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Summarized by Kent Larsen
Johnson & US Water Polo Team Win Silver; Two New Mormon Olympians
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA -- Courtney Johnson became the first LDS medalist
in the 2000 Sydney Olympics when the US Women's Water Polo team lost
to Australia in the gold medal game, leaving the team with a silver
medal. Meanwhile, the US Softball team, including LDS player Laura
Berg, managed to stay in the medal contention by beating Italy 6-0.
They must beat China Monday to manage to get a medal at all.
Meanwhile, Mormon News subscribers informed us of two additional
Mormon Olympians. Betty Pearson confirms that WNBA star Natalie
Williams was raised Mormon and that her family is LDS. Williams, who
plays professionally for the Utah Starzz, is a member of the US
Basketball Team, currently undefeated after four games. The team
plays Poland today.
Jan tells Mormon News that England's Jared Deacon is a member of the
LDS Church. Fortunately, Deacon doesn't compete until September 29th,
so we haven't missed any of his competitions. Deacon is a member of
Great Britain's 4x400m relay team.
The US Men's Volleyball Team lost yesterday to Korea, leaving it with
just one game against Italy before the finals. Since the team has yet
to win a game, they will almost certainly be eliminated before the
finals.
And in Track and Field, Ghanian runner Leonard Myles-Mills was
eliminated in the semifinals, just .05 second off qualifying for the
finals, running a race of 10.25 seconds. His best time for the
Olympics in the 100m, 10.15 seconds, was less than .3 seconds off the
world record and the gold medal time. And Heptathlete Marsha Mark
Baird of Trinidad is currently ranked 24th in that competition, 600
points behind the leader. The final three events of the competition
are today.
Results for Saturday, September 23rd
| Athlete | Sport | Country |
| Berg, Laura | Softball | USA |
| USA v. Italy | W 6-0 | 1 hit in 4 at bats, 1 run, 1 strike out |
| To date: | | 5 hits in 27 at bats, 2 runs, 2 strike outs |
| |
| Johnson, Courtney | Water Polo | USA |
| USA v. Australia | L 4-3 | Johnson Gets Silver Medal! |
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| Millar, Ryan | Volleyball | USA |
| USA v. Korea | L 2-3 | 11 pts |
| To date: | | 36 pts in 4 games |
| |
| Myles-Mills, Leonard | Track &Field | Ghana |
| 100m | Semifinals | 10.25 sec - .05 sec short of qualifying |
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| Baird, Marsha Mark | Track &Field | Trinidad |
| Heptathlon | 100m Hurdles | 13.72 sec - 1018pts - 15th |
| Heptathlon | High Jump | 1.66m - 806pts - 27th |
| Heptathlon | Shot put | 11.44m - 624pts - 26th |
| Heptathlon | 200m | 25.35 sec - 855pts - 23rd |
| Heptathlon | Total to date | 3303 pts - 600 pts behind leader, 24th overall |
Here is a schedule of the Mormon athletes competing Sunday, September 24,
along with the times they will compete (Sydney time).
| Athlete | Sport | Country |
| Tagaloa, Charlene | Volleyball | USA |
| USA v. Brazil | | 12:00 pm |
| |
| Williams, Natalie | Basketball | USA |
| USA v. Poland | | 7:30 pm |
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| Baird, Marsha Mark | Track &Field | Trinidad |
| Heptathlon | Long Jump | 11:30 am |
| Heptathlon | Javelin | 6:00 pm |
| Heptathlon | 800m | 9:30 pm |
The following is the list of Mormon athletes competing in the games
that we know about. If you know of an additional athlete, please let
us know!
| Athlete | Sport | Country |
| Andam, Kenneth | Track &Field | Ghana |
| Baird, Marsha | Track &Field | Trinidad |
| Berg, Laura | Softball | USA |
| Chan, Maggie | Track &Field | Hong Kong |
| Dantzscher, Jamie | Gymnastics | USA |
| Deacon, Jared | Track &Field | Great Britain |
| Gardner, Rulon | Wrestling | USA |
| Johnson, Courtney | Water Polo | USA |
| Millar, Ryan | Volleyball | USA |
| Myles-Mills, Leonard | Track &Field | Ghana |
| Palmer, Amy | Track &Field | USA |
| Pratt, Robby | Track &Field | Mexico |
| Pryah, Jason | Track &Field | USA |
| Savickas, Arunas | Swimming | Lithuania |
| Tagaloa, Charlene | Volleyball | USA |
| Williams, Natalie | Basketball | USA |
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