At least 41 athletes from all eight Ivy League schools will be competing in the coming days in the Beijing Olympics. They represent 14 delegations and will be competing in 13 sports.
Some of them will win medals, and some will be make international headlines. Among them are Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss (Harvard '04), twin brothers who have achieved as much fame for the pairs rowing event as they have for an infamous lawsuit against classmate and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. Then there is Sada Jacobson (Yale '05) , who is the first U.S. fencer ever to be ranked No. 1 globally and will look to grab the gold after an upset in her semifinal match in Athens four years ago.
And that number - 41 - does not include the many other Ivy League coaches and alumni who will be participating in the Games in ways other than as competitors.
First for everything. Over the 112-year history of the Summer Games, over 900 Ivy Leaguers have competed in nearly every sport. Until this year, however, a gap remained in one of the Games' most popular competitions: women's gymnastics.
Filling that void will be Brown sophomore Alicia Sacramone. She will be competing for the United States on a team that is considered to be in contention for the gold medal.
As a freshman, Sacramone broke school records for the all-around, vault and floor exercise. She was honored as ECAC Rookie of the Year and became the first gymnast ever to sweep the Ivy League Classic, winning all five events and scoring the highest all-around total ever recorded at the Classic.
She opted not to compete for the Bears for the 2007-08 season, instead focusing on preparing for the Games. Despite turning pro and forfeiting her NCAA eligibility, Sacramone remained at Brown as a student and volunteer assistant coach for the gymnastics team during the fall semester this year.
Carrying the torch. Tomorrow night, Opening Ceremonies will signal the official beginning of the Olympics. But over two months ago, an Ivy League alumnus did his part to begin the Games.
Kyle Miller (Cornell '06) - a former lacrosse goalie for the Big Red - carried the torch for a half-mile around Shanghai, China, on May 19. He was nominated for the honor by his older brother Josh Johnston.
Miller was diagnosed with a rare form of testicular cancer in February 2003 and missed two seasons. Although doctors predicted he would not be able to play again, Miller returned to compete for the Big Red for two seasons, seeing time in eight games.
Following his graduation, he was a starter for the 2006 Team Canada squad which won the International Lacrosse Federation title.
Help from the sidelines. '95 Penn graduate Monique Burton always had dreams of making the Olympics as a member of the gymnastics team. While she may have seen her dreams of competing disappear years ago, she will be joining the U.S. Olympics team this year as something different - a team doctor, according to The Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Burton had a successful career with the Quakers - she was named Team MVP her senior year - but by that time her Olympic dreams had already come to an end.
Now, the Seattle-based doctor will get to live that dream - albeit to a lesser degree - as one of the two team doctors chosen to provide medical care for the U.S. track and field team.
In order to make it to the Games, she too had to pass trials. She treated athletes for a two-week trial period at the training facilities in Colorado Springs, Col.
