Texas Will be Well Represented at The 2012 Summer Olympics in London

Four years ago, the world was treated to a spectacle unlike anything we’ve seen at the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing.  That set off a remarkable two weeks of competition from countries all across the globe.  It was a great watch.  Two years ago, we saw a fantastic display of talent at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.  Now, London is the world’s stage for the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Over the next two weeks, the networks of NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, USA, NBC Universal and NBC Sports Network will take us all on a journey we won’t soon forget.  We’ll see magnificent performances from the best athletes in the world, not just Americans.  It is going to be amazing.  The Opening ceremonies are Friday night at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.  Of course, with the six hour time difference, the ceremony will be on tape delay as will NBC’s primetime coverage every night.  If possible, avoid watching the sports updates and recaps of the day’s events in London.  The time difference may also require you to get up a little early to watch some events live, or better yet, just take off from work.  That’s what I would like to do.  We’ll be talking about the highlights from the Olympics over the next few weeks, but first let’s get acquainted with what events will be taking place and the athletes that will representing the United States of America, with a focus on the local athletes from Texas.

There are 32 events at this year’s Summer Olympics.  Some have more than one competition like swimming (multiple relays and some team medleys) and track and field (400M, 100M, etc.)  We could get into all of the individual events, but that would take an extremely long time, so we’re just going to give the event categories and the dates that the events occur:

• Archery (Friday, July 27^th-Friday, August 3)
• Badminton (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, August 5^th)
• Basketball (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, August 12^th)
• Beach Volleyball (Saturday, July 28^th-Thursday, August 9^th)
• Boxing (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, August 12^th)
• Canoe/Kayak (Sunday, July 29^th-Thursday, August 2^nd & Monday, August 6^th-Saturday, August 11^th)
• Cycling (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, July 29^th & Wednesday, August 2^nd-Sunday, August 12^th)
• Diving (Sunday, July 29^th-Wednesday, August 1^st & Friday, August 3^rd-Saturday, August 11^th)
• Equestrian (Saturday, July 28^th-Tuesday, July 31^st & Thursday, August 2^nd-Thursday, August 9^th)
• Fencing (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, August 5^th)
• Field Hockey (Sunday, July 29^th-Saturday, August 11^th)
• Gymnastics (Saturday, July 28^th-Thursday, August 2^nd  & Sunday, August 5^th-Tuesday, August 7^th)
• Handball (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, August 12^th)
• Judo (Saturday, July 28^th-Friday, August 3^rd)
• Modern Pentathlon (Saturday, August 11^th-Sunday, August 12^th)
• Rhythmic Gymnastics (Thursday, August 9^th-Sunday, August 12^th)
• Rowing (Saturday, July 28^th-Saturday, August 4^th)
• Sailing (Saturday, July 28^th-Saturday, August 11^th)
• Shooting (Saturday, July 28^th-Monday, August 6^th)
• Soccer (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, July 29^th, Tuesday, July 31^st-Wednesday, August 1^st, Friday, August 3^rd-Saturday, August 4^th, Monday, August 6^th-Tuesday, August 7^th, & Thursday, August 9^th-Saturday, August 11^th)
• Swimming (Saturday, July 28^th-Saturday, August 4^th & Thursday August 9^th-Friday, August 10^th)
• Synchronized Swimming (Sunday, August 5^th-Tuesday, August 7^th & Thursday, August 9^th-Friday, August 10^th)
• Table Tennis (Saturday, July 28^th-Wednesday, August 8^th)
• Taekwondo (Wednesday, August 8^th-Saturday, August 11^th)
• Tennis (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, August 5^th)
• Track & Field (Friday, August 3^rd-Sunday, August 12^th)
• Trampoline (Friday, August 3^rd-Saturday, August 4^th)
• Triathlon (Saturday, August 4^th & Tuesday, August 7^th)
• Volleyball (Saturday, July 28^th-Sunday, August 12^th)
• Weightlifting (Saturday, July 28^th-Wednesday, August 1^st & Friday, August 3^rd-Tuesday, August 7^th)
• Wrestling (Sunday, August 5^th-Sunday, August 12^th)

A lot of events right?  And Texas is well represented, sending 33 athletes to the Olympic games, fourth most among U.S. States.  The following athletes look to represent not only Texas, but the USA with honor and pride:

• Amy Acuff, Corpus Christi (Track & Field) (High Jump)
• Cammile Adams, Cypress (Swimming) (200m fly)
• Dennis Bowsher, Dallas (Pentathlon)
• Michelle Carter, Ovilla (Track & Field) (Shot Put)
• Tamika Catchings, Duncanville (Basketball)
• Kerron Clement, LaPorte (Track & Field) (400m Hurdles)
• Diamond Dixon, Houston (Track & Field) (Relays)
• Glenn Eller, Katy (Shooting) (Double Trap)
• Marlen Esparza, Houston (Boxing)
• Jimmy Feigen, San Antonio (Swimming) (400m Free Relay)
• Marquise Goodwin, Dallas (Track & Field) (Long Jump)
• Destineee Hooker, San Antonio (Volleyball)
• Jonathan Horton, Houston (Gymnastics)
• Liezel Huber, Houston (Tennis) (Doubles, Mixed Doubles)
• Courtney Hurley, San Antonio (Fencing)
• Mary Killman, McKinney (Synchronized Swimming) (Duet)
• Micah Lawrence, Pflugerville (Swimming) (200m Breast)
• Diana Lopez, Sugar Land (Taekwondo)
• Steven Lopez, Sugar Land (Taekwondo)
• Leo Manzano, Marble Falls (Track & Field) (1,500m)
• Darvis Patton, Dallas (Track & Field) (4x 100m relay pool)
• Jason Richardson, Cedar Hill (Track & Field) (110m Hurdles)
• Sanya Richards-Ross, Austin (Track & Field) (400m, 200m)
• Khadevis Robinson, Fort Worth (Track & Field) (800m)
• Andy Roddick, Austin (Tennis) (Singles, Doubles, Mixed Doubles)
• Keith Sanderson, San Antonio (Shooting) (Rapid Fire Pistol)
• Sarah Scherer, Fort Worth (Shooting) (10m Air Rifle)
• Errol Spence, Dallas (Boxing)
• Dana Vollmer, Granbury (Swimming) (100m Fly, 800m Free Relay)
• Timothy Wang, Houston (Table Tennis) (Singles)
• Jeremy Wariner, Arlington (Track & Field) (Relays)
• Deron Williams, The Colony (Basketball)
• Jason Youong, Track & Field (Discus Throw)

That’s a lot of Texans!  Be ready to cheer them on along with the rest of the American Olympians.

The Olympics are a time where we unite as one country and go for the gold.  Again, the opening ceremony is Friday night at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.  Bob Costas will help anchor the coverage from London.  All events and information can be found here and all Olympics news can be found here.  We’ll have more on the Olympics next week.  Enjoy them everybody.  No one knows how each athlete will do, but their fate is already written in the stars.

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