OSU connections at Summer Olympic Games

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Seven former Oklahoma State athletes are set to compete for five different countries when the 2016 Summer Olympic Games kick off Friday in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. In addition, two other competitors have OSU ties and a decorated OSU graduate will be competing in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games in September. OSU wrestling coach John Smith will be an analyst on NBC’s TV coverage.

Golf – Rickie Fowler (United States), Caroline Masson (Germany) and Pernilla Lindberg (Sweden)

With golf set to return to the Olympics in 2016, three Cowboy and Cowgirl golfers will make their first Olympic appearances at Reserva de Marapendi.

On the men’s side, former Cowboy All-American Rickie Fowler will compete for the United States, joining Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar on the American team. Since leaving Stillwater, Fowler has made a name for himself on the PGA Tour, racking up three PGA Tour wins and earning the title of 2010 PGA Tour Rookie of the Year.

Fowler has made two Ryder Cup appearances for the U.S., including in 2010 where he became the youngest Ryder Cup participant in the event’s history. He also was a member of the U.S. Presidents Cup in 2015.  

Teammates on the 2009 women’s golf team, Caroline Masson and Pernilla Lindberg will represent the Cowgirls in Rio, with Masson competing for Germany and Lindberg for Sweden.

In her one season at OSU, Masson earned All-American status with a 73.91 average. A native of Gladbeck, Germany, she is currently ranked No. 84 in the world. Lindberg racked up three NGCA All-American honors during her time in Stillwater, along with a Big 12 Player of the Year recognition in 2008. The Bollnäs, Sweden product is currently ranked No. 91 in the world.

Men’s competition in Rio is scheduled for August 11-14, with the women’s tournament set for August 17-20.

 

Track and Field – Shadrack Kipchirchir (United States), Ingeborg Loevnes (Norway), Nick Miller and Tom Farrell (Great Britain)

Making up the largest OSU contingent at an Olympic Games in school history, Shadrack Kipchirchir, Ingeborg Loevnes, Nick Miller and Tom Farrell will each represent their respective countries in Rio. It marks the first time since 2004 that an OSU track and field athlete has competed in the Olympics.

An All-American and 2012 Big 12 Indoor Champion in the 5,000 meters during his time at OSU, Kipchirchir finished runner-up in the 10,000-meter final to clinch a spot on Team USA at the U.S. Team Trials in Eugene, Ore., earlier this month. With the feat, he becomes the first Cowboy track and field athlete to compete for the U.S. since Tom Von Ruden in 1968.

Set to run in the steeplechase for Norway, Loevnes is the second Cowgirl to compete at the Olympics and the first since 1988 (Christine McMiken). She ran a 9:43.75 in the event to qualify for the Norwegian team. As a Cowgirl, Loevnes was a 2015 All-American in the outdoor steeplechase.

Farrell and Miller will each compete for their home country of Great Britain. Farrell will compete in the 5,000 meters, while Miller qualified in the hammer throw to become the first Cowboy ever to compete in an Olympic field event.

Wrestling – John Smith (TV Analyst, NBC)

OSU’s impact at this year’s Olympic Games extends past the playing surface as well. Fans can tune into NBC’s coverage of the wrestling events to catch Cowboy head coach John Smith deliver commentary on the matches.

Smith is no stranger to the Olympics, having experienced the event as both a wrestler and a coach. Smith earned two Olympic Gold Medals as a wrestler in 1988 and 1992, and served as the head coach of Team USA in 2000 and 2012.

OSU Spears School of Business U.S. Olympic connections

Air Force 1st Lt. Cale Simmons, a pole vaulter, is a student in the OSU Spears School’s Master’s in Entrepreneurship program. He trains at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs and takes online classes through the Spears School. Once he graduates, Simmons plans to open his own business, but for now is focused on the pole vault competition Aug. 13.

Also, U.S. distance runner Jenny Simpson is the daughter of Dr. Bruce Barringer, head of the School of Entrepreneurship at OSU. She is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in the 1,500 meters. She won the U.S. Olympic Trials and this is her third time to represent the U.S. in the Olympics. Simpson will be running Aug. 12 in the 1,500 meter preliminaries.

To view a full schedule of Olympic events, visit www.nbcolympics.com/full-schedule.

 

2016 Paralympic Games – Cassie Mitchell

OSU alumna Dr. Cassie Mitchell hopes to become the first female athlete in her class to win two gold medals in the Paralympics in Rio in September. Mitchell set world records in the 100 meter and 400 meter wheelchair races at the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials this summer. She competed in the 2012 London Paralympic games and finished fourth in three events.

Mitchell graduated from OSU in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. During her time at OSU she was a National Goldwater Scholar and founded Chemkidz, a program that teaches chemical engineering principles to elementary students. She received the OSU Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2015.

She received her Ph.D. in biomedical engineering with an emphasis in neuroengineering from Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. Mitchell works as a research engineer for Georgia Tech Neuro to predict disease mechanisms, prognosis and potential outcomes.