Sept. 3, 2008
Dara Torres ’85
Sports A29
The Chronicle
lympics in numbers
3
The total number of alumni who went to Beijing as Olympians
4
The total number of medals won by alumni
41
Dara Torres’ age, making her the oldest Olympics swimming medalist
0
The number of overall goals allowed by two meter defender Peter Hudnut ’99
Students, teachers travel as fans By A.J. Calabrese Ben Goldstein
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Alumni, faculty, and students voyaged to Beijing to cheer on family, friends, and former students at the Olympic Games. Among the crowd were President Thomas C. Hudnut, Head of School Jeanne Huybrechts, director of publications Terry Baris, and coaches Darlene Bible and Kim Hieatt. Eric Arzoian ’09 attended fencing matches in Beijing with his sister Rebecca ’05. Eric, already a globetrotting fencer himself, has friends on the U.S. Olympic team, including silver medalist Jason Rogers. “It was great to see our team do unexpectedly well,” Eric said. “It was inspiring to see, especially because I hope to eventually compete in the Olympics.” Hudnut attended the sabre semifinal match with Arzoian, where the U.S. men’s sabre team made a miraculous comeback against Russia to advance to the gold medal match. He said he also got in touch with many alumni at the Olympic games. Lisa Feigenbaum ’00, a former softball player for Harvard-Westlake and Harvard College, traveled to Beijing to cheer on a friend on the silver medal winning U.S. softball team. Also in attendance were Taylor Megdal ’97, Kirsten Segal ’05 and Charlie Melvoin ’05.
COURTESY OF DARLENE BIBLE
courtesy of eric arzoian
SOUVENIRS: Fencer Eric Arzoian ’09 (left) poses with friend and Brentwood alum Jason Rogers’ silver medal which Rogers won with the U.S. men’s sabre team. Darlene Bible and Dara Torres ’85 (above) pose with one of Torres’ three silver medals. Bible coached Torres while she was a student at Westlake.
Alumna and coach take on Beijing By Sean Kyle
courtesy of palisadespost.com
KIWI: Ali Riley ’06 dribbles in a match for Stanford. She made an appearance in Bejing for the New Zealand women’s soccer team.
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Jack Schwada
For Ali Riley ’06, competing in the Olympics was a dream come true. Riley, who played defense for the New Zealand women’s soccer team and also plays for Stanford called it “an amazing experience and one that I will never forget.” Although the New Zealand team advance beyond group stages. “It was an honor to play for my country,” Riley said. Riley competed with the New Zealand National Women’s Soccer team last September in the Women’s World Cup, and during her senior year at Harvard Westlake claimed New Zealand citizenship to play for their under-20 national team. Aside from the actual competition, she describes being in the Olympic Village as one of her favorite parts of the trip. She appreciated “being surrounded by incredible athletes from every country imaginable,” as well as the smaller advantages to being an Olympian such as the key ring which the athletes could swipe at the vending machine to get whatever they wanted for free. Another experience that made an impression on Riley was when her team overlapped with the Brazilian men’s team in Shenyang and spent time with Ronaldhino. “That was definitely a highlight,” Riley said. “I still can’t believe that even happened.” Riley is modest about her accomplishments, claiming that the achievements of the other Wolverine athletes
in the games, Peter Hudnut ‘99 and Dara Torres ‘85, outshone her own. “If I am in half as good shape as Dara when I am even 25 I will be happy,” she joked. She also praised the American team, saying “I could not have picked more deserving players to win the gold.” For Riley, playing at the international level was inspirational because seeing so many talented players and different styles of play reminded her that there is always room to improve. In comparing the Olympics to the World Cup, she claimed that the levels of play are the same but nothing can compare to the atmosphere surrounding the Olympics. She said that to her, the purpose of the Olympics is to bring people together. Track and Field coach Félix Sánchez entered the Beijing Summer Olympics last month as a gold medal winner and a defending champion. Sánchez has represented the Dominican Republic since 1999, and in 2004 he won the gold medal for his parents’ home country in his 400 meter hurdles event at the Summer Olympics in Athens. He carried the Dominican Republic’s flag in the Opening Ceremonies last month in Beijing. Sánchez, one of the few hopes for the Dominican Republic to win a medal in Beijing, lost to American favorite Kerron Clement in a pre-heat competition. Sánchez had been bothered for several years by an injury to his left ankle, which was blamed for his disappointing loss last month.
COURTESY OF IAAF
ON THE MEND: Track and field coach Felix Sanchez came into Beijing nursing an ankle injury. He did not make it past the qualifying round.