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