It has officially begun, the 2016 Olympic Games, taking place in Rio de Janerio, Brazil. While the past four years leading up to the Olympics has been nothing short of drama, most recently with fears of the Zika virus and the conditions of the Olympic Village, we have made it to the games, which officially kicked off on August 5th. Every four years, a sense of patriotism seems to sweep the country for the full two weeks of the games, and everyone joins together to cheer on the athletes that are representing them. This year, Team USA has sent 554 of its best to complete in the games, more than any country participating this year. Among them include some household names, such as Michael Phelps and Simone Biles, who are expected to win big.
While we root for all of the athletes that are on Team USA, we also root a little bit harder from those who come from our home states. This is very true for us who come from New Jersey, who always rally behind those native to our state. While we have some major contenders that have made headlines all over the country, including Laurie Hernandez from Old Bridge and Ibtihaj Muhammad from Maplewood, there are 32 athletes who will be representing New Jersey this year and who deserve the support of all New Jersey residents. Here they are:
1. Kyrie Irving – West Orange, Basketball
2. Shakur Stevenson – Newark, Boxing
3. Ibtihaj Muhammad – Maplewood, Fencing
4. Dagmara Wozniak – Colonia, Fencing
5. Rachel Dawson – Berlin , Field Hockey
6. Michelle Vittese – Cherry Hill, Field Hockey
7. Laurie Hernandez – Old Bridge, Gymnastics
8. Colton Brown – Piscataway, Judo
9. Nick Delpopolo – Westfield, Judo
10. Tracy Eisser – Fair Lawn, Rowing
11. Steve Kasprzyk – Cinnaminson, Rowing
12. Sam Ojsekis – Linwood, Rowing
13. Lauren Schmetterling – Moorestown, Rowing
14. Matt Emmons – Mount Holly Township, Shooting
15. Tobin Heath – Basking Ridge, Soccer
16. Carli Lloyd – Delran, Soccer
17. Conner Jaeger – Fair Haven, Swimming
18. Kelsi Worrell - Voorhees, Swimming
19. Yue Wu – Fort Lee, Table Tennis
20. Nia Ali – Pleasantville, Track and Field
21. Robby Andrews - Manalapan, Track and Field
22. Ronnie Ash – Passaic, Track and Field
23. Christina Epps – Morristown, Track and Field
24. English Gardner – Voorhees, Track and Field
25. Marielle Hall – Haddonfield, Track and Field
26. Sydney McLaughlin – Dunellen, Track and Field
27. Keturah Orji – Mount Olive, Track and Field
28. Jeff Porter - Somerset, Track and Field
29. Ajee Wilson – Neptune, Track and Field
30. Joe Maloy – Wildwood Crest, Triathlon
31. Jordan Burroughs – Sicklerville, Wrestling
32. Frank Molinaro - Barnegat, Wrestling
Good luck to Team New Jersey and all of the athletes representing the USA. To learn more about the 32 New Jersey athletes and all of the athletes competing, as well as when their events take place, check out www.teamusa.org.
