The Chicago Traveler

Chicago’s Olympic Athletes 2008

by Matt B on August 8th, 2008

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony airs tonight on NBC. Of course, we here in the States are rooting for all our U.S. athletes. Be on the lookout for these Chicagoland athletes:

Jorge Torres from Wheeling is making his Olympic debut for the U.S. this summer, competing in the men's 10,000m in Track & Field.

Christian Vande Velde from Lemont is participating in his second Olympics, representing the U.S. in Road Cycling.

Matt Grevers from Lake Forest is another Olympic rookie who had great numbers when he qualified for the 100m backstroke and 4×100m free relay in Swimming.

Brad Guzan from Homer Glen will be the goalkeeper on the men's Soccer team, but at home, he is also able to play as central defender.

Brian McBride from Arlington Heights, the men's Soccer team's forward, scored a record-tying 62 league goals during his eight seasons with the Columbus Crew.

Christine Magnuson from Tinley Park qualified for her first Olympics by winning the 100m butterfly in Swimming.

Sean Rooney from Wheeling makes his Olympic debut this year and should be easy to spot. He's one of the tallest players on the men's Volleyball team, standing at 6'9' (206 cm)!

Tom Hoff from Chicago makes his third straight Olympic appearance and is now the team captain of the men's Volleyball team.

Jamie Schroeder from Wilmette returns for his second consecutive Olympic Games, rowing in the men's quadruple sculls.

Christina Loukas from Riverwoods qualified for the 3m springboard with so many points ahead of the rest of the diving field, she actually won the spot before performing her last dive.

At 37 years old, T.C. Dantzler from South Holland is the second-oldest U.S. Olympic wrestler of all time, but he has only gotten better with age.

Candace Parker from Naperville has already seen plenty of success before making her Olympic debut this year, playing for the women's basketball team. Along with a number of other successes, she was selected first overall in the WNBA Draft and scored the most points in a WNBA debut (38).

Cappie Pondexter from Chicago was the 2007 WNBA Finals MVP and will be playing as guard for the women's basketball team.

Dwayne Wade from Robbins was a late addition to the 2004 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team, but he will be one of the team's leaders in Beijing.

Brittany Riley from Flossmoor will be hoping to win the United States' first medal in the hammer-throwing event.

And to keep track of your favorite events day by day, check out the The New York Times' Olympics Tracker.

Photo credit: (c/o Flickr) Tzatziki

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