With the World Cup going on, some people have wondered about the 3-letter hashtags (#USA or #GER) used on twitter for the various competing nations. The first time that national identifying abbreviations formally appeared at the Olympics was in 1952 at Helsinki.  They were not used in the Official Report, but did appear in the Daily Programs from that year.  The abbreviations were not strictly of the 3-letter style.  A few had 4-letters (USSR, CHIN = China), while some had only 2-letters (Finland = SF, Saar = SR), and several had 2-letters separated by a dash (Czechoslovakia = T-S, Great Britain = G-B, Hong Kong = H-K, New Zealand = N-Z, Puerto Rico = P-R). They have varied greatly over the years – one can see the article on these in Journal of Olympic History (Mallon/Karlsson.  “IOC and OCOG Abbreviations for NOCs”. Journal of Olympic History 12 (2): 25–28, May 2004.)

But FIFA (the football federation) and the IAAF (the athletics federation) also have their own set of 3-letter abbreviations (3LA) – and they are not always the same.

The only time this has really come up at the World Cup is with Nigeria, which has a 3LA of NGR from the IOC and the IAAF, but is NGA per FIFA.

There are 269 “countries” recognized by the 3 organizations, although many are not technically nations, and some 30 of them are now defunct. The IOC has had 232 different recognized geo-political entities (GPEs), and currently recognizes 204 National Olympic Committees (NOCs). FIFA has recognized 239 abbreviations, and currently recognizes 209 GPEs, while the IAAF has had 216 abbreviations, with 212 GPEs currently recognized. In addition, over the years, some nations change their IOC 3LA – such as Saudi Arabia, which used to be SAU, but is now KSA (=Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), and Iran, which was originally IRN by the IOC, but later changed to IRI = Islamic Republic of Iran. There are several other such examples – all noted in the article referenced above. The former Czechoslovakia alone had 8 different abbreviations used by varying Olympic Organizing Committees – T-S, CZS, CSL, CZE, CSV, CS, CZS, and TCH; and this does not include CZE and SVK after the nation split into Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

Currently, there are 198 GPEs recognized by the IOC, FIFA, and the IAAF. Of these 23 of them differ among the organizations. In 19 cases, the IOC and IAAF agree, but FIFA has a different 3LA, while in 4 cases, the IOC and FIFA agree but the IAAF has a different 3LA. There are also 5 cases of GPEs not recognized by all 3 organizations, but which have different 3LAs. The entire list is as follows:

[table]

NOC,IOC,FIFA,IAAF,Notes

Antigua & Barbuda,ANT,ATG,ANT,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Bahrain,BRN,BHR,BRN,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Barbados,BAR,BRB,BAR,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Belize,BIZ,BLZ,BIZ,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

British Virgin Islands,IVB,VGB,IVB,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Burkina Faso,BUR,BFA,BUR,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Central African Republic,CAF,CTA,CAF,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

El Salvador,ESA,SLV,ESA,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Equatorial Guinea,GEQ,EQG,GEQ,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Guinea – Bissau,GBS,GNB,GBS,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Indonesia,INA,IDN,INA,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Iran,IRI,IRN,IRI,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Latvia,LAT,LVA,LAT,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Libya,LBA,LBY,LBA,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Malawi,MAW,MWI,MAW,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Nigeria,NGR,NGA,NGR,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Palestine,PLE,PAL,PLE,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

Slovenia,SLO,SVN,SLO,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

United States Virgin Islands,ISV,VIR,ISV,FIFA differs from IOC/IAAF

,,,,

Congo DR (Zaire),COD,COD,ZAI,IAAF differs from IOC/FIFA

East Timor,TLS,TLS,ETM,IAAF differs from IOC/FIFA

Romania,ROU,ROU,ROM,IAAF differs from IOC/FIFA

Serbia,SRB,SRB,SER,IAAF differs from IOC/FIFA

,,,,

Anguilla,,AIA,ANG,IOC does not recognize

Faeroe Islands,,FRO,FAR,IOC does not recognize

Marshall Islands,MHL,,MSH,FIFA does not recognize

Montserrat,,MSR,MNT,IOC does not recognize

Turks & Caicos Islands,,TCA,TKS,IOC does not recognize

[/table]

Has anyone ever competed in both the Olympics and the Paralympics? You probably know us well enough by now to know the answer is yes, and most people assume we are referring only to Oscar Pistorius, the South African blade runner now on trial for the murder of his girlfriend. In fact, it has happened 14 times, although 3 were sighted guides at the Paralympics. The first ever was Neroli Fairhall, the New Zealand archer who competed at the 1980 Paralympics and the 1984 Olympic Games. Fairhall was a paraplegic after a motorbike accident, and competed as an archer from her wheelchair.

Here are the 13 Olympians / Paralympians:

[table]

Athlete,NOC,Sport,Olympics,Paralympics

Orazio Fagone,ITA,STK,1988-94,2006

Neroli Fairhall,NZL,ARC,1984,1980

Paola Fantato,ITA,ARC,1996,1988-2004

Assunta Legnante,ITA,ATH,2008,2012

Craig MacLean,GBR,CYC,2000-04,2012 (sighted guide)

Robin McKeever,CAN,CCS,1998,2010 (sighted guide)

Natalia Partyka,POL,TTN,2008-12,2000-12

Oscar Pistorius,RSA,ATH,2012,2004-12

Marla Runyan,USA,ATH,2000-04,1992-96

Jeroen Straathof,NED,CYC/SSK,1994-2004,2000 (sighted guide)

Pál Szekeres,HUN,FEN,1988,1992-2012

Natalie du Toit,RSA,SWI,2008,2004-12

Sonia Vettenburg,BEL,SHO,1992,1984-88

Ilke Wyludda,GER,ATH,1992-2000,2012

[/table]

See also http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/friv/lists.cgi

In 2002 at Salt Lake City I was approached by Rick Reilly, the well-known Sports Illustrated writer, who asked me if I knew who had come the closest to winning medals without actually ever winning one. He wanted to know who had been the unluckiest Olympian. Unfortunately, our database was not as strong then as it is now and I was unable to give him a quick and easy answer.

But now we can answer that question for you – who has been the unluckiest Olympian. It depends slightly on how you define “unlucky” but we’ll offer you a couple choices.

• If you want the Olympian without a medal and the most 4^th places – that would be Mariya Itkina, an early Soviet-era sprinter who placed 4^th four times at the Olympics, but never mounted the podium. Itkina was 4^th in the 1956 4×100 metre relay, and three times in 1960 at Rome – in the 100 metres, the 200 metres, and the 4×100 relay again. She also finished 5^th in the 400 at the 1964 Olympics. She only missed the top 5 once, failing to get past the heats in the 1956 200 metres.
• Itkina was better at other meets. She was a four-time European Champion, winning gold in the 200 and 4×1 in 1954, and winning the 400 in both 1958 and 1965. She was a 17-time Soviet Champion, and won the 200 metres at the 1957 Universiade. She also set multiple world records, especially so with 7 in the 400 metres, an event that was fairly new for women in the 1950s.
• If Itkina does not please you as a choice, how about Lisa Curry-Kenny, an Australian swimmer. Curry-Kenny also finished 4^th or 5^th in 5 Olympic events, as did Itkina. She was 4^th in the 1984 200 IM and 4×100 free relay, while she finished 5^th in the 1980 100 metre butterfly and 4×100 free relay, and in the 1992 4×100 medley relay. Curry-Kenny also claimed a 6^th place in the 1980 medley relay. In all, Curry-Kenny competed in 13 Olympic events – 7 individual and 6 relays – at the 1980, 1984, and 1992 Olympics, but never mounted a podium. Shed no tears for Curry-Kenny, though. She was a 7-time gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games, and won 10 Commonwealth medals in all. She married Grant Kenny, an Ironman competitor who also competed at the Olympics in canoeing, and did bring the family an Olympic medal with a bronze in 1984 kayak doubles.
• Lisa Curry-Kenny became a well-known Australian television personality and product spokesperson, and has received numerous awards for her career. She has been named a Member of the Order of the British Empire, is a member of Sport Australia Hall of Fame and the Queensland Sport Hall of Fame, has received the Medal of the Order of Australia, the Australian Sports Medal, the Centenary Medal, and at the 2008 Australian Day Honours, was made an Officer of the Order of Australia.
• Danish badminton player Rikke Olsen also came close without mounting the Olympic podium. Olsen competed in 6 Olympic events, and finished 4^th, or =5^th (losing quarter-finalist), in all of them, all in doubles or mixed doubles. Maddeningly, she competed in three bronze medal matches (1996 women’s doubles, 2000 and 2004 mixed doubles) but lost all of them to finish 4^th three times. Olsen was a nine-time Danish champion in doubles events, but internationally her major win was in the mixed at the 1995 Nordic Championships. She also never managed a World Championship medal, but did win three medals at the All-England Championships, a major championship in badminton.
• Another option could be Tie Ya Na, a Hong Kong table tennis player. She competed in 6 Olympic events from 2004-2012 and finished =5^th fully five times, although in table tennis, that means she was a losing quarter-finalist each of those times. Still a frustrating Olympic career. A native Chinese who emigrated to Hong Kong, she still competes as of 2014 and has won 9 medals at the World Championships, all in doubles or team events, but all silver and bronze, never managing a world title. Her biggest international victories have been at the Asian Games, with titles in mixed doubles in 2002 and the team event in 2005.
• Going way back, we can also mention Greek shooter Frangiskos Mavrommatis, who competed at the Olympics in 1906, 1908, and 1912. Because of the plethora of shooting events in that era, Mavrommatis competed in 24 different Olympic events (1906-9, 1908-4, 1912-11). He finished 4^th twice, 5^th twice, and 6^th twice, for 6 appearances in the top 6. But he never managed an Olympic medal.
• At the Winter Games, we have two athletes who have finished in the top 6 six times at the Olympics, but never won a medal. Japanese short-track speed skater Satoru Terao finished 4^th in the 1994 1,000 metres, 6^th in the 2006 500 metres, and 5^th four times – the 2002 500 metres, and the 5K relay in 1994, 1998, and 2002. Because of the wild nature of short-track, Terao was twice eliminated in preliminary rounds because of disqualifications or falls when he and another skater collided.
• Marie Johansson-Risby was a Swedish cross-country skiier who had two 4^th-place finishes – the 1976 4×5 km relay and the 1984 5 km; two 5^th-place finishes – the 1984 20 km and 4×5 km relay; and two 6^th-place finishes – the 1980 4×5 km relay and the 1984 10 km. But she never managed to win an Olympic medal. Johansson-Risby was a solid international competitor for years but was never quite at the highest level. She won one World Cup race in her career, a 5 km race in Finland in 1985, her final year in competition.

So there you have it. Great competitors all, but never had the luck to win an Olympic medal, despite coming close multiple times. Salute them for their great careers nonetheless.

Several tweets and blog posts have commented that 15 June 2014 was the 100^th anniversary of the unveiling of the Olympic Flag. This is not actually true, as we will note below, although it is the 100^th anniversary of when the now familiar flag was approved by the IOC as its official symbol, but it had actually been designed several months earlier and displayed in April 1914 in Alexandria, Egypt.

The Olympic Flag has a plain white background with no border.  In the center is what is termed the Olympic Symbol, which consists of five interconnected rings.  They form two rows of three rings above, and two below.  The rings of the upper row are, from left to right, blue, black, and red.  The rings of the lower row are yellow and green.  The rings are thought to symbolize the five continents – Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and America.  The colors of the rings are thought to have been chosen because at least one of these colors can be found in the flag of every nation. Despite some commentaries I have seen, there is no designation of any of the colors to be assigned to any specific continent.

The origin of the flag’s design is in some dispute.  It was designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to honor and represent the 1914 Olympic Congress in Paris.  Some sources state that de Coubertin saw the rings at Delphi in 1913, but classics scholars believe this is highly unlikely and that they are of his own, modern invention. There is a picture of the rings at Delphi, but these were almost certainly added after the Olympic Flag had been unveiled. It is known that de Coubertin had written a letter in 1913 with his design for the five rings at the top of the letter.

The idea of a flag was raised by the IOC in 1910 and a special committee worked to plan it.  Several suggestions were made, notably by Theodore Cook (GBR) and Clarence von Rosen (SWE), but little progress was made until de Coubertin came up with his design.  He commented in the August 1913 edition of Revue Olympique, “These five rings represent the five parts of the world from this point on won over to Olympism and given to accepting fruitful rivalry.  Furthermore, the six colors [including the white background] thus combined reproduce the colors of all the nations, with no exception.” The flag was first flown at Chatsby Stadium in Alexandria, Egypt for the Pan-Egyptian Games on 5 April 1914.  It was presented to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by de Coubertin at the Olympic Congress in 1914 at the Sorbonne in Paris, where it was officially approved on 15 June 1914.  The flag was also flown in 1915 at the San Francisco Exhibition and at the 1919 IOC Session in Lausanne, before it made its début at the Olympic Games in 1920 at Antwerp, Belgium.  The “primary” Olympic Flag was thus known as “the Antwerp flag,” and has been the main Olympic Flag flown at the stadium at all Olympic Games through 1984.  In 1984, Seoul presented a new Olympic Flag to the IOC, made of fine Korean silk, which was first flown at the 1988 Olympics.  A second “primary” Olympic Flag is used for the Olympic Winter Games, which was donated in 1952 by the host city of Oslo, Norway.

The Olympic Flag is raised at the Opening Ceremony and flies over the main stadium throughout the Olympic Games.  It is lowered at the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games.  The mayor of the Olympic Host City then presents the Olympic Flag to the mayor of the next Olympic Host City.  The flag is to be kept in the town hall of the host city until the next Olympic Games.

The Olympic Symbol of the five rings is now strictly regulated by the IOC, with strict design standards, and color regulations in Pantone© colors for the five rings. The Olympic Symbol and Olympic Flag are the exclusive property of the IOC and cannot be used without authorization.

With the San Antonio Spurs winning the NBA Title last night, here is a similar list to our Stanley Cup / Olympic Gold list. This is the list of basketball Triple Crown Winners – all those winning an NCAA Title, Olympic Gold, and NBA Championship. All 7 of the players are from the USA, as one would expect. And no, nobody on the Spurs was added to this list last night. American Tim Duncan (although he was born in the Virgin Islands and his sister, Tricia, swam for the Virgin Islands at the 1988 Olympics) on the team has an Olympic medal, playing on the bronze-medal winning 2004 team, and has won 5 NBA titles with the Spurs (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2014), but Argentine Manu Ginóbili won a gold medal in 2004 and a bronze medal in 2008. He has played on NBA Champions with the Spurs in 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014 and is one of the few non-Americans to have won an Olympic medal and an NBA Championship. The lists below show the 7 players to have won the Triple Crown and all non-Americans to have won an Olympic medal and an NBA title:

[table]

Name,Olympics,NCAA,NBA Titles

Quinn Buckner,1976,1976 Indiana Univ,1984 Boston Celtics

Magic Johnson,1992,1979 Michigan State Univ,1980/82/85/87-88 Los Angeles Lakers

K. C. Jones,1956,1955-56 Univ San Francisco,1959-66 Boston Celtics

Michael Jordan,1984/92,1982 Univ North Carolina,1991-93; 1996-98 Chicago Bulls

Clyde Lovelette,1952,1952 Univ Kansas,1954 Minneapolis Lakers; 1963-64 Boston Celtics

Jerry Lucas,1960,1960 Ohio State Univ,1973 New York Knicks

Bill Russell,1956,1955-56 Univ San Francisco,1957; 1959-66; 1968-69 Boston Celtics

[/table]

For the record, unlike ice hockey, no player has ever won Olympic Gold, NBA/NHL Championship, and a World Championship (31 hockey players thru 2010).

[table]

Name,Olympics,NBA Titles

Toni Kukoc,1988/1992 silver (YUG/CRO),1996/97/98 Chicago Bulls

Zelly Rebrača,1996 silver (SCG),2004 Detroit Pistons

Manu Ginóbili,2004 gold/2008 bronze (ARG),2003/05/07/14 San Antonio Spurs

Fabricio Oberto,2004 gold/2008 bronze (ARG),2007 San Antonio Spurs

Pau Gasol,2008/12 silver (ESP),2009/10 Los Angeles Lakers

[/table]

In addition, Hakeem Olajuwon won NBA Titles with the 1994/95 Houston Rockets and won an Olympic gold in 1996, but by then he had taken US citizenship and played for the USA. Two other foreign players who came close to this list were Luc Longley (AUS-1988/2000), Bill Wennington (CAN-1984), who both finished 4^th at the Olympics (Longley twice), and played on NBA Champions – both with the Bulls from 1996-98.

Prince,Sailor,Race Car Driver,Pilot,Liked to Marry

Full name              Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh

Used name           Birabongse, Prince Bhanubandh

Original name    พีรพงศ์ ภาณุเดช

Other names      B. Bira, Prince Bira

Born                        15 July 1914; Krung Thep (Bangkok) (THA)

Died                         24 December 1985; London, Greater London (GBR)

[table]

Year-Games,Sport,Event,Team,Finish

1956 Summer,Sailing,2-Person Keelboat,Luang Pradiyat Navayudh,12

1960 Summer,Sailing,2-Person Keelboat,Boonpuen Chomvith,19

1964 Summer,Sailing,3-Person Keelboat,Linglom (boat),22

1972 Summer,Sailing,2-Person Keelboat,Paitane Chulgatuppa,21

[/table]

http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/bh/birabongse-prince-bhanubandh-1.html

A grandson of King Mongkut, loosely portrayed in “The King and I” and “Anna and the King,” His Serene Highness Prince Birabongse Bhanudej Bhanubandh of Siam was educated at Eton and Cambridge. His mother died when he was only 4-years-old, and his father died while he was at Eton, leaving him an orphan. He moved in with a cousin in London, Prince Chula, and was accepted for Trinity College at Cambridge, but never graduated.

Prince Bira became involved in automobile racing in the 1930s, and singlehandedly established Thailand’s racing colors. Initially competing under the pseudonym of “B. Bira”, Bhanudej became best known as Prince Bira. Between 1950 and 1954, he competed in 19 Formula One World Championship races, scoring championship points on three occasions for a career total of eight. His best result was in the 1950 Swiss Grand Prix, in which he finished fourth in a Maserati. No other southeastern Asian driver would compete in Formula One until 2001 when Malaysian Alex Yoong raced for Minardi. Prince Bira also raced with some success in British rally cars.

Returning to Thailand in 1955, Prince Bira switched attention to a different hobby: sailing. He represented his country four times at the Olympics, although never with any significant success. Prince Bira was also instrumental in getting the Fireball World Championships to Thailand in 1978. In addition to race car driving and sailing, he was also an excellent pilot, both of gliders and motorized planes, and once flew his own two-engine plane from London to Bangkok.

Bira, who died of a heart attack in the London Underground in 1985, is remembered for his exploits by the Bira International Circuit outside Pattaya, and the Prince Bira Memorial Regatta, held since 1990. Prince Bira was married six times, twice to the same woman, Ceril Heycock, or the Princess Ceril Birabongse. They were married from 1938-49 and in what must be some sort of record, after 4 more wives, they were married again 34 years later, in 1983.

With the 2014 World Cup now underway it may surprise many of you just how few people have performed the feat of winning both Olympic gold and a World Cup winners medal. It’s only been done 11 times in the men’s game and, since the last time it happened was in 1938, there is now no man alive who has achieved the feat. Despite women’s football having spent less than 20 years as an Olympic event it’s already been 15 times on the female side, mostly by Americans.

The fact that the World Cup only began in 1930 and was dominated by professionals post World War Two gave only a small window for the Olympic/World Cup double to be realistically achieved until the advent of professionals in the late 80s.
That’s why the 11 names on the list all came from the 1930s.
7 come from the Uruguay team of the late 20s and early 30s and the other 4 from the Italian team of the late 30s.
As for Brazilians? There aren’t any. Brazil have been so far thwarted in their attempts on the Olympic championships although with a home Olympics following a home World Cup this may well change.

The women’s tournament, free of the artificial restrictions that plague the men’s event, has already seen more do the double since 1996 than in the 114 year history of men’s Olympic football.

Jose Andrade

Men (11)
[table]

Athlete,NOC,Olympic Gold,World Cup
José Andrade, URU, 1924-28, 1930
Héctor Castro, URU,1928,1930
Pedro Cea, URU, 1924-28, 1930
Lorenzo Fernández, URU,1928,1930
Alvaro Gestido, URU,1928,1930
José Nasazzi, URU, 1924-28, 1930
Héctor Scarone, URU, 1924-28, 1930,
Sergio Bertoni, ITA, 1936, 1938
Alfredo Foni, ITA, 1936, 1938
Ugo Locatelli, ITA, 1936, 1938
Pietro Rava, ITA, 1936, 1938

[/table]

Women (15)
[table]

Athlete,NOC,Olympic Gold,World Cup
Michelle Akers,USA, 1996, 1991 & 1999
Tisha Venturini,USA, 1996, 1999
Brandi Chastain,USA, 1996 & 2004, 1991 & 1999
Joy Fawcett,USA, 1996 & 2004, 1999
Julie Foudy,USA, 1996 & 2004, 1991 & 1999
Mia Hamm,USA, 1996 & 2004, 1991 & 1999
Kristine Lilly,USA, 1996 & 2004, 1991 & 1999
Shannon MacMillan,USA, 1996, 1999
Tiffeny Milbrett,USA, 1996, 1999
Carla Overbeck,USA, 1996, 1999
Cindy Parlow,USA, 1996 & 2004, 1999
Christie Pearce-Rampone,USA, 2004 2008 & 2012, 1999
Tiffany Roberts,USA, 1996 & 2004, 1999
Briana Scurry,USA, 1996 & 2004, 1999
Kate Sobrero-Markgraf, USA, 2004 & 2008, 1999
Gro Espeseth,NOR,2000,1995
Bente Nordby,NOR,2000,1995
Marianne Pettersen,NOR,2000,1995
Hege Riise,NOR,2000,1995

[/table]

Mia Hamm

Looking to add their names to the list this year will be the following players. Cameroon won Olympic gold in 2000, Argentina in 2004-08, and Mexico in 2012, defeating Brazil in the final match. (Yuichi Nishimura was not refereeing the Mexico-Brazil match in London.)

Cameroon
Samuel Eto’o

Mexico
José de Jesús Corona
Carlos Salcido
Diego Antonio Reyes
Javier Aquino
Giovani dos Santos
Marco Fabián
Héctor Herrera
Raúl Jiménez
Oribe Peralta
Miguel Ángel Ponce

Argentina
Ezequiel Garay
Ezequiel Lavezzi
Fernando Gago
Javier Mascherano
Lionel Messi
Ángel di María
Pablo Zabaleta
Sergio Agüero
Sergio Romero

This is not an easy thing to do. Both the Olympics and the World Cup only take place every four years and teams cannot even use all the same players in the two tournaments – there are some age limits at the Olympics. Further, not all teams compete in both events. Great Britain competes at the Olympics, while England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have separate teams for the World Cup. If we limit ourselves to the World Cup era (1924-2012), here are the only nations that have even won both an Olympic and a World Cup title – note that Brazil is not on this list. Brazil has won 5 World Cups but never won an Olympic gold medal.
[table]
Winning Both,World Cup,Olympics
Italy,4,1
Argentina,2,2
Uruguay,2,2
France,1,1
Spain,1,1
[/table]

The Los Angeles Kings have now won the 2014 Stanley Cup. Prior to this there were 52 hockey players to have won an Olympic gold medal and had their names engraved on Lord Stanley’s Cup, but with the Kings victory, two more players will be added to this list – Drew Doughty, who played for Canada in 2010 and 2014,  and Mike Richards, who played for Canada in 2010 at Vancouver. In addition, Jeff Carter, who was already on the list from his 2014 Olympic gold and 2012 Stanley Cup (also with the Kings) gets his data updated slightly. Here is the list prior to 2014:

[table]

Athlete,NOC,OlyGold,Stanley Cups

Patrice Bergeron,CAN,2010-14,2011 Boston Bruins

Rob Blake,CAN,2002,2001 Colorado Avalanche

Dan Boyle,CAN,2010,2004 Tampa Bay Lightning

Martin Brodeur,CAN,2002/10,1995/00/03 New Jersey Devils

Jeff Carter,CAN,2014,2012 Los Angeles Kings

Sidney Crosby,CAN,2010-14,2009 Pittsburgh Penguins

Slava Fetisov,URS,1984-88,1998 Detroit Red Wings

Adam Foote,CAN,2002,2001 Colorado Avalanche

Peter Forsberg,SWE,1994,1996/01 Colorado Avalanche

Ryan Getzlaf,CAN,2010-14,2007 Anaheim Ducks

Aleksey Gusarov,URS,1988,1996 Colorado Avalanche

Dominik Hašek,CZE,1998,2002/08 Detroit Red Wings

Milan Hejduk,CZE,1998,2001 Colorado Avalanche

Tomas Holmström,SWE,2006,2008 Detroit Red Wings

Jaromír Jágr,CZE,1998,1991-92 Pittsburgh Penguins

Tomas Jonsson,SWE,1994,1982-83 New York Islanders

Valery Kamensky,URS,1988,1996 Colorado Avalanche

Duncan Keith,CAN,2010-14,2010 Chicago Blackhawks

Patric Kjellberg,SWE,1994,1993 Montréal Canadiens

Aleksey Kovalyov,EUN,1992,1994 New York Rangers

Niklas Kronwall,SWE,2006,2008 Detroit Red Wings

Chris Kunitz,CAN,2014,2007 Anaheim Ducks / 09 Pittsburgh Penguins

Igor Larionov,URS,1984-88,1997-98/02 Detroit Red Wings

Nicklas Lidström,SWE,2006,2008 Detroit Red Wings

Håkan Loob,SWE,1994,1989 Calgary Flames

Vladimir Malakhov,EUN,1992,2000 New Jersey Devils

Bert McCaffrey,CAN,1924,1930 Montréal Canadiens

Dmitry Mironov,EUN,1992,1998 Detroit Red Wings

Fredrik Modin,SWE,2006,2004 Tampa Bay Lightning

Aleksandr Mogilny,URS,1988,2000 New Jersey Devils

Ken Morrow,USA,1980,1980-83 New York Islanders

Dunc Munro,CAN,1924,1926 Montréal Maroons

Mats Näslund,SWE,1994,1986 Montréal Canadiens

Scott Niedermayer,CAN,2002/10,1995/00/03 New Jersey Devils / 07 Anaheim Ducks

Joe Nieuwendyk,CAN,2002,1989 Calgary Flames / 99 Dallas Stars / 03 New Jersey Devils

Corey Perry,CAN,2010-14,2007 Anaheim Ducks

Chris Pronger,CAN,2002/10,2007 Anaheim Ducks

Joe Sakic,CAN,2002,2001 Colorado Avalanche

Mikael Samuelsson,SWE,2006,2008 Detroit Red Wings

Brent Seabrook,CAN,2010,2010 Chicago Blackhawks

Brendan Shanahan,CAN,2002,1998/02 Detroit Red Wings

Patrick Sharp,CAN,2014,2010/13 Chicago Blackhawks

Jiří Šlégr,CZE,1998,2002 Detroit Red Wings

Richard Šmehlík,CZE,1998,2003 New Jersey Devils

Hooley Smith,CAN,1924,1927 Ottawa Senators / 35 Montréal Maroons

Eric Staal,CAN,2010,2006 Carolina Hurricanes

Petr Svoboda,CZE,1998,1986 Montréal Canadiens

Jonathan Toews,CAN,2010/14,2010 Chicago Blackhawks

Dave Trottier,CAN,1928,1935 Montréal Maroons

Steve Yzerman,CAN,2002,1998/02 Detroit Red Wings

Henrik Zetterberg,SWE,2006,2008 Detroit Red Wings

Sergey Zubov,EUN,1992,1994 New York Rangers / 98 Dallas Stars

[/table]

It is even more unusual for a player to win a gold medal and play on the Stanley Cup champions in the same year. In fact, this has only happened 6 times previously. Here is the full list, adding Carter and Doughty to the list.

[table]

Athlete,NOC,OlyGold,Stanley Cup

Ken Morrow,USA,1980,1980 New York Islanders

Brendan Shanahan,CAN,2002,2002 Detroit Red Wings

Steve Yzerman,CAN,2002,2002 Detroit Red Wings

Duncan Keith,CAN,2010,2010 Chicago Blackhawks

Brent Seabrook,CAN,2010,2010 Chicago Blackhawks

Jonathan Toews,CAN,2010,2010 Chicago Blackhawks

Jeff Carter,CAN,2014,2014 Los Angeles Kings

Drew Doughty,CAN,2014,2014 Los Angeles Kings

[/table]

The US Open starts today at Pinehurst, playing the fabled #2 course, the quintessential Donald Ross design. As with the World Cup, also starting today, Olympians have played in the US Open but its been quite awhile since they have done so. Golf was on the Olympic Program in 1900 and 1904, so this would make some sense. Olympic golfers only competed in the US Open at five tournaments – 1904, 1906, 1911, 1914, and 1919.

The 1904 tournament was held at Glen View Club, in the aptly named town of Golf, Illinois. H. Chandler Egan, who won the silver medal in the 1904 Olympics, and was 1904-05 US Amateur Champion, played and finished tied for 20^th. Also playing that year were 1904 Olympians Bob Hunter (=23), Ken Edwards (=26), Mason Phelps (=43), Walter Egan, Chandler’s brother who finished 46^th, and Nat Moore, who missed the first ever cut at the US Open. Walter Egan was the 1903 Western Amateur Champion and had been runner-up in the US Amateur in 1901. Phelps was the 1908 and 1910 Western Amateur Champion.

In 1906 with the Open at Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, Illinois, Chandler Egan played again, finishing tied for 8^th, the best ever finish in a US Open by an Olympian. He was joined again by Hunter, who placed =39^th. Hunter would later win the 1910 NCAA Championship while a student at Yale and in 1911 lost in the finals of the North & South Amateur to Chick Evans. The third Olympian playing in 1906 was Warren Wood, who finished 31^st. Wood had just won the 1906 North & South Amateur, and would later win the 1913 Western Amateur and lose in the finals of the 1910 US Amateur.

Since many of the 1904 Olympians were from the Midwest, and travel was much more difficult in that era, the next US Open at which Olympians competed was in 1911, at Chicago Golf Club in Wheaton, lllinois. Chandler Egan competed again, the only Olympian to compete in 3 US Opens, this time finishing =23. Mason Phelps also returned, finishing in a tie for 23^rd. A new Olympian made an appearance, with Daniel Edward “Ned” Sawyer tieing for 18^th.

In 1914 the Open again returned to the Midwest, this time held at Midlothian Country Club in Blue Island, Illinois. Warren Wood and Ken Edwards returned, finishing =22 and =33 respectively. The final appearance by an Olympian at the US Open came in 1919 at Brae Burn Country Club in West Newton, Massachusetts, the only time an Olympian competed at a US Open not held in Illinois. This was another appearance by Ned Sawyer, who tied for 43^rd. Sawyer was the 1906 Western Amateur Champion and had been runner-up in the 1905 US Amateur to Chandler Egan.

And thus it ended, although when golf returns to the Olympic Program in 2016 (assuming the course is finished), this list will obviously enlarge greatly. Nobody from the 1900 Olympic golf tournament ever competed at a US Open, and the 1904 gold medalist, Canadian George Lyon, also never did, although he was runner-up in the 1906 US Amateur.

If we include the US Women’s Open, there is one very famous name to add, that of Babe Didrikson Zaharias. The Babe won 2 gold medals and a silver medal in track & field at the 1932 Olympics and then turned to professional golf, becoming the first real star of the LPGA Tour. She won 41 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, including 10 major championships, of which 3 were victories in the US Women’s Open – in 1948, 1950, and dramatically, her final major championship in 1954 at Salem Country Club in Peabody, Massachusetts, when she competed despite recently recovering from surgery for colon cancer, and while wearing a colostomy bag. The disease would take her life two years later.

Another great female golfer / Olympian never had a chance to compete in the US Women’s Open, that being Lottie Dod. Dod rivals Didrikson Zaharias as the greatest ever all-around female athlete. She was a silver medalist in archery at the 1908 Olympics, was a five-time singles champion at Wimbledon in the 19^th century, and won the British Ladies’ Amateur Golf Championship in 1904 at Troon. There was no US Women’s Open in that era, which started in 1946, but Dod travelled to America and competed in the 1905 US Women’s Amateur, unfortunately losing in the first round.

Defending an Olympic title is a major accomplishment, because it signifies international dominance over a 4-year period. Individually, however, it is not that uncommon, and we have examples of 5 Olympians winning individual gold medals at 4 consecutive Olympics – track & field athletes Ray Ewry (1900-08), Al Oerter (1956-68), and Carl Lewis (1984-96); and sailors Paul Elvstrøm (1948-60) and Ben Ainslie (2000-12).

But what about teams that defend an Olympic gold medal? And we are not talking here simply about nations repeating, such as India winning every hockey gold medal from 1928-56, or the USA winning basketball gold from 1936-68, or Canada and the Soviets dominating ice hockey for decades.

What we’re interested in is knowing which teams defended their Olympic titles, with the exact same team members. By team we mean anytime 2 or more athletes compete together in the same event for a single Olympic championship, so this includes tennis doubles, two-man bobsledding, and numerous other 2-person events.

And we find that repeating as a team has been done 43 times, with 2 teams actually winning gold medals at 3 consecutive Olympics. That would be the Slovakian brother tandem of Pavol and Petr Hochschorner, who won in the Canadian doubles slalom canoeing from 2000-08, earning a bronze medal in the event in 2012; and the US beach volleyball team of Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, who won the women’s event in 2004-12.

There are two candidates with a chance to equal this mark. Americans Serena and Venus Williams won the tennis women’s doubles gold medal in 2008 and 2012 and could win a third in 2016. Canadians Kallie Humphries and Heather Moyse won the women’s bobsledding two-person event in 2010 and 2014, and could add a third in 2018. Theoretically, Walsh and May-Treanor could go for 4 straight in 2016, but May retired from competition after the London Olympics, so that will not happen.

But there was one other team that virtually did this at 3 consecutive Olympics, and they did it with 3 team members. In equestrian team dressage, the Swedish team of Henri Saint Cyr, Gustaf Boltenstern, Jr., and Gehnäll Persson won the gold medal in 1952 and 1956. They also had the highest score in the event in 1948, dominating it, but the team was disqualified that year when it was discovered that Persson was not a military officer, which was then required for Olympic equestrian events, a rule that was changed after 1948.

The entire list is below. At the end of the top line of each entry you will see something like #2, which details how many team members there were. Now obviously, its easier to do this sort of repeat with fewer team members. It is simply never going to happen that a football (soccer) or ice hockey team is going to repeat with the same 23 or so team members.

In fact, it is much rarer to do this with more than 2 team members. It has happened as follows: 6 team members – 1; 5 team members – 1; 4 team members – 3; and 3 team members – 7. The 6-member team repeat was remarkably done by the Hungarian men’s sabre team in 1948-52, while the 5-member team was performed by the Soviet women’s foil team in 1968-72. Doing this with 4-member teams is also quite a feat, having been done by the East German coxless fours rowing team in 1968-72, a team termed by Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan as “The Dresden Four;” the Hungarian men’s kayak fours canoe team in 2000-04; and Sweden’s women’s curling team in 2006-10.

Of the 43 times this has been accomplished, 10 have occurred at the Winter Olympics, which is about right, as there are about 3 times as many Summer Olympic events as Winter Olympic events. This has been done 19 times in men’s events, 15 times in women’s events, and 9 times in mixed events.

The first time this was ever accomplished was by the American rowing doubles sculls tandem of Jack Kelly and Paul Costello in 1920-24. It first occurred at the Winter Games in 1928-32 when the French figure skating pair of Andrée Brunet-Joly and her husband, Pierre Brunet, won gold medals at both St. Moritz and Lake Placid.

By far the two most common sports for this to occur have been rowing (10) and canoeing (8), usually in events with only 2 team members. Figure skating is next with 4 occurrences, followed by bobsledding and sailing, with 3 each.

Among nations, China leads with 5 team repeats, but Germany has 7 in a sense – with 1 by the Federal Republic of Germany (West), 4 by the German Democratic Republic (East), and 2 by unified Germany. As independent nations, the United States and the GDR trail China with 4 team repeats, followed by Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet Union, with 3 each.

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3    Slovakia (Canoeing Men’s Canadian Doubles, Slalom; 2000-2008; #2) (Pavol Hochschorner, Petr Hochschorner)

3    United States (Beach Volleyball Women’s Team; 2004-2012; #2) (Kerri Walsh, Misty May-Treanor)

2    Hungary (Fencing Men’s Sabre, Team; 1948-1952; #6) (Aladár Gerevich, Rudolf Kárpáti, Pál Kovács, Tibor Berczelly, László Rajcsányi, Bertalan Papp)

2    Soviet Union (Fencing Women’s Foil, Team; 1968-1972; #5) (Yelena Novikova, Galina Gorokhova, Aleksandra Zabelina, Tatyana Samusenko, Svetlana Tširkova)

2    German Demo. Rep. (Rowing Men’s Coxless Fours; 1968-1972; #4) (Frank Forberger, Dieter Grahn, Frank Rühle, Dieter Schubert)

2    Hungary (Canoeing Men’s Kayak Fours, 1,000 metres; 2000-2004; #4) (Gábor Horváth, Zoltán Kammerer, Botond Storcz, Ákos Vereczkei)

2    Sweden (Curling Women’s Curling; 2006-2010; #4) (Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Cathrine Lindahl, Anna Svärd-Le Moine)

2    The Netherlands (Equestrian Events Men’s Three-Day Event, Team; 1924-1928; #3) (Adolf van der Voort van Zijp, Charles Pahud de Mortanges, Gerard de Kruijff)

2    Norway (Sailing Mixed Three-Person Keelboat (Dragon); 1948-1952; #3) (Thor Thorvaldsen, Sigve Lie, Håkon Barfod)

2    Sweden (Equestrian Events Mixed Dressage, Team; 1952-1956; #3) (Henri Saint Cyr, Gustaf Boltenstern, Jr., Gehnäll Persson)

2    German Demo. Rep. (Rowing Men’s Coxed Pairs; 1976-1980; #3) (Harald Jährling, Friedrich-Wilhelm Ulrich, Georg Spohr)

2    Denmark (Sailing Mixed Three-Person Keelboat (Soling); 1976-1980; #3) (Poul Jensen, Valdemar Bandolowski, Erik Hansen)

2    Italy (Rowing Men’s Coxed Pairs; 1984-1988; #3) (Carmine Abbagnale, Giuseppe Abbagnale, Giuseppe Di Capua)

2    Austria (Sailing Mixed Multihull (Tornado); 2000-2004; #3) (Roman Hagara, Hans-Peter Steinacher)

2    United States (Rowing Men’s Double Sculls; 1920-1924; #2) (Jack Kelly, Paul Costello)

2    France (Figure Skating Mixed Pairs; 1928-1932; #2) (Andrée Brunet-Joly, Pierre Brunet)

2    Fed. Rep. Germany (Canoeing Women’s Kayak Doubles, 500 metres; 1964-1968; #2) (Roswitha Esser, Annemarie Zimmermann)

2    Soviet Union (Figure Skating Mixed Pairs; 1964-1968; #2) (Lyudmila Belousova, Oleg Protopopov)

2    Soviet Union (Figure Skating Mixed Pairs; 1976-1980; #2) (Irina Rodnina, Aleksandr Zaytsev)

2    German Demo. Rep. (Luge Men’s Doubles; 1976-1980; #2) (Hans Rinn, Norbert Hahn)

2    German Demo. Rep. (Rowing Men’s Coxless Pairs; 1976-1980; #2) (Jörg Landvoigt, Bernd Landvoigt)

2    Romania (Canoeing Men’s Canadian Doubles, 1,000 metres; 1980-1984; #2) (Ivan Patzaichin, Toma Simionov)

2    New Zealand (Canoeing Men’s Kayak Doubles, 500 metres; 1984-1988; #2) (Ian Ferguson, Paul MacDonald)

2    Switzerland (Bobsledding Men’s Two; 1992-1994; #2) (Gustav Weder, Donat Acklin)

2    Germany (Canoeing Men’s Kayak Doubles, 500 metres; 1992-1996; #2) (Kay Bluhm, Torsten Gutsche)

2    Great Britain (Rowing Men’s Coxless Pairs; 1992-1996; #2) (Steven Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent)

2    China (Table Tennis Women’s Doubles; 1992-1996; #2) (Deng Yaping, Qiao Hong)

2    United States (Tennis Women’s Doubles; 1992-1996; #2) (Mary Joe Fernandez, Gigi Fernandez)

2    Russia (Figure Skating Mixed Ice Dancing; 1994-1998; #2) (Oksana “Pasha” Grishchuk, Yevgeny Platov)

2    China (Badminton Women’s Doubles; 1996-2000; #2) (Ge Fei, Gu Jun)

2    China (Badminton Mixed Doubles; 2000-2004; #2) (Zhang Jun, Gao Ling)

2    Poland (Rowing Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls; 2000-2004; #2) (Tomasz Kucharski, Robert Sycz)

2    Romania (Rowing Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls; 2000-2004; #2) (Constanta Burcică, Angela Alupei)

2    China (Canoeing Men’s Canadian Doubles, 500 metres; 2004-2008; #2) (Meng Guanliang, Yang Wenjun)

2    Hungary (Canoeing Women’s Kayak Doubles, 500 metres; 2004-2008; #2) (Katalin Kovács, Natasa Janics)

2    China (Diving Women’s Synchronized Springboard; 2004-2008; #2) (Wu Minxia, Guo Jingjing)

2    New Zealand (Rowing Women’s Double Sculls; 2004-2008; #2) (Georgina Evers-Swindell, Caroline Evers-Swindell)

2    Romania (Rowing Women’s Coxless Pairs; 2004-2008; #2) (Georgeta Andrunache, Viorica Susanu)

2    Russia (Synchronized Swimming Women’s Duet; 2004-2008; #2) (Anastasiya Davydova, Anastasiya Yermakova)

2    Germany (Bobsledding Men’s Two; 2006-2010; #2) (André Lange, Kevin Kuske)

2    Austria (Luge Men’s Doubles; 2006-2010; #2) (Andreas Linger, Wolfgang Linger)

2    United States (Tennis Women’s Doubles; 2008-2012; #2) (Serena Williams, Venus Williams)

2          Canada (Bobsledding Women’s Two; 2010-2014; #2) (Kallie Humphries, Heather Moyse)