In Their Own Words: Team USA
Posted by Jimmie R. Markham | July 7, 2008
US Olympic men’s track and field coach Bubba Thornton, when he was asked to predict how many medals his squad will win at next month’s Beijing Olympics:
“I’ve never talked about numbers. It’s one of those pressures you don’t need. I hope they have heard our national anthem enough that they are humming it when they leave.” [Source]
Kansas State men’s track head coach Cliff Rovelto:
“I was amidst all these middle-distance geeks, and they were all making bets about who was going to wind up on the Olympic team. No one was making any mention of Christian [Smith] making the team, so I told them, ‘Don’t count out the guy with the ugly-looking ponytail.’” [Source]
Terrence Trammell:
“Going over there, it’s going to be exciting. I feed off all the electricity. I will act like they are cheering for me when they are cheering for him. (Beating Liu) is the plan. That’s why I’m going.” [Source]
Lopez Lomong:
“We came from different backgrounds, united by America. Now we’re teammates working so hard to please our new country,” Lomong said. “It’s a country we were dreaming about and now we’re ready to go represent it to the fullest… It’s like I’m still dreaming. I can’t really absorb this.” [Source]
Bernard Lagat:
“It feels special. We’re now American countrymen. We took this journey a long time ago for different reasons. We’re fighting now for one country. We’re proud to be Americans.” [Source]
Leo Manzano:
“We all wanted to be here, to start a new life for ourselves,” Manzano said. “Having the opportunity to compete for the United States, it’s definitely the American dream.” [Source]
Topics: Blog, In Their Own Words |