From swimming to gymnastics to track and field, the eyes of the United States are focused on the sports of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. But the eyes of Washington, DC are focused not only on the Games, but also on our local athletes. Here are the sports—and the athletes—to which DC-area residents are paying the closest attention.
Basketball
U.S. Women's Basketball team members Nikki McCray and Chamique Holdsclaw are also members of the same local team. The two shine on the floor of
Washington's MCI Center as members of the
Washington Mystics. This year, the pair helped the Mystics land a playoff berth in the WNBA championships.
Boxing
Clarence Vinson, a bantamweight from Washington DC, has been a World Championship team member for the U.S. twice: once in 1997 and once in 1999. He has been the U.S. champion in his weight class every year from 1997 through 1999. Vinson's incredible story is one of the most compelling of all the local athletes'. He grew up on the tough streets of DC's inner-city, has seen many family members and friends fall victim to violence, and had already fathered his first child at 15. However, he has escaped the streets and turned to boxing with great success.
Gymnastics
The darling of the local gymnastics scene is Dominique Dawes of Silver Spring, Maryland, who retired after the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, but came out of retirement just seven months before the Games and made the U.S. Women's Gymnastics team. But Dawes isn't the only local hoping to see the U.S. earn gold for the second Olympics in a row—Elise Ray of Columbia, Maryland, is also a member of this team. The two girls are considered the team leaders—Dawes as the veteran of two previous Olympics, and Ray for her stalwartness and inner strength. However, Ray injured her shoulder during the floor exercise on Sunday, September 17, and her future performance during the Games is questionable.
Kayaking
According to Paddler Magazine, Davey Hearn of Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the longest-running member of the U.S. national kayak team. He has been on that team since 1977. The U.S. Olympic Committee named him one of the top 10 sportsmen of the year in 1995.
Swimming
Local swimming heroes Tom Dolan and Ed Moses, who train with the Curl-Burke Swim Club, which is based in Damascus, Maryland, and trains swimmers all around the Washington area. Both Dolan and Moses are from Virginia suburbs: Arlington and Burke, respectively. These two have already brought home medals as of this writing. On Sunday, September 17, Dolan broke a world record in the 400-Meter Individual Medley and brought home the gold medal, and Moses brought home the silver in the 100-Meter Breaststroke.
