Founded 1876 daily since 1892 online since 1998
Friday September 16, 2016 vol. cxxxix no. 67
{ www.dailyprincetonian.com }
Special Edition: Olympics Issue
By Shriya Sekhsaria news editor
Of the 13 University students and alumni and two assistant coaches that competed at the 2016 Olympics, three returned home with medals. Ashleigh Johnson ’17 goal kept her way to gold when Team USA beat Italy, 12-5, in the women’s water polo finals. This is the U.S.’ second consecutive gold medal in the event, and Johnson’s first Olympic medal. Johnson has been a key part of the team’s success through the tournament – she made eight saves to help Team USA beat Hungary, 14-10, in the semifinals and six saves when the U.S. defeated Brazil, 13-3, in the quarterfinals. In the group matches, Johnson made nine saves when the team beat Hungary, 11-6, eight saves when it beat China, 12-4, and eleven saves when it beat Spain, 11-4. Diana Matheson ’08 won her
second consecutive Olympic bronze medal when Canada defeated Brazil, 2-1, in the women’s soccer bronze medal match. Until it lost 2-0 to Germany in the semifinals, Canada had an undefeated streak at the Games – during the preliminaries, it defeated Australia, 2-0, Zimbabwe, 3-1, and Germany, 2-1, before beating France, 1-0, in the quarterfinals. American rower Gevvie Stone ’07 returned with a silver medal in the women’s single sculls event with a time of 7:22.92 on Day 8 of the Games. Australia’s Kim Brennan finished first with a time of 7:21.54. At the 2016 Games, Stone finished fifth overall in the heats, second in the quarterfinals, third in the semifinals, and second in the finals. Stone’s second place finish follows her seventh place finish in 2012. American fencer Katharine See RIO page 7
O N TA P
COURTESY OF TYLER NASE ‘13
University alumni at Rio 2016 Closing Ceremonies.
{ Feature }
Olympians at Princeton By Shriya Sekhsaria news editor
One hundred and one University students and alumni have competed in the summer Olympic Games for a total of 148 appearances between the 1897 and 2016 Games. “The intensity of Princeton undergrads makes the athletic culture here very c mpetitive and perfect for creating Olympians,” Kevin Cotter ’96, a two time Olympian and former crew coach at the University, said. American rower Carol Brown ’75, vice president of US Olympians and Paralympians, the USOC athlete alumni organization, said that the University has quite a few sports “where we consistently have put athletes on the Olympic team.” Brown said that these sports include rowing, track and field, field hockey, fencing, soccer and potentially women’s rugby. “For most sports, if an athlete re-
ally wants to focus, and if they have the disposition and the body for it, I think they can get all the resources they need as students at Princeton to be the best athletes that they can be,” American shot putter August Wolf ’83, a Trustee of the US Olympic and Paralympic Foundation, said. Most frequently represented sports Rowing has attracted the most Olympians from the University, with 36 University Olympians until the 2016 Games. “[Rowing] is an extremely physically challenging sport; but it’s also elegantly rhythmic and beautiful. When a boat gets in the zone perfectly synchronized, it feels remarkably rewarding,” American rower Douglas Foy ’69 said. Twenty athletes from the University have competed in track and field events, making it the second most popular Olympic category at the University.
U. Olympians recount their favorite moments By Shriya Sekhsaria news editor COURTESY OF ZIMBIO.COM
On tap with gold medalist Ashleigh Johnson ’17 By Shriya Sekhsaria news editor
After leading the U.S. women’s water polo team to gold medals at the Pan American Games and the FINA world championships last year, Ashleigh Johnson ’17 will be the goalie for the team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The Daily Princetonian sat down with Johnson to discuss her expectations and aspirations for the Games, her team traditions and her experiences with water polo. Daily Princetonian: Tell us a little about the first time you ever played water polo. Ashleigh Johnson: I don’t remember the first time I played water polo very well. But I re-
In Opinion
member that even though I didn’t know anything about water polo, I still had a ton of fun playing in a sport against all my siblings. DP: What’s your favorite thing about the sport? AJ: My favorite thing about water polo is the competitiveness of it and how evident that competitiveness is in every play of the game. DP: What was your first thought when you learned that you had qualified for the Olympic Games? AJ: My first thought when we qualified for the Olympics was “WE’RE GOING TO THE OLYMPICS!!” DP: What’s the craziest water polo practice you’ve ever had? See JOHNSON page 11
GUEST COLUMNIST LOUIS BERES GS ‘71 DISCUSSES THE SOCIETAL CONDITIONS THAT ALLOWED DONALD TRUMP TO RISE ON A PLATFORM OF ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM, AND OPINION EDITOR JASON CHOE DISCUSSES THE COVERAGE OF THE PARALYMPIC GAMES. PAGE 10.
Students and alumni who have represented various nations in several sports shared favorite moments from their University and Olympic experiences. Olympic Silver Medalist Peter Raymond ’68 said that his favorite moment at the University was sitting atop the old Palmer stadium with Don Marsh ’68 after a fall workout running the steps “on one of those soft pastel afternoons”. At the Olympics, one of his favorite moments was the afternoon before the finals when his team had lightly rowed up and down the course “in perfect quiet and calm.” “As we turned to head back up, suddenly the sound system opened with Joan Baez’s The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down. And I watched the world champion single sculler, Argentinian Alberto DeMiddi, come by, gentle as a butterfly and just bursting with potential energy,” Raymond said. Raymond added that other
memorable moments from the Olympics included Dick Joyce, his opposite #6 seat in the NZ crew, giving him three NZ shirts; and encounters with the people he met at the Olympic Village. “[I enjoyed meeting a] short round man from Togo with whom I chatted half an hour, seated on one of the Aztec ruins uncovered in the construction of Mexico’s Olympic village, who a few days later appeared on a path with a great smile, ‘Peter!’ as if we were the world’s best friends, and a gift of a dashiki I have to this day,” he said. Fellow American rower Douglas Foy ’69 said that one of his favorite moments at the 1968 Games was meeting the weightlifters after watching one of their events. Foy and his teammates watched the middleweight competition from a special athletesonly area in the balcony above the weightlifting arena. “[The gold medalist] was huge. We [the rowers] were all big; but he was possibly the biggest we’d seen,” Foy said. Foy then met the gold medalSee MOMENT page 8
Today on Campus 6:30 p.m.: Princeton Shakespeare Company will perform “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Abridged.” Frist Campus Center/Performance Theatre.
“I like the black and white nature of it [track and field events such as shot put]. There’s no referees. There’s no subjective judging. There’s a measuring tape. And I like that. It suited my personality,” Wolf said. The third most popular Olympic sport at the University for number of competitors is fencing, with twelve competitors hitherto. American fencer Soren Thompson ’05 said that fencing involved a lot of possibilities for each athlete to make their own tactics and strategies to develop themselves in a unique way, with each opponent acting as a new set of problems to figure out. “What I’ve always liked about fencing is that it’s an individual sport at its core, although I also loved the team aspect of it as well. It is one person’s skill, technique and tactics against another’s. It is a true martial sport in that sense,” American See OLYMPIANS page 4
A piece of advice from U. Olympians By Shriya Sekhsaria news editor
University students and alumni who competed in the Olympic Games through the years have advice for future Olympians, with most centering around making the most of the Olympic experience without getting distracted. “From one athlete to another: You’ve done all of the work, you’ve done all the training and you’ve done everything you could to prepare you for this moment — now just let it all hang out,” American rower Tom Welsh ’99 said. Fellow American rower Kevin Cotter ’96 said that Olympians should know that the Olympic Games are not the peak of their career. “There is more to do. More to leave on this planet. Do something bigger and better AFTER the Olympics… it is possible. For me that ended up being music… See ADVICE page 9
WEATHER
U. Olympians end Rio journey with three medals
TIGERS IN RIO
HIGH
76˚
LOW
51˚
Clear. chance of rain:
0 percent