15 Rio 2016 Olympians With Ties To The DMV
BALTIMORE (WJZ) --The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, and commonly known as Rio 2016, is a major international multi-sport event that will take place in Brazil, from August 5-21, 2016.
We took a look at the USA teams and found fifteen different Olympians that had ties to the DMV area through birthplace, hometown, schooling and more. Take a look:
Basketball
Kevin Durant was recently in NBA news for trading teams and moving to the Golden State Warriors, but before that, he was named a member of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Men's Basketball Team. Durant is originally from Suitland, Md and the D.C. area. He led the NBA in 2011-12 in scoring averaging 28.0 ppg. to become just the 8th player in NBA history to win three consecutive scoring titles. He has also been selected to six All-NBA teams and seven All-Star teams.
Angel McCoughtry grew up in Baltimore, where she attended St. Francis High School and was named the 2003 Baltimore Sun Metro Player of the Year. She also competed for the USA National Team during its 2015 European Tour. She was named to the 2016 U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team on April 27, 2016.
Elena Delle Donne is from Wilmington, Del. The basketball guard/forward has served as a Special Olympics Global Ambassador since 2014, helping advance opportunities for those with intellectual disabilities worldwide and most recently won 2015 WNBA MVP.
Boxing
20-year-old Gary Russell is from Capitol Heights, Maryland. He is the second Olympian in his family, his brother Gary Russell, Jr., was a 2008 U.S. Olympian in boxing. He's one of four brothers in his family to box and they are they first family of four brothers to all win the National Golden Gloves.
Canoe/Kayak
Ashley Nee is from Darnestown, Maryland and has three years of World Championships under her belt and ranked first in the K1W team trials.
Sailing
Two-time team captain at Yale University and 2012 NEISA Sailor of the Year, Joe Morris is from Annapolis, Md.
Swimming
19-year-old Katie Ledecky from Bethesda, Md., who surprisingly won her first Olympic gold at age 15 four years ago in London, is now recognized as one of the most dominant freestylers in history and is heading back to the Olympics.
The most decorated athlete in Olympic history is Rio bound. Michael Phelps became the first male swimmer to qualify for five Olympics with a victory in the 200-meter butterfly at the U.S. swimming trials. Phelps went to Towson High School and is good friends with many other Baltimore athletes from the Ravens and the Orioles.
Jack Conger from Rockville, Md., Townley Haas from Henrico, Va., and Chase Kalisz, Phelps' protege, from Bel Air, Md. have all also made the 2016 swim team.
Triathlon
Katie Zaferes is a USA Triathlon National Team Member was runner-up at 5 2015 ITU World Triathlon Series events and has been competing since 2013.
Volleyball
Aaron Russell was the leading scorer for the U.S. Men in the final three matches of the 2015 FIVB World Cup as the U.S. won and qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games as an outside hitter for volleyball. Russell is from Ellicott City, Md.
Wrestling
1st World Olympic Qualifier champion and U.S. Olympic Team Trials champion Helen Maroulis began her career in Maryland before transferring to Michigan for her senior year of high school.
Kyle Snyder is from Woodbine, Md. He was the 2015 World Champion and 2015 Pan American Games champion. He's spent two years on the USA team.
Good luck to all the Olympians next month at Rio 2016.
