Olympians

If you're like me, you've been glued to the television, watching the Summer Olympics in Beijing. While I was watching superman Michael Phelps make it look easy, I began wondering how many olympic athletes may have been adopted. I started doing a little research and I am sure there are many more, but I came up with a few names of interest. Olympic figure skater, Scott Hamilton, was adopted. I remember him talking about being grateful that he ended up with the parents he did. They nurtured his dreams of being a competitive skater, taking him to the early morning practices for years. During the Winter Olympics of 2006, Toby Dawson skied for a bronze medal in Men's Freestyle Moguls. Dan O'Brien won gold in the Olympic decathlon in 1996. Dan is one of eight children, five of whom were adopted. Greg Louganis, a diver, competed in two olympics, winning a silver medal in 1976 (a very good year) and a gold in 1984. Caitlin Carruthers also participated in two olympics. She and her skating partner won a silver medal in 1984. Lopez Lamong is competing in Beijing in track and field, in the men's 1,500 meter this week.

Perhaps the most impressive adopted olympian for me is swimmer Jessica Long. Jessica was born in Russia and adopted by an American family. Due to an absence of fibulas, ankles, heels, and bones in her feet, her legs were amputated below the knees when she was 18 months old. She's like any other teen, hanging out with friends and checking her MySpace, organizing her bedroom and jumping on her trampoline. However, she does more than that. According to her bio page, she holds 34 American records, 17 Pan-American records, 2 Paralympic records, and 14 World Records. In the Paralympics, she holds three gold medals, as well as nine gold medals in world championships. She was quoted as saying, "I'm a girl, I'm an athlete, swimming is my sport. Prepare to be humiliated". Jessica will be going for the gold in the Beijing Paralympics during the first weeks in September. You can watch her progress at the official website of the Beijing paralympic games at http://en.paralympic.beijing2008.cn/index.shtml. Go Jessica!