Ahead of the 2020 Tokyo
Olympic Games, The Michi-
gan Daily takes a look at
Michigan’s olympic athletes
and their performances at
the Games, both past and
present. The data takes a
deep dive into what coun-
tries Wolverines hail from,
what sports they perform
best in and how they stack up
against their Big Ten rivals.
Michigan students per-
form in the highest arenas
of college sports. They’re
also no strangers to shoul-
dering the dreams of their
countries at the Olympics.
After Friday’s opening
ceremony,
29
Michigan
athletes will look to join
Olympic heavyweights like
Michael Phelps, Gustavo
Borges and the duo of Meryl
Davis and Charlie White in
bringing Olympic glory to
both their countries and
their university.
Since 1900, 243 Michigan
students, future students,
and alumni have competed
at the Olympics. The num-
ber of Wolverines at each
Olympiad has grown over
time, and 38% of them have
medaled.
While the majority of
those
competitors
hail
from the United States and
Canada, Michigan students
have represented 32 nations
at the Games. Wolverines
from every continent but
Antarctica have competed
in an Olympiad.
Some Michigan Olympi-
ans hail from nations as far
apart as Nigeria and Ban-
gladesh, while many come
from
European
nations
like the United Kingdom,
Ireland, Austria and Hun-
gary. Seven athletes have
represented Scandinavian
countries including Fin-
land, Sweden, Norway and
Denmark.
This
year,
Wolverines
from 12 different coun-
tries
will
carry
their
nations’ Olympic aspira-
tions, including wrestlers
Myles Amine (San Marino)
and Stevan Micic (Serbia).
Both are the first Michi-
gan students to represent
their respective countries
at the Games, and both will
be coached by Wolverines
coach Sean Bormet at the
Games.
Bormet will not be the
only
current
Michigan
coach in Tokyo, as swim
coach Mike Bottom, div-
ing coach Mike Hilde and
men’s
gymnastics
coach
Jordan Gaarenstroom will
hope to guide their athletes
to top performances. They
will coach athletes from
Yemen, the United States
and Nigeria, respectively.
In total, Michigan ath-
letes have won 73 gold med-
als — and Americans have
earned most of them. The
only
non-American
gold
medal winner was Austra-
lian John Davies in the 1952
200-meter
breaststroke.
Davies
set
an
Olympic
record in the event, some-
thing Wolverine athletes
have done 21 times.
Twelve of those broken
records belonged to Phelps,
who attended Michigan but
did not compete in NCAA
swimming. The most deco-
rated Olympian in history
still holds seven of those
records, and he earned 23
gold medals in his illustri-
ous career.
Former shot put record
holder Ralph Rose earned
the
second
most
med-
als among the Michigan
community, a more reach-
able six over three Games.
Borges,
swimmer
Peter
Vanderkaay, kayaker Greg
Barton
and
track
star
Archie Hahn have each
earned four Olympic med-
als.
Borges
represented
Brazil, while the rest com-
peted for Team USA.
While the athletes head-
ed to Tokyo might not
challenge for such acclaim
just yet, some Wolverines
headed to the games domi-
nated in their sports while
on campus, including Cana-
dian soccer player Jayde
Riviere, Canadian swim-
mer Maggie MacNeil, and
German basketball player
Moritz Wagner, the first
Michigan Olympian from
his country.
Swimming, diving and
track and field have been
the bread and butter of
Michigan
Olympians.
Eighty
Wolverines
have
competed in swimming,
20 have dived and 67 have
performed in track and
field
events.Michigan’s
first Olympians — John
McLean, Howard Hayes,
Charles Dvorak and Char-
lie Leiblee — all competed
in track and field for the
United States.
Some of these athletes
come from South America.
Five Peruvians competed
in swimming and diving
events, but none were able
to medal. Guyanese sprint-
er Adam Harris competed
in 2008’s Beijing Games,
while two Brazlians have
earned
four
medals
in
swimming.
From Asia, two of three
Wolverine
Olympians
competed in swimming or
diving. The other was Ban-
gladeshi
gymnast
Syque
Caesar. This year, Siobhan
Haughey and Jamie Yeung
will add Hong Kong to
that list as they compete in
swimming.
Outside of those popular
events, Michigan athletes
have participated in the
more unique competitions
across
Olympic
history.
American decathlete Ken
Doherty captured bronze
in 1928, while Eeles Land-
strom competed in the
event for Finland in 1952.
Five-time All-American
Steve Bastien will be the
first Michigan athlete to
compete in the decathlon
in 69 years at this year’s
games. He qualified for
the event with one of the
best athletic displays of
his career, setting person-
al bests in seven of the 10
events. Now he shifts his
focus to breaking those
records again on a much
more
intense
stage
in
Tokyo.
Some
Wolverines
will
appear in their first Olym-
piad this month. Michi-
gan’s
record
for
most
Olympics belongs to Turk-
ish swimmer Derya Buyu-
kuncu, who competed six
times from 1992 to 2012 but
was unable to earn a medal.
He was the first Wolverine
from Turkey to compete at
the Olympics.
Despite the plethora of
Michigan athletes in the
Olympics,
the
Paralym-
pics have only recently
seen Wolverines compete.
Jerome Singleton compet-
ed in 2008 and 2012, earn-
ing silver and gold track
medals
for
the
United
States at his first Olympi-
ad. Zach Burns won a sil-
ver medal in rowing at the
2016 Rio Olympics. Non-
Americans from Michigan
have not competed at the
Paralympics yet.
Andy Potts, an Olympic
triathlete who placed 22nd
for Team USA in 2004,
will compete as a guide for
American
paratriathlete
Kyle Coon. After beating
dominant
paratriathlete
Aaron Schneidies for the
first time earlier this year,
Coon and Potts could claim
gold medals at the end of
their event.
When the opening cer-
emonies conclude, Michi-
gan will see its students,
coaches and alumni pursue
their Olympic dreams for
nations scattered all across
the Earth. They will join a
long list of Wolverines to
participate in the games,
and some will likely add to
the 160 medals they have
accumulated.
Olympic tradition includes Wolverines from across the globe
CONNOR EAREGOOD
Daily Sports Writer
Graphic by Zach Breger, Eric Lau / The Michigan Daily
U-M Olympians across the globe: Olympians associated with the University have competed for 32 countries.
With a Central Michigan
forward streaking toward
the goal, senior defender
Sydney
Shepherd
found
herself in a jam. Shepherd
paced just a few inches
behind the attacker, who
saw nothing but open grass
ahead and eight minutes
left in the game.
As the forward pre-
pared to fire a shot past
senior
goalkeeper
Izzy
Nino, Shepherd made her
move. She swept toward
the ball, pushing around
the attacker to break up
the play.
The only chance the
Chippewas could muster
was snuffed out. The ensu-
ing free kick was easily
saved by Nino, and the No.
18 Michigan women’s soc-
cer team won 1-0.
From the start of the
game, the backline of Shep-
herd, senior Janiece Joyner
and junior Jayde Riviere
controlled the pitch.
Much of this came from
maneuvering
around
attacking players. Wheth-
er they boxed them out or
shook them off with fancy
footwork, the trio would
give the Chippewas just
one or two touches before
winning it back and lob-
bing the ball to an open
Wolverine midfielder.
Michigan didn’t force
the play, however, choos-
ing to keep possession and
rotate back. These came
often, as the Wolverines’
speed kept Central Michi-
gan playing from catch up.
“I think the backline
was really cohesive the
entire game,” Shepherd
said. “But I can give a lot
of credit to the holding
mids and the midfield that
dropped back and played a
big role in staying tucked
and together defensively.
We’ve really been working
on staying together as a
unit in training, so I think
it all kind of came through
this weekend.”
That teamwork led to
a 26-1 shot-attempt dis-
parity. However, commu-
nication seemed to fall
apart deeper in the offen-
sive zone. Multiple times,
Michigan attackers found
an overwhelming chance
but ran offside, squander-
ing the opportunity. This
even caused a goal to be
disallowed late in the sec-
ond half.
Part of that came from
the very root of their style:
aggressive play. With mul-
tiple Wolverines swarm-
ing the goal, there were
more players to manage.
Michigan
struggled
to
find a solution to break
them
down
throughout
the game.
Other problems surfaced
when the Wolverines took
longer passes. With more
time to track the ball, the
Chippewas broke up many
passes to deep midfield-
ers, putting more weight
on Michigan’s defenders.
While they handled this
with no panic, substitu-
tions came quickly and
often to keep them from
wearing out, and to put
the pressure on Central
Michigan.
With so much posses-
sion time, the Wolverines
remained
frustrated
as
the game continued, and
Chippewas’s
goalkeeper
Allison Lapoint gobbled
up shot after shot. She
single-handedly kept the
game within reach.
Early in the second half,
fifth-year midfielder Nicki
Hernandez faced Lapoint
one-on-one, with yards of
open net on both sides. She
shot across, and finally,
Lapoint couldn’t get there
in time. A tinny clang rang
through the stadium as
the ball bounced off of the
goalpost and was cleared
by Central Michigan. Her-
nandez put her hands to
her head. She would even-
tually break through with
the game’s only goal on
a quick pass from junior
forward Lily Farkas in the
63rd minute.
“I think we just need
to get some better timing,
timing within our move-
ment, speed of our passes,”
Michigan coach Jennifer
Klein said. “I think we’ll
clean a lot of that up. The
ideas are right, and now
it’s just making sure we
can get the execution.”
Michigan entered Sun-
day’s game with an expec-
tation to win the game
handily. While the defense
performed like a brick
wall, the offense couldn’t
find the same rhythm.
Back line powers Wolverines to victory over Central Michigan
CONNOR EAREGOOD
Daily Sports Writer
BECCA MAHON/Daily
Senior defender Sydney Shepherd helped anchor a staunch Michigan defense on Sunday.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Sports
Wednesday, September 1, 2021 — 11