10/12/2005
Jeff Howard/USOC

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The United States Olympic Committee announced today a National Olympic Education Program with Olympic Values serving as the platform for the initiative. Through a multi-year campaign, the USOC seeks to positively impact Americans by showcasing and championing the principles associated with the Olympic Movement. Olympic Values include: inspiration, friendship, fair play, perseverance, mutual respect, sacrifice, hope, dreams, patriotism, unity and joy in effort.

In year one (2006), the focus of the USOC initiative will be on the value of Fair Play, which includes drug-free competition. Posters have been developed that focus on fair play and drug-free sport with the tagline “Real Athletes Play Fair” displayed prominently. The posters target three distinct levels of sport participation:
* Elite Athletes - Olympians, Paralympians and Hopefuls
* Emerging Elite Athletes - College and Junior National Programs
* Grass-roots Athletes - High School and Youth Sports

“The values of the Olympic Movement resonate with so many in our society and throughout the world,” said USOC Chief Executive Officer Jim Scherr. “With so much focus on the eradication of banned substances in sport, the value of Fair Play is the right choice for year one of our educational efforts. Additionally, I am equally excited about the opportunities in future years to expand the reach of the Olympic Movement through the many values this multi-year campaign will touch.”

In addition to the poster campaign, the USOC has collaborated with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency around its year one focus of Fair Play. The two organizations have created four public service announcements for television featuring seven Olympians and one Paralympian, all dedicated to competing clean. The public service announcements include Olympians:
* Apolo Anton Ohno – Short Track Speedskating
* Julie Chu, Jenny Potter, Angela Ruggiero – Women’s Ice Hockey
* Vonetta Flowers – Bobsled and Mark Grimmette – Luge
* Manuel Guerra (Paralympian) – Sled Hockey and Jennifer Rodriguez – Long Track Speedskating (Bilingual PSA English/Spanish)

Movie theater ads have also been created to support the Fair Play campaign. Five markets have been selected to show the ads which feature Olympians:
* Apolo Anton Ohno – Los Angeles, Calif.
* Jeremy Bloom – Denver, Colo.
* Vonetta Flowers – Chicago, Ill.
* Michelle Kwan – New York, N.Y.
* Jennifer Rodriguez – Dallas, Texas

National Governing Bodies (NGB) will also be asked to participate in the campaign by distributing the collateral materials developed and by placing a NGB-specific ad on their website and in sport- specific publications. The NGB ads will be developed by the USOC and also focus on the Fair Play value.

In addition to Olympic family support, the Department of Education (ED) and the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) have also pledged their backing. The ED’s Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools will provide the USOC with names and contact information of education-related organizations to which the campaign could distribute Fair Play materials. The ONDCP will offer support of the year-one initiative through website promotion.

"America's students and Olympic athletes know that success takes more than skills and smarts and hard work," said Deborah Price, U.S. Department of Education Assistant Deputy Secretary, Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. "It takes a well-developed strength of character.

"The U.S. Department of Education is pleased to support the U.S. Olympic Committee's Fair Play initiative. Its message of respect, responsibility, trustworthiness and honesty is welcome, timely and reflected in our own character education efforts. Character counts and cheating is never justified, whether taking a test or training for the gold medal. We look forward to working with the USOC and its athletes to help spread this message."

Also to come as part of the ongoing initiative will be an online section of usolympicteam.com targeting grass-roots athletes and elementary educators. As a component of the youth-oriented website, elementary educators and parents will be able to download educational materials focused on the Olympic Movement and upcoming Games.

The entire campaign can be viewed on the USOC website: usolympicteam.com.

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World champion wrestler Iris Smith named USOC Athlete of the Month

10/13/2005
Karen Saladyga/USOC

The U.S. Olympic Committee today named World Champion wrestler Iris Smith as its Female Athlete of the Month for September.

Skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson was its September Male Athletes of the Month. The USOC Team of the Month honor was awarded to the USA Men’s National Volleyball Team.

Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo.) won a gold medal at 72kg/158.5 lbs. at the World Wrestling Championships, the most important international event of the year, Sept. 30 in Budapest, Hungary. Smith scored a major upset in the gold-medal finals, defeating five-time World champion Kyoko Hamaguchi of Japan, 3-1, 1-1, 1-0. Smith was the only U.S. woman wrestler to win a World gold medal this year and became only the fourth U.S. woman wrestler ever to win a World title on her way to leading the United States to a strong third-place finish in the team standings at the World Championships.

Smith won four matches on the way to her historic win. In her first bout, Smith stopped Stanka Zlateva of Bulgaria, 3-1, 1-0. In the quarterfinals, Smith stopped Angnieska Wieczczek of Poland, 2-0, 6-0. She also had a strong semifinal win over Anita Schaetzle of Germany, 3-1, 2-0.

Smith was competing in her second World Championships. She is a member of the U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program.

Volleyball’s Nancy Metcalf (Hull, Iowa) placed second among the women after being named the most valuable player of the NORCECA Continental Championships Sept. 11 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. She led the USA Women’s National Volleyball Team to the gold medal with a 25-13, 22-25, 27-25, 20-25 victory over Cuba. Metcalf, who tied a match high with 21 points in the final, also tied for the tournament lead in scoring with 67 total points on 55 kills, seven blocks and five aces in five matches. Team USA posted a 5-1 record and qualified for the prestigious six-team Grand Champions Cup tournament in Japan in November.

Third place for the women went to snowboarder Hannah Teter (Belmont, Vt.), who earned back-to-back halfpipe wins just three hours apart at the World Cup season opener Sept. 15 in Valle Nevado, Chile. Teter was the lone American woman to qualify for either halfpipe final and the two victories bring her total career World Cup wins to six.

On the men’s side, reigning World Cup aerials champion Peterson (Boise, Idaho) won the first World Cup aerials event of the Olympic season Sept. 3 at Mount Buller, Australia. In collecting the fourth World Cup victory of his career, Peterson had 246.25 points and landed two quad-twisting triples (four twists, three flips), a double full-full-full and a full-double full-full.

Second-place honors for the men went to volleyball’s Donald Suxho (Redondo Beach, Calif.), who guided the USA Men’s National Volleyball Team to its second-straight NORCECA Continental Championship as the squad posted a 25-22, 25-27, 25-23, 25-22 victory over Cuba Sept. 15 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Suxho, who earned the tournament’s best server honors after blasting 11 aces, set Team USA to a hitting percentage of 0.441 (195 kills, 43 errors, 345 attempts) and averaged 6.6 points per match.

Rower Beau Hoopman (Plymouth, Wis.) placed third for the men after stroking the men’s eight to a gold medal Sept. 3 at the 2005 FISA World Championships in Gifu, Japan, its first World championship title in the event since 1999. Hoopman, who raced in two boats at the world championships, also helped the U.S. men’s four to a fifth-place finish Sept. 3.

Freestyle wrestler Tolly Thompson (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Sunkist Kids), a World bronze medalist at 120 kg/264.5 lbs., received first-place votes in the balloting.

In the team category, the USA Men's National Volleyball Team held off a stubborn Cuban squad, 3-1, to win its second-consecutive NORCECA Continental Championship Sept. 15 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The USA posted a 25-22, 25-27, 25-23, 25-22 victory to finish the tournament with a perfect 5-0 record while losing just one set (15-1). The Americans, who also won the last NORCECA Championship in 2003, earned back-to-back crowns for the first time in 20 years.

Second place went to the U.S. Rowing Men’s Eight with Coxswain. Despite four members rowing in two events, the squad won the gold medal at the 2005 FISA World Rowing Championships Sept. 3 in Gifu, Japan. The victory marked the first time the U.S. won gold at the World Championships since 1999.

Third place in the team category went to the U.S. International Junior Women’s Gymnastics Team, consisting of Natasha Kelley (Katy, Texas) and Bianca Flohr (Creston, Ohio), which earned three gold, five silver and two bronze medals at the International Junior Gymnastics Competition Sept. 18-19 in Yokohama, Japan.

Results (first place votes in parentheses)

WOMEN
1. Iris Smith, Wrestling 20 (5)
2. Nancy Metcalf, Volleyball 16 (3)
3. Hannah Teter, Snowboarding 11 (2)
Also receiving first-place votes: Kristin Armstrong (Cycling), Diandra Asbaty (Bowling), Michelle Guerette (Rowing), Deena Kastor (Track & Field), Jenny Potter (Ice Hockey)

MEN
1. Jeret Peterson, Skiing 17 (2)
2. Donald Suxho, Volleyball 15 (2)
3. Beau Hoopman, Rowing 13 (3)
Also receiving first-place votes: Abdi Abidirahman (Track & Field), Brett Anderson (Baseball), Bill Furbish (Disabled Water Skiing), Royal Mitchell (Paralympic Track & Field), Craig Schmersal (Equestrian), Tolly Thompson (Wrestling)

TEAM
1. USA Men’s National Volleyball Team 25 (4)
2. U.S. Rowing Men’s Eight 17 (5)
3. U.S. International Junior Women’s Gymnastics Team 16 (2)
Also receiving first-place votes: USA Women’s Goalball Team, USA Baseball Junior National Pan Am Team, U.S. Wakeboard Team

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USADA unveils Anti-Doping Campaign featuring 2006 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls

10/12/2005
Nirva Milord/USADA

COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. (Oct. 12, 2005) -- The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) today unveiled a new anti-doping campaign featuring 10 2006 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team hopefuls.

The “Celebrating the Value of Fair Play” campaign includes a series of television, radio, and movie theater public service announcements (PSAs) aimed to promote fair play, respect, and integrity in sport. The PSAs made their debut at the U.S. Olympic Media Summit in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The TV PSAs feature short track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno (Seattle, Wash.); bobsledder Vonetta Flowers (Birmingham, Ala.); luge athlete Mark Grimmette (Muskegon, Mich.); sled hockey goalie Manny Guerra (Minneapolis, Minn.); long track speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez (Miami, Fla.); and U.S. Women’s National Ice Hockey Team players Angela Ruggiero (Harper Woods, Mich.); Jenny Potter (Eagan, Minn.), and Julie Chu (Fairfield, Conn.). In a first for USADA, one PSA, featuring Guerra and Rodriguez, was recorded in both English and Spanish.

Figure skater Michelle Kwan (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), freestyle moguls skier Jeremy Bloom (Loveland, Colo.) along with Ohno, Flowers, and Rodriguez are featured in movie theater advertisements slated for release in Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City and Dallas. The movie theater PSAs will begin a 28-week run in November.

“Participating in this campaign gives me the opportunity to promote what I believe a majority of U.S. athletes share and embrace,” said two-time Olympic medalist Ohno. “I want young people to understand how important it is to respect your sport and compete with integrity.”

USADA has a tradition of collaborating with U.S. athletes as part of its outreach efforts. In advance of the Athens Olympic Games, USADA launched a series of anti-doping PSAs featuring 2004 U.S. Olympic athletes.

The television and radio PSAs were produced by Elite Media and the movie theater PSAs were developed by APEX Communications. Both companies are based in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The TV and movie theater PSAs are available for viewing on the official USADA Web site at www.usantidoping.org.

USADA is responsible for the testing and results management process for athletes in the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement. USADA is equally dedicated to preserving the integrity of sport through research initiatives and educational programs.