Saturday, August 13, 2016

Bay Area ties for two Olympic Gold Medalists

Yesterday, two athletes recorded two of the bigger upsets that you will see at the 2016 Olympics. They both have Bay Area ties.

In the pool, Maya DiRado won the 200m backstroke with a great finish to defeat 3 time gold medalist Katinka Hosszu of Hungary. You can check out the finish to that race at this LINK. Maya attended Maria Carrillo HS and Stanford University. You can check out her bio at this LINK. Her dad Ruben (below, far left) was an assistant coach on the Cross Country and Track & Field teams.
On the track, Michelle Carter won the gold medal in the shot put on her last throw. The mark was a new American Record and was the first gold medal for an American woman in the event. Her dad Michael, was a former 49er. He won the silver medal in the shot put at the LA Olympics in 1984. He joined the 49ers immediately after the summer games and was part of their Superbowl winning team. It's the only time that an athlete has won an Olympic medal and a Superbowl in the same year. Michael and Michelle at one time both held the high school records in the shot put. Michelle's mark was surpassed recently by fellow Olympian Raven Saunders. Michael's record (81'3.5") still stands and some consider it the greatest high school Track & Field record of all. You can check out the video below from his throws from the 1981 Golden West Invitational.

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