Several Buckeyes Among Big Ten Athletes to Medal at The 2004 Olympic Games in Athens – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/3/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
Sept. 3, 2004
List of Big Ten athletes who participated in the 2004 Olympic Games in PDF Format
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All-Time List of Big Ten athletes who have participated in the Olympic Games in PDF Format
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PARK RIDGE, Ill. – The Big Ten Conference brought home a total of eight medals after capturing five golds, two silvers and a bronze at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. At least 68 Conference athletes and coaches competed at this year’s Summer Games, which took place from August 13-29. The group of League competitors, which included 21 former Olympians and six past medalists, represented 15 different countries and all 11 Big Ten institutions in 14 different sports.
Both Michigan and Wisconsin boasted two gold medalists each, as Wolverine swimmers Dan Ketchum and Peter Vanderkaay, and Badgers’ swimmer Carly Piper and men’s rower Beau Hoopman claimed first in their respective events. Ohio State’s Katie Smith donned her second-straight gold medal as a member of the USA women’s basketball team.
Piper joined her teammates on the podium in the 800-meter freestyle relay after capturing gold with a world record time of 7:53.42. A UW senior-to-be, Piper set the bar high for future Badger Olympians as she was the first female Badger swimmer ever to compete in the Olympics. Ketchum and Vanderkaay captured gold in the same event. Vanderkaay swam the third leg of the gold-medal relay team that won in a time of 7:07.33, while Ketchum competed during the preliminary heat.
Hoopman and Ohio State’s Bryan Volpenhein helped the United States rowing team to its first gold medal in the Olympic men’s eight in 40 years. Sitting seven seat, the 2003 UW graduate helped guide the boat during the preliminary heat in a world-record time of 5:19.85 over 2,000 meters. The U.S. won the event in 5:42.48, after fighting off a steady headwind and a Netherlands team the Americans beat by four seats.
For the second-consecutive Olympics, the Buckeyes’ Smith won gold on the basketball court. The U.S. claimed a 74-63 victory over rival and previously unbeaten Australia in the gold-medal game, but was without the services of Smith, who tore cartilage in her right knee during the August 22 game against China.
Capturing the silver medal for the United States were former Buckeye Blaine Wilson, a member of the runner-up USA men’s gymnastics squad, and Michigan’s Kate Johnson in women’s rowing. Ohio State’s Becky Jasontek collected a bronze medal as a member of the women’s synchronized swimming team.
Also contributing to the list of medal winners were current and former Michigan men’s swimming coaches Bob Bowman and Jon Urbancheck, respectively, both of whom served as assistants to the U.S. team. Bowman is also the personal coach of phenom Michael Phelps, who earned an Olympic-record eight medals including six gold medals and two bronze. Ohio State’s head men’s gymnastics coach Miles Avery was an assistant for the silver-medal winning U.S. squad.
Big Ten student-athletes and coaches have been a part of the Olympic experience on more than 1,117 occasions, including many making multiple trips to the international event. That list of Conference standouts has accumulated at least 433 medals, including 196 of the gold variety. The winter games have also been rewarding, as 12 members of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” United States hockey team were from Minnesota and Wisconsin.
2004 OLYMPIC PARTICIPANTS FROM BIG TEN SCHOOLS
Participants included all current and former student-athletes, coaches or alumni (ex. individuals competing in weightlifting who attended a Big Ten school) who participated in the Olympics. If the participant was a current or former coach at a Big Ten institution, their current position appears in parentheses (i.e. asst. coach, former head coach, etc.).
| Illinois | Country | Sport |
| Ilkay Dikmen* | Turkey | Women’s Swimming and Diving |
| Perdita Felicien* | Canada | Women’s Track and Field |
| Jenny Kallur* | Sweden | Women’s Track and Field |
| Susanna Kallur* | Sweden | Women’s Track and Field |
| Kevin Sullivan (volunteer asst. coach) | Canada | Men’s Track and Field |
| Indiana | Country | Sport |
| Cassandra Cardinell | United States | Women’s Swimming and Diving |
| Kimiko Hirai-Soldati* | United States | Women’s Swimming and Diving |
| Sara Reiling-Hildebrand* | United States | Women’s Swimming and Diving |
| Rose Richmond* | United States | Women’s Track and Field |
| Vasili Spanos* | Greece | Baseball |
| Phil Trinter* | United States | Sailing |
| Iowa | Country | Sport |
| Jessica Bashor* | Greece | Softball |
| Lindsey Bashor* | Greece | Softball |
| Joe Williams* (former asst. coach) | United States | Wrestling |
| Michigan | Country | Sport |
| Courtney Babcock* | Canada | Women’s Track and Field |
| Tim Broe (asst. coach) | United States | Men’s Track and Field |
| Andrew Hurd | Canada | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Kate Johnson* – SILVER | United States | Women’s Rowing |
| Dan Ketchum – GOLD | United States | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Kate MacKenzie* | United States | Women’s Rowing |
| Tom Malchow* | United States | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Andy Potts* | United States | Triathalon |
| Kevin Sullivan* | Canada | Men’s Track and Field |
| Peter Vanderkaay – GOLD | United States | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Stephen Warner* | United States | Men’s Rowing |
| Alan Webb | United States | Men’s Track and Field |
| Nick Willis | New Zealand | Men’s Track and Field |
| Michigan State | Country | Sport |
| Paul Terek* | United States | Men’s Track and Field |
| Minnesota | Country | Sport |
| Lindsey Berg* | United States | Women’s Volleyball |
| Mike Brown | Canada | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Igor Cerensek | Croatia | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Mario Delac | Croatia | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Martin Gustavsson* | Sweden | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Garrett Lowney* | United States | Wrestling |
| Allen Ong* | Malaysia | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Northwestern | Country | Sport |
| Mike Alexandrov | Bulgaria | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Ohio State | Country | Sport |
| Raj Bhavsar* | United States | Men’s Gymnastics – alternate |
| Louise Bond-Williams | England | Women’s Fencing-Sabre |
| Robert Gary (head cross Country coach) | United States | Men’s Track and Field |
| Gulsah Gunenc | Turkey | Women’s Swimming and Diving |
| Becky Jasontek* – BRONZE | United States | Synchronized Swimming |
| Nick Rees* | Bahamas | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Jason Rogers | United States | Men’s Fencing-Sabre |
| Katie Smith* – GOLD | United States | Women’s Basketball |
| Bryan Volpenhein – GOLD | United States | Men’s Rowing |
| Blaine Wilson* – SILVER | United States | Men’s Gymnastics |
| Penn State | Country | Sport |
| Eugene Botes* | South Africa | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Ramon Hernandez* | Puerto Rico | Men’s Beach Volleyball |
| Kerry McCoy* | United States | Wrestling |
| Connie Moore* | United States | Women’s Track and Field |
| Luis Vargas | Puerto Rico | Men’s Gymnastics |
| Purdue | Country | Sport |
| Javier Diaz* | Mexico | Men’s Track and Field |
| Nedzad Mulabegovic | Croatia | Men’s Track and Field |
| Wisconsin | Country | Sport |
| Kathy Butler* | England | Women’s Track and Field |
| Beau Hoopman* – GOLD | United States | Men’s Rowing |
| Adam Mania | Poland | Men’s Swimming and Diving |
| Kirk Penney* | New Zealand | Men’s Basketball |
| Carly Piper – GOLD | United States | Women’s Swimming and Diving |
| Matt Smith* | United States | Men’s Rowing |
*Alumnus
2004 OLYMPIC COACHES FROM BIG TEN SCHOOLS
Participants can include all current and former student-athletes, coaches or alumni (ex. individuals coaching weightlifting who attended a Big Ten school) who will be participating in the upcoming Olympics as coaches.
| Illinois (current position) | Country | Olympic Position |
| Kevin Hambly (volunteer asst. coach) | United States | Women’s Volleyball Asst. Coach |
| Indiana (current position) | Country | Olympic Position |
| Jeff Huber (diving coach) | United States | Diving Asst. Coach |
| Iowa (current position) | Country | Olympic Position |
| Tom Brands* (former asst. coach) | United States | Wrestling Asst. Coach |
| Michigan (current position) | Country | Olympic Position |
| Bob Bowman (head coach) | United States | Men’s Swimming Asst. Coach |
| Steve Fraser* (former student) | United States | Wrestling Head Coach (Greco-Roman) |
| Jon Urbanchek (former head coach) | United States | Men’s Swimming Asst. Coach |
| Ohio State (current position) | Country | Olympic Position |
| Miles Avery (head coach) | United States | Men’s Gymnastics Asst. Coach |
| Doug Beal* (former head coach) | United States | Men’s Volleyball Head Coach |
| Linda Witter (head coach) | United States | Synchronized Swimming Asst. Coach |
| Penn State (current position) | Country | Olympic Position |
| Beth Alford-Sullivan (head coach) | United States | Women’s Track & Field Asst. Coach |
| Jeri Daniels-Elder* (former asst. coach) | United States | Women’s Track & Field Asst. Coach |
| Wisconsin (current position) | Country | Olympic Position |
| Matt Imes* (former student) | United States | Men’s Rowing Asst. Coach |
*Alumnus
