The rigors of Brown can prepare its graduates for the highest stakes in the world, and those came on the water, track and gym floor for four Brown athletes who competed in this year's Olympic games.
Portia Johnson McGee '01 competed in the women's pair rowing event, taking seventh place. She and pairmate Anne Cummins missed the grand finals by one spot, but made up for it in the petite final, taking a three-second victory to secure their placement. It was the first Olympics for US Rowing's 2007 Female Athlete of the Year, who also helped Brown to two national championships while on College Hill.
On the men's side of the same race, Nikola Stojic '93 represented his native country of Serbia in earning the same seventh-place finish with fellow countryman Gorin Jagar.
A current student helped the gymnastics team earn a silver medal in one of the most hyped team competitions of this year's games. Losing by just 2.375 points to China, Alicia Sacramone '10 competed in the vault, beam and floor exercise for the U.S. alongside eventual all-around gold medalist and teammate Nastia Liukin and the balance beam individual gold medalist Shawn Johnson. As the oldest team member, the 20-year-old Sacramone brought leadership to the team after helping it beat China at the World Championships earlier this year. She started the team competition off with a 15.675 on vault, earned a 15.100 on beam, and finished with a 14.125 in the floor exercise.
Sacramone, who also competed in the individual vault finals, was the '07 ECAC Rookie of the Year and Brown Freshman Athlete of the Year. She missed adding an Olympic bronze medal to her collection of accolades by 0.025 points.
After winning the Olympic trials, Anna Willard '06 finished tenth in a new Olympic event: the women's 3000-meter steeplechase. She became the 10th-best runner in the world in an event she only started competing in during her junior year at Brown. She continued to compete for another year after Brown at the University of Michigan while attending graduate school.
Her time of 9:27.59 at the Olympic trials broke the American record, and her pink-dyed hair made her stand out even more in Beijing. The Ivy League record-holder and NCAA champion qualified in the third heat before setting another personal record with her time of 9:25.63, right behind fellow American Jennifer Barringer, whose 9:22.26 set the new American record.
