# Know any Olympic medalists? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690 "2006-02-15T21:28:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/41 "2006-02-17T18:53:03Z")
I went to highschool with and graduated in the same class as Christine Lilly. (Though I have no cluse how she spells her first name; it’s similar to the Cathy-Kathy clusterfuck that apparently took place in the late 60s and early 70s.) Lilly was, of course, one of the original members of the women’s national soccer team. (I think she retired last year.) As may be obvious from my alias, our social circles did not coincide. Although many of the jocks were stoners, she was more driven than most. From what I remember, she was both very popular, and also extremely laid back. Quite a nice girl, actually. The hometown is quite proud of her, as they should be. She’s good people. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/42 "2006-02-17T19:31:35Z")
> [@Mapache](#): > > My son’s Tai Kwan Do instructor is Manuel Jurado, Bronze medalist at the Korean Olympics. > Hellofa nice guy, very soft spoken and polite as you would expect a martial arts master to be. > And he’s the onle sensai (or whatever the Korean word is) I’ve ever met who hands-on teaches the beginners classes as well as the black belts. Well, I do that in my school. And I’ve met Steven Lopez, 2000/2004 gold medalist in Taekwondo. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2006, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/43 "2006-02-17T21:44:59Z")
A friend’s daughter went to school with [Courtney Kupets](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtney_Kupets) at around the 2004 Olympics Time - this might have been 03- there was a "demonstration " by the gym team for the whole school which had never happened before or since. That left a bad taste in my mouth: I thought sounded like the school cashing in on her I am 90% at that or 10% her wanting to showoff (I have no idea but lean heavily toward the school – "_why do you need to judge it and quantify at all & couldn’t they both have benefited you a$$_? you might ask an you would be right to ask. MYOB would be a good response too, but I hate to think they “pressured” her perform - I have no info that they did but I bet it would be hard as hell to say “No” if the coach said “Hey Team guess what ? At the next assembly …”). JUst didn’t like the sound of it much. Everything else 3rd hand I ever heard was “nice”, “down to earth” yada yada ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/44 "2006-02-18T05:14:01Z")
A friend and co-worker of a good friend of mine was an Olympic swimmer. Apparently the exception to the rule that it’s a bad idea to have a picture of yourself wearing a Speedo in a professional office is if the picture was taken just as you were winning an Olympic Gold. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/45 "2006-02-18T07:02:03Z")
> [@Ellis Dee](#): > > I went to highschool with and graduated in the same class as Christine Lilly. (Though I have no cluse how she spells her first name; it’s similar to the Cathy-Kathy clusterfuck that apparently took place in the late 60s and early 70s.) > > Lilly was, of course, one of the original members of the women’s national soccer team. (I think she retired last year.) As may be obvious from my alias, our social circles did not coincide. Although many of the jocks were stoners, she was more driven than most. > > From what I remember, she was both very popular, and also extremely laid back. Quite a nice girl, actually. The hometown is quite proud of her, as they should be. She’s good people. Lilly is still playing for the national team, got her 300th(!) cap recently. My nephew just played in a scrimmage against her (and the team) last week. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Big\_Cheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@The\_Big\_Cheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Big_Cheese)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/46 "2006-02-18T13:44:03Z")
Mark Johnson, scored 2 goals in the game that beat the Russians and co-captain of the US Olympic team that won gold in Lake Placid, coach of the #1 ranked Univ of Wisconsin Womens hockey team. I work part-time where they play and he knows my name at least. Not a medalist, but he finished 4th by a half a bike tire. Bob Mionske, 4th place finish in Seoul (88) and got sick right before Barcelona and finished out of it. After 125 miles, he loses by a half a tire lentgh. I worked with him at a Mexican restaurant before the Olympics. He never drank free soda like the rest of us, only water. He always said he was going to be in the Olympics, we all laughed. He was. He’s a lawyer and handles a lot of bicycle related cases here now. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/47 "2006-02-18T17:53:13Z")
Speedskater [url=“[http://www.usspeedskating.org/rosters/KCarpenter.html](http://www.usspeedskating.org/rosters/KCarpenter.html)”]Kip Carpenter (Bronze, 500m 20002), was in one of my French classes in high school. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2006, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/48 "2006-02-18T20:15:15Z")
I told my brother that I mentioned him here, and he said that now that he’s a distance coach at a community college in Los Angeles, Maurice Green recognizes him, as Green trains there. They’ve introduced themselves. ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/49 "2006-02-19T13:38:07Z")
The Mayor of our city-Wayne Seybold, and his sister Kim were figure skaters in the 1988 Olympics. I honestly don’t know if they won medals or not, since I’m not into sports at all. I knew them when we were kids through some friends I hung out with. During Wayne’s mayoral campaign I got to know him a little better. The man I worked for at the time was Wayne’s best friend and campaign manager, so I actually did a little work on the campaign when things were slow around the office. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/50 "2006-02-19T18:18:01Z")
My son’s godmother (and my very good friend) is the daughter of [Billy Mills](http://www.runningpast.com/billy_mills.htm). I don’t know him very well, but we’re often at family events together. He’s a nice guy. Robby Benson played him in the movie, [Running Brave](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086220/). I’ve spoken to and set up interviews between my news director (I worked in radio at them time) and Summer Sanders who won 4 gold medals in Barcelona. She’s local to our area. She was rude and condescendig to me. Everytime I see her doing some stupid local commercial, I cringe. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/51 "2006-02-20T06:29:16Z")
Summer Sanders, of Fox Sports? My future girlfriend? aHamminahamina ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/52 "2006-02-20T06:47:19Z")
> [@Cardinal](#): > > Summer Sanders, of Fox Sports? My future girlfriend? > > aHamminahamina Yes, that snotty, condescending bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/53 "2006-02-20T06:53:56Z")
> [@Stillwell Angel](#): > > The Mayor of our city-Wayne Seybold, and his sister Kim were figure skaters in the 1988 Olympics. I honestly don’t know if they won medals or not, since I’m not into sports at all. [They finished 10th.](http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:_qvRb9KdL9cJ:deseretnews.com/oly/view/0,3949,60000128,00.html+1998+Winter+Olympics+pairs+skating+Seybold&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2&ie=UTF-8) Kim was known as Natalie back then. ---
**Author:** ![Stillwell\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@Stillwell\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stillwell_Angel)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/54 "2006-02-20T13:28:05Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > [They finished 10th.](http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:_qvRb9KdL9cJ:deseretnews.com/oly/view/0,3949,60000128,00.html+1998+Winter+Olympics+pairs+skating+Seybold&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=2&ie=UTF-8) Kim was known as Natalie back then. Kim/Natalie is doing well now, but a few years ago she had a brain tumor. I’m glad she came out of it ok, they really are cool people. ---
**Author:** ![skittles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@skittles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skittles)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/55 "2006-02-20T14:49:50Z")
I’ve known Tara Lipniski since she was about three years old and still lived in New Jersey. Still get Hoilday cards from her family. ---
**Author:** ![Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazon\_Floozy\_Goddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazon_Floozy_Goddess)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2006, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690/56 "2006-02-20T14:56:03Z")
Yeah, one of my gym teachers from highschool won a gold for wrestling. My dentist also won a gold for wrestling. Both won sometime in the early 80’s. My dentist has a cauliflower ear that I can’t help looking at sometimes when he’s working on my teeth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/know-any-olympic-medalists/344690.md?page=2)