Archive

By Rebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris RIO DE JANEIRO — Some athletes would be intimidated by being the only athlete from their country competing in a particular event. Not so for USA Fencing’s Jason Pryor, Olympic rookie and lone wolf in men’s epee. While he feels a team bond with the athletes in other weapons, at …

RIO DE JANEIRO – “For me?” I was not prepared for the question. Not after the overnight flight, seeing the first light of a new day shortly after the view from the previous flight had featured a bright red sunset. Not after the walk through the airport terminal, the discovery of the first of many …

By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola RIO DE JANEIRO – Mikaela Mayer first met Claressa Shields at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Spokane, Washington. Shields was still a relative unknown. It would be several months until she won a historic women’s boxing Olympic gold medal. “I came up to her, and I’m like, ‘Hey, …

By Rebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris RIO DE JANEIRO — The Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games had the Dream Team. London’s Games in 2012 had the Fierce Five. Rio 2016 has the “Perfect 10.” The “Perfect 10” is two-time Olympian Abby Johnston’s brainchild, born shortly after the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Diving wrapped up in June. “We …