TOKYO, Japan—A school-record 10 former Columbia student-athletes have qualified to compete in the 2020 Olympics which begin in 10 days in Tokyo, Japan. Previously, Columbia had eight athletes compete in the 2012 Olympics Games in London.
Representing the Lions at the 29th Summer Olympic Games are three rowers—
Charlotte Buck '18CC,
Jakub Buczek '16CC, and Paralympian
John Tanguay '20CC, three fencers—
Jackie Dubrovich '16CC,
Jake Hoyle '16CC, and
Nicole Ross '13CC, track and field athletes
Yasmeen Al Dabbagh '19CC and
Nadia Eke '15CC, basketball player
Maodo Lo '16CC, and baseball player
Robb Paller '16CC. Columbia athletes will represent five different countries including the United States with five athletes, and one athlete each competing for Canada, Ghana, Israel, Germany, and Saudi Arabia.
In rowing, Buck is a member of the United States' women's eight boat, which will attempt to capture its fourth straight Olympic Gold Medal. Buczek will compete in men's fours for Canada, and Tanguay will row for the United States in the PR3 mixed fours with coxswain event in the Paralympics, which begin on August 24.
For the 13
th consecutive Olympics, Columbia Fencing will be represented by at least one fencer. Ross will become just the 15
th athlete in Columbia history to make at least two Olympic appearances as she previously competed in the 2012 London Games. Ross will be joined on the United States' women's foil team by fellow Columbian Dubrovich. Former two-time NCAA champion Hoyle, enters the Olympics as the United States' No. 1 ranked men's epeeist. He is rated No. 12 in the world.
Al Dabbaugh is the first female athlete from Saudi Arabia to compete in an Olympics Games. Al Dabbaugh, who is Saudi Arabia's recordholder in the 100-meter dash, will carry the Saudi flag in the opening ceremonies.
Eke, who will also be Ghana's flag bearer for the opening ceremonies, will compete in the triple jump, an event in which she earned four All-America honors at Columbia. She is Ghana's national recordholder in the event.
Al Dabbaugh and Eke become Columbia's first-ever female flagbearers and the third and fourth graduates in school history to carry a nation's flag in the opening ceremonies following in the footsteps of fencer Norman Armitage '27CC (United States) and track and field athlete Erison Hurtault '07CC (Dominica).
As Germany's point guard, Lo recently guided Team Germany to a 4-0 record and a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games at the FIBA Qualifiers in Croatia. A member of the German National Team since 2014, Lo started all four games and averaged 12.8 points, 4.0 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game.
An outfielder for the Israeli National Baseball Team, Paller helped his squad qualify for the Olympics in 2020. The squad will become the first team from Israel to advance to the Olympics since 1976.
To commemorate the Games, Columbia Athletics has created a feature page on
www.gocolumbialions.com to celebrate the Lions' achievements. To visit the feature page,
click here. In addition, Columbia Athletics is producing a series of one-on-one interviews with all nine current Olympians, along with several former Olympic athletes. These features will be posted on the website,
youtube.com, and on the Olympic page. All content can be accessed on social media using the hashtag #LionsOlympians.
Historically, Columbia has had a total of 50 athletes who have competed in the Olympic Games since 1896. A total of 11 former Columbia student-athletes have won 15 Olympic medals including five Gold, six Silver, and four Bronze.
The opening ceremony for the 2020 Olympic Games is scheduled for Friday, July 23 with competition officially beginning on July 21.
