TIMES SQUARE HONORS OLYMPIANS

 

 
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TIMES SQUARE HONORS OLYMPIANS
DURING 100TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Eight athletes were recently honored New Year's Eve during the 100th anniversary celebration of Times Square in New York. The eight athletes included six Olympians and a Paralympian representing all five Olympic continents. The honorees included: Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, gymnast Nadia Comaneci of Romania, Liberian football great George Weah, triple-jumper Francoise Mbango Etone of Cameroon, diver Gao Min of China, hurdler Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic, and Paralympian swimmer Trischa Zorn and gymnast Bart Conner, both from the U.S.

The Olympians were feted during the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square and at activities throughout New York. The group was center stage during the festivities in the countdown leading up to ringing in the New Year.

•  Ian Thorpe – Selected to carry the Australian flag during the closing
ceremonies of the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, after winning three gold and two silver medals, Thorpe is perhaps one of the most popular Olympians ever. In 2004, he followed up his Sydney performance with two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in Athens.  His mark will not only be felt by his success in the pool, but also by memories of those who benefit from his generosity. In 2000, he established Ian Thorpe's Fountain for Youth, a trust with the goal of providing children in need with the opportunity to live healthy and fulfilling lives. He has expressed interest in competing in the Beijing Games in 2008.

•  Nadia Comaneci – Comaneci, from Romania, scored the first perfect ten in
the history of gymnastics in 1976 before a frenzied crowd in New York City's
Madison Square Garden. She went on to become an international media darling with seven more perfect scores during the 1976 Games in Montreal, taking home three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Four years later she won two gold medals, two silver and a bronze at the 1980 Games in Moscow.  An inspiration to gymnasts who have followed in her footsteps, Comaneci is currently a gymnastics coach.

•  George Weah – Known as ‘Oppong,' Weah became an icon in Africa through his amazing talent in football (soccer) and his selfless devotion to the welfare of his continent.  Attributing his success to the people of Liberia, Weah is the only African ever named FIFA Player of the Year (1995) and European Football Player of the Year (1995), among many other prestigious awards. He was also named African Football Player of the Century in 1998.  Because of his role as a UNICEF Ambassador and his commitment to the welfare of his people, Weah is often mentioned as a future candidate to lead Liberia.

•  Francoise Mbango Etone – Hailing from Cameroon, Mbango Etone has
participated in two Olympic Games, Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004, in the triple jump, coming away with the gold medal in Athens.  In Athens, she produced one of the finest championship series in history, recording five jumps over 15 meters, twice hitting the winning distance of 15.30 to reclaim her African triple jump record along with the gold. She has been awarded a scholarship to the prestigious DeKalb International Training Center in Atlanta, Georgia.


•  Gao Min – From China, Min is one of the most dominant divers in the
history of the sport.  Undefeated in world competition on the 3-meter
springboard between 1986 and 1992 (including Olympic Games gold medals both in 1988 in Seoul and 1992 in Barcelona). During those seven years, she was named the Woman's World Springboard Diver of the Year every year. She also tied the legendary Greg Louganis by receiving the most international awards on one board. These accomplishments made Min one of the most prestigious athletes of her era and a national hero in China. She is currently the head diving coach at the Kinsman Pool in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

•  Felix Sanchez – A New York native from the ethnically-diverse Washington
Heights neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, Sanchez is a dual citizen of the
Dominican Republic and the U.S. He won the first Olympic gold medal ever for the Dominican Republic at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens in the 400-meter hurdles. He also won the 2000 NCAA 400-meter title while at USC and was named the 2003 USA Track & Field News Athlete of the Year.

•  Trischa Zorn – A California native, Zorn is the most decorated
Paralympian in the history of the Paralympic Games with a remarkable 55 medals in swimming (forty-one gold, nine silver and five bronze) during a career that has spanned every Paralympic Games since 1980 – seven in total. In 1988, she was nominated as a candidate for Sports Illustrated Woman of the Year. With all her accomplishments, she counts two other honors among her highest achievements – being an Academic All-American all four years at the University of Nebraska and being the first visually impaired athlete to earn a Division I scholarship.

•  Bart Conner – Conner was a U.S. national team member for three Olympic
Games, winning 2 gold medals at the Los Angeles Games in 1984. One of the more popular male gymnasts in the history of the U.S., Conner also starred on the collegiate level at the University of Oklahoma, winning the individual NCAA all-around title in 1978, as well as helping the school win the team championship that year. He retired after the 1984 Games to become a television commentator and to open his own gymnastics academy in Norman, Oklahoma.

(from World Olympians Association)

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