By Rebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris RIO DE JANEIRO — Standing on the platform before their final dive Monday at the Maria Lenk Aquatic Center, David Boudia and Steele Johnson recited Philippians 4:6, a Bible verse about anxiety. They smiled, fist-bumped and executed a back 2 ½ somersault with 2 ½ twists in the men’s 10-meter …
Read MoreBy Rebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris RIO DE JANEIRO — Carmel High School graduate Rajeev Ram’s improbable Olympic journey will continue.Ram and his men’s doubles tennis partner, Brian Baker, won their first-round match against French pair Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Despite an extended delay created by high winds earlier in the day, the pair breezed …
Read MoreBy Rebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris RIO DE JANEIRO – Virginia Thrasher won the women’s 10-meter air rifle competition with a score of 208.0, an Olympic record. The 19-year-old West Virginia student became the first gold-medal winner of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Throughout the competition, Chinese shooter Du Li was in hot pursuit, never falling …
Read MoreRIO DE JANEIRO — “I only speak American, British, New Zealand and Australian.” So said a volunteer as several hundred media members grew increasingly antsy and anxious, waiting in the security line to get into Maracana Stadium for the Opening Ceremony Friday night. The volunteer hasn’t mastered his Barack Obama impression, but his southern U.S. …
Read MoreBy Rebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris RIO DE JANEIRO — Some athletes would be intimidated by being the only athlete from their country competing in a particular event. Not so for USA Fencing’s Jason Pryor, Olympic rookie and lone wolf in men’s epee. While he feels a team bond with the athletes in other weapons, at …
Read MoreRIO DE JANEIRO – “For me?” I was not prepared for the question. Not after the overnight flight, seeing the first light of a new day shortly after the view from the previous flight had featured a bright red sunset. Not after the walk through the airport terminal, the discovery of the first of many …
Read MoreBy Rebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris RIO DE JANEIRO — The Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games had the Dream Team. London’s Games in 2012 had the Fierce Five. Rio 2016 has the “Perfect 10.” The “Perfect 10” is two-time Olympian Abby Johnston’s brainchild, born shortly after the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Diving wrapped up in June. “We …
Read MoreINDIANAPOLIS — Sports journalism students at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis will have a rare opportunity to cover the world’s biggest sporting spectacle, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Frank Gogola and Rebecca Harris, graduate students in the Sports Capital Journalism Program in the School of Liberal Arts’ Department of Journalism and Public Relations, will write …
Read MoreForty minutes after turning on my recorder, Rebecca Lobo, ESPN analyst and star of the 1995 UConn championship team, stopped talking to reporters. Her answers to questions ranged from thoughts on UConn’s chances, specific players, such as Breanna Stewart and Moriah Jefferson, and coach Geno Auriemma. She also rightfully disdained people who criticized UConn’s domination …
Read MoreRebecca Harris | @MsRebeccaHarris Sports Capital Journalism Program INDIANAPOLIS — With eight minutes to go in the first quarter of Tuesday’s national championship game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, UConn’s Gabby Williams passed to Moriah Jefferson. Jefferson took a brief look at her coach. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma rolled his hands to signal that they needed …
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