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In the next three weeks, Philadelphia will make its voice on the world stage of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

As the head coach of the US women’s national team, it will provide a door for famous sports icons such as legend Dawn Staley to enter new fields. The 51-year-old Dobbins Institute of Technology graduate was named the National Player of the Year twice in Virginia (1991 and 1992) and won three times as an athlete (1996, 2000, and 2004). Olympic gold medal.

Staley is currently the head coach of the University of South Carolina. She won the national championship in 2017 and she will become one of the many familiar faces in the region to watch during the Tokyo Olympics.

Here are some (but not all) other American team locals who will pay close attention as the Olympics unfold:

Casey Kaufhold, archery | Lancaster, Pennsylvania | Age: 17

Kaufhold is a freshman at Conestorga Valley High School. She will become a member of the three-person women’s team and will also participate in the new Olympic Sports United States Mixed Team. Archery is a member of the Kaufhold family. Her parents Robert and Carroll owned Lancaster Archery Supply Store. Robert made two U.S. national teams. Casey won the bronze medal in the women’s individual recurve at the 2019 Pan American Games, and she also won gold medals in mixed team and women’s team events. She is the third youngest Olympic archer in the United States.

Peyton Ridnour, BMX Racing | Pottstown, Pennsylvania | Age: 19

As a graduate of Owen J. Roberts in 2020, Ridenour will become one of the young athletes participating in the Tokyo competition. The COVID closure actually benefited her, giving her a year to prepare, which she did at home. She will become the youngest driver in the American BMX racing team. She has won the U.S. BMX national championship seven times and won the UCI Red Bull Pump Road World Championship in 2019. Among the junior elite women in 2019, Ridenour ranks fourth in the world.

Jack Hoyle, fencing | Wallingford, PA Age: 27

Hoyle is the number one American man with an epee and 12th in the world. Hoyle graduated from Strath Haven in Wallingford, Delaware, and later joined the Columbia University fencing team. Hoyle started fencing in the sixth grade of Strath Haven Middle School. At the Pan American Games, he won the bronze medal as a member of the gold medal team. In 2019, Hoyle won the bronze medal at the Qatar Grand Prix and became the first American men’s epee to win the World Cup or Grand Prix medal podium since the two-time Olympics Soren Thompson (Soren Thompson) in 2011 Fencer.

Justin Best, Rowing | Kennett Square, Pennsylvania | Age 23
Julian Venonsky, rowing | Malvern, Pennsylvania Age: 27

Graduated from Unionville and Drexel, Best worked with Venonsky, Malvern Prep, University of California graduates and team helmsman to finish fourth in the men’s heavyweight eight-man team at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The United States has a long history of rowing. The 12 gold medals won in the men’s heavyweight eight-man race can be traced back to 1900. But the team has not won a gold medal since 2004. The last time the U.S. heavyweight eight-man team won a gold medal at the Olympics was in 2008, when they won the bronze medal.

Ariana Ramsey, football | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Age: 21
Christine Thomas, football | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Age: 28

Ramsey studied at Upper Merrion, she graduated from Dartmouth University in 2018, and Thomas played for Harahan, who she graduated in 2011. Both will play for the American football sevens team. Ramsey began to touch rugby in high school and has a history of running track, wrestling and cheerleading. Thomas introduced the sport through a friend when he was studying at the University of Central Florida. Australia is considered to be Tokyo’s favorite.


more: Watch the 2020 Olympics: streaming options, TV schedules and live broadcasts


Joe Kovac, shot put | Bethlehem, PA Age: 32

In addition to bringing home the Olympic gold medal, Kovac seems to have done everything in shot put. Kovac graduated from the Catholic Church in Bethlehem, where he played football and excelled in shot put, discus and javelin. He was coached by his mother Joanna in high school. He won silver medals at the 2017 World Championships and the 2016 Rio Olympics. He is currently coached by his wife Ashley and graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 2012, where he was named to the All-American Team four times.

Philip Dutton, Equestrian | West Grove, Pennsylvania (Chester County) | Age: 57

You may have never even heard of the Olympic event called the “Triathlon”, which is equivalent to an equestrian triathlon, combining the specialties of dressage, cross-country and equestrian jumping. Dutton, who lives in Chester County, will become the oldest Olympian in the United States. Born and raised on a cattle farm in Australia, Dutton will participate in the Olympics for the seventh time. As a member of the Australian team, he won gold medals in 1996 and 2000. He settled in West Grove in the 1990s and eventually switched to the US team. He won a bronze medal in 2016 and became the oldest Olympic medalist in the United States since 1952. Relying on a 13-year-old horse named “Z” to win another medal in Tokyo. Dutton won the 2018 Triathlon World Championship-Horseback Z.

Carly Lloyd, Women’s Football | Delland, New Jersey | Age: 39
Julie Ertz, Women’s Football | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Age: 29

The local football legend Lloyd constantly challenges time. As a member of the US team that won gold medals in 2008 and 2012, the 2000 Delland High School graduate already has two Olympic gold medals. It was Lloyd who scored the winning goal for these two Olympic teams. Lloyd was also a key player in the 2015 and 2019 U.S. Women’s World Cup champion team. Ertz is the wife of Eagles tight end Zach Ertz. He was a teammate of Lloyd’s 2015 and 2019 U.S. World Cup champions and lost to Sweden on a penalty kick in the 2016 U.S. Olympics quarterfinals.

Ajeé Wilson, race track, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, age: 27

Wilson trains with coach Derek Thompson at the Juventus Track and Field Club in Philadelphia. She rose from sixth to third and won a place in the 800-meter race of the US Olympic team. She currently holds the US record with a score of 1:55.61. She graduated from Neptune High School and Temple, and won the third place with 1 point 58.39 points in the U.S. Olympic trials, which is her fastest result this year. Leading Wilson will be her teammate and 19-year-old medal contender Athing Mu from Trenton.

Athing Mu, race track, Trenton, New Jersey, age: 19

The last American woman to win the 800m Olympic gold medal was Madeleine Manning in 1968. Mu has a chance to become the first American woman to break the 53-year record since Manning. As a freshman at Texas A&M and signed with Nike two weeks ago to become a professional player, Mu graduated from Trenton Central High School, where she did not participate in the AAU Tour at the request of her personal track and field coach. Mu won the championship in the 800-meter final of the US Olympic Games in 1 minute 56.07 seconds, breaking the trial record of 1 minute 57.04 seconds held since 1996. Mu is the second of seven children and was born in Sudan in 2002. Her family immigrated to the United States in 2003 and settled in Trenton.

Bonus: Jay Wright, men’s basketball, Villanova, Pennsylvania, age: 59

He may not participate in the game, but it is worth mentioning that the local coach legend. In May 2021, Wright was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. The two-time NCAA national champion Villanova coach will join Steve Kerr (Golden State Warriors head coach) and Lloyd Pierce (Indiana Pacers assistant) as head coach Gregg Popovy A member of the odd American Olympic team. The United States won gold medals in 15 of the 18 Olympic games it participated in (the United States boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics). In 1972, the U.S. team lost to the Soviet Union in a controversial last-second shot, and won the bronze medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, which was the lowest score of the U.S. team in any Olympic basketball tournament that contributed to the formation of the dream team. The star-studded coaching staff may not be able to save the American Olympic team that seems to be in apathy.


Follow Joe on Twitter: @JSantoliquito

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