Michigan Athletes To Watch At The Rio Olympics

Aug 5, 2016; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; General view during the finale of the opening ceremonies for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Maracana. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 5, 2016; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; General view during the finale of the opening ceremonies for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Maracana. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /
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Several athletes with ties to Michigan are competing at the Olympics in Rio this month, including some who have a good chance to bring home gold.

Michigan will be well-represented at the 2016 Rio Olympics this month, and several of those athletes have an excellent chance at bringing gold back to the mitten in various individual and team disciplines.

Jun 29, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; (Left to right) Cierra Runge, Allison Schmitt, and Melanie Margalis react after the finals for the women
Jun 29, 2016; Omaha, NE, USA; (Left to right) Cierra Runge, Allison Schmitt, and Melanie Margalis react after the finals for the women /

Allison Schmitt is one of Team USA’s top swimmers. She has won 17 medals in major international competition, including 11 gold medals and six medals at the Summer Olympics (three gold). She was raised in Canton, Mich. before attending the University of Georgia, where she won the national women’s 200 and 500-meter freestyle title four years in a row and was part of a national championship team in 2013.

After winning a bronze in the 4×200 freestyle relay in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Schmitt dominated the 2012 London Games, winning gold in the 200 freestyle, the 4×200 freestyle and the 4×100 medley relay, as well as a silver in the 400 freestyle and bronze in the 4×100 freestyle relay.

In July, ESPN published a piece about Schmitt’s struggle with depression. She speaks to high school students and athletes about the importance of mental health. Schmitt is good friends with Team USA swimmer Michael Phelps, with who she has trained since 2008 under former University of Michigan swim coach Bob Bowman.

Schmitt will swim on Wednesday in the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay.

Michigan’s illustrious swimming program will be well represented at the Games this year. Michigan swim coach Mike Bottom will be at Rio this year as an assistant for Team USA. Former Wolverines Phelps, Conner Jaeger and Sean Ryan will all be competing for Team USA at Rio, and other former and current Wolverines will represent other countries as well, including Felix Auboeck (Austria), Dylan Bosch (South Africa), Siobhan Haughey (Hong Kong),  Claudia Lau (Hong Kong), Anders Lie Nielsen (Denmark), Bruno Ortiz (Spain) and Miguel Ortiz (Spain).

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Oct 31, 2015; Memphis, TN, USA; Claressa Shields (red) and Tika Hemingway (blue) exchange hits during the middleweight bout of the women's U.S. Olympic boxing team trials at Cannon Center . Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 31, 2015; Memphis, TN, USA; Claressa Shields (red) and Tika Hemingway (blue) exchange hits during the middleweight bout of the women’s U.S. Olympic boxing team trials at Cannon Center . Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports /

Claressa Shields, from Flint, is a 5’10” middleweight who looks to defend her London 2012 gold in Rio this month and become the first boxer to ever win back-to-back Olympic gold medals. Her father was incarcerated until she was nine, and upon his release he introduced his daughter to boxing, although he refused to let her compete until right away because it was “a sport for boys.”

She quickly rose up the ranks and was ranked top in the nation in her weight class by age 17. Later that year she went to London and won one of the first-ever women’s boxing gold medals, fighting in the 75 kg weight class.

She accepted the only available boxing scholarship in the country to attend Northern Michigan University. Since then she has won gold at the 2014 and 2016 World Championships as well as the 2015 Pan American Games and is the subject of the documentary film “T-Rex.”

Shields begins her quest for gold with a quarterfinal fight on Wednesday, August 17.

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Aug 1, 2016; Houston, TX, USA;United States forward Draymond Green (14) drives against Nigeria forward Ike Diogu (6) in the second quarter during an exhibition basketball game at Toyota Center. United States won 110 to 66. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 1, 2016; Houston, TX, USA;United States forward Draymond Green (14) drives against Nigeria forward Ike Diogu (6) in the second quarter during an exhibition basketball game at Toyota Center. United States won 110 to 66. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /

Draymond Green is well-known in Michigan, born and raised in Saginaw before playing college basketball at Michigan State, where he was a consensus first-team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year in 2012. After leaving Michigan State, he was taken by the Golden State Warriors in the second round of the NBA Draft, where he was named an NBA All-Star in 2016 and won the NBA Finals in 2015.

Green has had a difficult last couple of months after the Warriors lost in the NBA Finals in June and Green was suspended for Game 5 after taking heat for hitting and kicking opponents in the groin. During the offseason, he was arrested on a misdemeanor assault charge after being accused of hitting former Michigan State football player Jermain Edmonson and received much public ridicule after accidentally publically posting something on Snapchat that he really should not have posted (the picture is not in the linked article).

Green is looking to recover his public image while bringing home gold with the heavily-favored USA basketball team in Rio. The men’s basketball team begins the group stage against China on Saturday at 7:00 ET.

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Aug 6, 2016; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Meghan O'Leary (USA) and Ellen Tomek (USA) after the women's double sculls heats during the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Lagoa Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 6, 2016; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Meghan O’Leary (USA) and Ellen Tomek (USA) after the women’s double sculls heats during the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Lagoa Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Most of Team USA’s Women’s Rowing team has ties to the mitten as well. Four of the team’s rowers, Katelin Snyder (Detroit), Grace Lutz (Jackson), Grace Luczak (Royal Oak) and Ellen Tomek (Flushing) call Michigan their home. Felice Mueller graduated from Michigan in 2012 and Amanda Elmore currently attends. Emily Regan is a Michigan State University graduate. The coach of the Double Sculls team, Sarah Trowbridge, graduated from the University of Michigan in 2006.

The seven Michigan rowers on the team have won a combined 16 medals at the World Championships, including 13 gold medals.

Luczak and Mueller will row as teammates in the Pair competition beginning on Sunday. Elmore, Snyder and Regan will compete in the Eights competition on Monday. Latz will begin in the Quadruple Sculls competition on Saturday. Trowbridge and Tomek began the Double Sculls competition on Saturday.

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The Olympics continue until August 21.