Military Olympians

I have to admit that until I started working for the USOC, I had no idea that the U.S. military was in any way affiliated with the Olympic movement. It was during my internship that I was first introduced to the Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) and some of the active duty military who trained at the OTC. It was also during my internship that I met my friend Anita who was a Captain in the Army and competed in Athens in 2004 in Modern Pentathlon. Athletes in the WCAP program are temporarily assigned to locations such as an OTC to train and compete in their sport full-time. There are less than a hundred athlete Soldiers in the program so it's fairly unknown even within the Army.

During the last five years, I've been fortunate to work with some pretty talented athletes, both able-bodied and disabled. I'm sure it's no surprise that many military veterans can be found within the ranks of the Paralympic movement. What may be surprising however, is that there are also some active duty military representing the U.S. in the international arena through the Paralympics. I'll give more background and insight into the Paralympic movement as we get closer to those Games (Sept 6-17).

For a quick overview of active duty military representing the U.S. in the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games, check out the following link:

http://militarytimes.com/military-olympians/index.php

The array of summer sports is quite broad: boxing, fencing, modern pentathlon, shooting, swimming, track & field and wrestling. Check out the link for bios on the athletes, results, more info on military sport programs & history, and even a blog being updated from Beijing by the Commander of the Army Marksmanship Unit, from which 6 of the 22 Olympic shooters hail. Be sure to cheer for these athletes who are serving their country in one uniform and representing it on the playing field in another!