{"id":134191,"date":"2021-08-13T13:42:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T19:42:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=134191"},"modified":"2022-04-21T11:10:18","modified_gmt":"2022-04-21T17:10:18","slug":"uccs-connections-excel-at-the-olympic-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communique.uccs.edu\/?p=134191","title":{"rendered":"Bringing Home the Gold: UCCS Olympians win six Team USA medals in Tokyo 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Kevin McDowell ’12 (second from left) is one of four UCCS-affiliated athletes who brought home Olympic medals from the Tokyo 2020 Games. In all, UCCS Olympians and support staff contributed to six Team USA medals. Photo credit: World Triathlon<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) calls Olympic City USA home \u2014 and for good reason. UCCS-affiliated Olympic athletes brought home six of Team USA\u2019s 113 medals in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, if the university were its own country, its athletes would have placed 42nd in the Games overall, ahead of nations like Greece, Ethiopia, Uganda and Ireland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two UCCS Olympians brought home gold medals: Amber English \u201912, who earned gold in women’s skeet shooting, and Jennifer Valente, a current junior in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, who earned gold in the women\u2019s track cycling omnium event. Valente also went on to win a bronze medal in the track cycling team pursuit event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, Margie Hunt, Senior Instructor in the UCCS Helen and Arthur E. Johnson Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences, served as an athletic trainer and provided medical support for the USA Basketball Women\u2019s 3\u00d73 team. Her efforts contributed to their gold medal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The medals just kept coming. Kevin McDowell \u201916, a triathlete, earned silver in the mixed relay and sixth place overall in the men’s individual event, securing the time for the best men’s U.S. triathlon finish ever in the Olympic Games. And Addie Gray, who completed coursework at the university, won silver in the women’s freestyle wrestling event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, Maddie Godby \u201918 also competed in the finals for the women\u2019s track cycling keirin and sprint events, and Mark Misch, head men\u2019s cross country coach and assistant track and field coach, served as distance coach for the Estonian National Team, where he oversaw marathon runners Tiidrek Nurme and Roman Fosti.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about UCCS\u2019 Olympians below. For complete Games information, including full results, visit the official Olympic Games website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gold medals<\/h1>\n\n\n\n