The Others
No, I’m not talking about the horror movie with Nicole Kidman and her creepy house, but rather the 2012 summer Olympics. When someone mentions the summer games, a few of our favorite sports and athletes come to mind: Team USA Basketball, swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, and women’s gymnastics. Although great events and even better athletes, these are just three of 32 awesome sports that take place during the competition. With all the attention focused on other events, some of the other amazingly talented athletes tend to get overlooked and forgotten.
What’s the summer without the beach and some volleyball? Two athletes to watch are Jake Gibb and Sean Rosenthal in Men’s Beach Volleyball. They are going back to the Olympics, and this time they are expected to be better than ever. What most don’t know is that the qualifying process for the Olympics takes a long (and more than likely draining) two years, earning points through an international professional tour. These two will be accompanied by the other qualifying team of Beijing Olympics gold medalists Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser.
The Men will kick off playing Saturday, July 28 at 3AM (Central Time), and will continue all the way through Thursday, August 9 where Gold and Bronze medal matches will be taking place starting at 1PM (CT). You should expect to see one of these teams competing until the end.
Who never had the thought about being Robin Hood as a kid? Stealing from the rich and giving to the poor – and you would get to shoot a cool bow and arrow. Well, Brady Ellison, Jake Kaminski, Jacob Wukie, and Miranda Lee, Khatuna Lorig and Jennifer Nichols are the real life ones. These three men and three women will be representing Team USA Archery teams. Team USA is actually kind of a big deal. USA Archery has been named by World Archery, the sport’s international federation, as “the best nation in archery since 2008”. You must keep a (bulls) eye on these guys!
Poor puns aside, both of the teams begin their ranking rounds on Friday, July 27 at 3AM (CT). If you can’t stay up to see those, be sure to catch the Men’s Gold and Bronze medal matches the following day at 11:33AM (CT) and Women’s on Sunday, July 29 at the same time.
Time is running out to get your USA Olympic gear, with only about 24 days left until opening day. This summer is already proving to be a hot one, so while out and about town, be sure to throw on some SPF and grab a Team USA hat to block those rays.