Briefly: The lead foil coach for Team USA, he is a former competitor and coach of the Egyptian National Team. A competitor from 1973 until 1988, he was a member of the Egyptian National Olympic Foil Team, 1980-88. He has been maestro of the Bluegrass Fencers' Club since 2004. His understudies include Olympic competitor Lee Kiefer.
Volleyball: United States, libero
Kentucky connection: Louisville native
Competition dates: July 29-Aug. 12 (every other day)
Briefly: A defensive specialist, Lambourne helped Team USA to gold at the 2008 Olympics. Now 37 and living in Tustin, Calif., he won an NCAA title in 1999 with Brigham Young. A bike accident when he was 6 skinned his shoulder to the bone and mangled the right side of his face, to which he says: "I could have been much uglier but due to my loving parents and medical science, I am only mostly unattractive."
ED LIDDIE
Judo: United States, judo, director of athlete performance
Kentucky connection: Cumberland College (University of the Cumberlands), 1983
Competition dates: July 28-Aug. 3
Briefly: A bronze medalist at 60 kilograms (132 pounds) in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and an alternate at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He oversees the U.S. Judo program, both men and women. He served as coach of four Olympic teams (1996-2008), with his athletes securing 13 Olympic slots. In 2008, he was part of the inaugural class of the USA Judo Hall of Fame.
Track and field: Canada, 400 meters
Kentucky connection: University of Kentucky, 2011
Competition dates: Aug. 3-5
Briefly: The former Wildcat All-American qualified for London by winning the Canadian Olympic Trials in a personal-best 51.53. UK's school record-holder indoors and outdoors at 400, her international experience includes running on Canada's 4-by-400 relay at the 2009 World Championships.
Basketball: United States, guard/forward
Kentucky connection: University of Louisville, 2009
Competition dates: July 28-Aug. 11 (every other day)
Briefly: Averaging 22.6 points, 5,7 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Atlanta Dream this season, the all-star was the No. 1 pick in the 2009 WNBA draft. She went on to become Rookie of the Year. U of L's all-time leader in points and rebounds, she was a three-time All-American and led the Cards to a Final Four. She played on USA gold-medal teams at the 2007 Pan American Games and 2010 World Championships.
Swimming: Portugal, 200-meter butterfly, 200 backstroke
Kentucky connection: University of Louisville, 2012
Competition dates: July 30-31 (butterfly) Aug. 1-2 (backstroke)
Briefly: Also an Olympian in 2008, he holds four Portuguese records and is a five-time All-American. U of L's team co-captain, he doubled on the final day of the Big East Championships, winning the 200 back in school-record time (1:42.73) and placing sixth in the 200 butterfly. At the Beijing Olympics, he placed 24th in the 200 butterfly.
Swimming: Hungary, 100-meter backstroke
Kentucky connection: University of Louisville, 2013
Competition dates: July 29-30
Briefly: The Big East champion in the 100 backstroke, she swam two other individual events and two relays in that meet. She wound up fourth in the 200 backstroke and sixth in the 100 butterfly, adding a second-place finish in the 400 medley relay and a fourth in the 800 freestyle relay. As a freshman, she competed for Hungary in the European Championships.
Track and field: Canada, 4-by-100 relay
Kentucky connection: Western Kentucky University, 2010
Competition dates: Aug. 10-11
Briefly: A two-time All-American, Smellie is the Hilltoppers' first Olympic track competitor since Breeda Dennehy (women's 10,0000 meters) represented Ireland in 2000. The relay team goes to London seeded 11th with a two-race average time of 38.64 seconds. Smellie also competed in the 2009 World Championships.
Track and field: Trinidad and Tobago, 100, 200; 4-by-100 relay pool
Kentucky connection: University of Kentucky, 2010
Competition dates: Aug. 4-11
Briefly: At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Sorrillo won his first-round heat of the 200, ahead of eventual gold-medalist Usain Bolt. He qualified for London by winning the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Trials 200 and placing third in the 100. T&T's sprint relay, which won silver in 2008, goes to the Olympics as the fifth seed, with a two-race average of 38.40.
MIKEL THOMAS
Track and field: Trinidad and Tobago, 110-meter hurdles
Kentucky connection: University of Kentucky, 2009
Competition dates: Aug. 7-8
Briefly: Thomas qualified for his second Olympics, placing third in the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Trials. He met the Olympic "A" standard twice this season, clocking 13.51 and a personal-best 13.48. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he advanced to the second round. Born in Trinidad and raised in New York, he is now based in Kansas.
RAIGO TOOMPUU
Track and field: Estonia, shot put
Kentucky connection: Western Kentucky, 2006
Competition date: Aug. 3
Briefly: Qualified June 18 by surpassing the Olympic "B" standard with a put of 65-9. With Western, he was named Sun Belt Conference Most Outstanding Field Performer in 2003, 2004 and 2005, and was high scorer at the league outdoor championships each of his four years. He also competed in discus, hammer throw and weight throw for WKU, earning 20 all-conference honors.
NBC-TV: Judo analyst
Kentucky connection: Cumberland College (University of the Cumberlands), 1980
Broadcast dates: July 28-Aug. 3
Briefly: An Olympian in 1984 and '92, White won 18 national titles and four World Military championships as a competitor. His national titles came in four weight categories. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he served as team leader for the U.S. Judo squad. In London, he'll be teamed with play-by-play broadcaster Craig Hummer.
U.S. wins gold, beats Spain 107-100 in men's basketball
