Special induction ceremony to serve as Sprint to the Finish Chicago
2016 fundraiser; Inaugural Olive Branch Achievement Award winner to
also be announced NORTHBROOK, Ill., July 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/
-- The fans have weighed in, the votes have been counted and the
results are final. Today, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and
Allstate Insurance Company (NYSE:ALL) announced the members of the
Class of 2009 who will be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of
Fame presented by Allstate. The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame is the
only national sports hall of fame that uses fan voting as part of
its selection process. This year's class is comprised of five
Olympians, one Paralympian, one team, as well as three additional
individuals: a coach, veteran and a special contributor. The
star-studded inductee list includes Michael Johnson (athletics),
Picabo Street (alpine skiing), Teresa Edwards (basketball), Willye
White (athletics), Mary T. Meagher (swimming), Sarah Will
(Paralympic alpine skiing), the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball
Team, longtime Men's Gymnastics coach Abie Grossfeld, skiing
veteran Andrea Mead-Lawrence, and special contributor Peter
Ueberroth. Amazingly, members of this talented group of athletes,
teams and coaches have been a part of a combined 21 Olympic and
Paralympic Games and brought home a total of 46 medals. "Olympians
are champions, role models and leaders that inspire us to pursue
our passions," said Tom Wilson, chairman, president and chief
executive officer of Allstate. "The Class of 2009 continues this
tradition and embodies the commitment to excellence and drive to
succeed. They make us proud to be Americans. Allstate is proud to
honor them as members of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame." The U.S.
Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2009 will be formally introduced and
honored August 12 at a banquet-style induction ceremony at
McCormick Place in Chicago. Through a partnership with Chicago
2016, the ceremony will also serve as a final fundraiser for the
organizing committee's bid to bring the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic
Games to the city. The International Olympic Committee will
announce the host city on October 2. The induction ceremony, hosted
by Dan Hicks and Summer Sanders, will air in a nationally-televised
broadcast on NBC on September 5 at 2 p.m. ET. In addition, a new
international award - the Olive Branch Achievement Award - will be
introduced and presented at the Induction Ceremony. The award was
created to honor an individual who best represents the
international ideals of the Olympic Movement by working to build a
peaceful and better world through sport. The Olive Branch
Achievement Award recipient will be announced in the coming weeks.
"The USOC is very excited to honor this year's U.S. Olympic Hall of
Fame legends who have inspired many generations in this country
with their courage and thrilling Olympic performances," said USOC
Acting Chief Executive Officer Stephanie Streeter. "Each of these
Olympians is a worthy addition to the Hall of Fame and an overall
symbol of the U.S. Olympic Movement. We're also pleased to continue
to partner with Allstate, a company that shares our commitment to
America's Olympians." Nominees for the Class of 2009 were selected
by a seven-person nominating committee consisting of Olympians,
members of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame, an NGB executive
director, and a USOC representative. Fan votes submitted at
http://www.teamusa.org/ also played an important role in the
selection process, with more than 112,000 votes cast during the
voting period. Tables and tickets for the induction ceremony may be
purchased online at support.chicago2016.org/halloffame. About the
U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2009 Induction Presented by
Allstate: Teresa Edwards, Basketball Teresa Edwards is the most
decorated Olympic basketball player in the world, male or female,
with four gold medals and one bronze medal in five Olympic Games.
She is the USA's only five-time Olympic basketball player and one
of only three five-time Olympic basketball players (male or female)
in the world. She is also one of only three U.S. Olympians to win
gold in four different Olympic Games, joining former teammate Lisa
Leslie and sprinter Carl Lewis. Only five other non-U.S. athletes
have accomplished the feat. Edwards played on the 1984, 1988, 1992,
1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic Teams. Those teams combined to achieve a
31-1 record and the 1984, 1988, 1996 and 2000 U.S. teams each went
undefeated to claim Olympic gold. All told, Edwards was a member of
20 USA Basketball teams, including two World Championship gold
medal teams, and overall, teams with Edwards as a member compiled a
189-13 win-loss record. Michael Johnson, Athletics Michael Johnson
will forever be known as the golden man of track & field.
Wearing his trademark golden Nike shoes, he oftentimes left the
rest of the field in his dust with his upright running posture.
Johnson won four Olympic medals - all gold - while competing in
three Olympic Games. He made his Olympic debut at the Barcelona
1992 Olympic Games and was a part of the World Record-breaking
4x400-meter relay team. His signature moments came at the Atlanta
Games, when he became the only man to accomplish the 200-400
double, winning both races with ease and breaking the World Record
in the 200 meters. He defended his title in the 400 meters at the
2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Johnson, a Baylor University
graduate, won eight World Championship titles. His World Records in
the 400 and the 4x400 relay still stand, and his 200 record of
19.32 held up for 12 years until Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt broke
it at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Mary T. Meagher, Swimming
Mary T. Meagher, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly," won three gold
medals in swimming at the 1984 Olympic Games, highlighting a decade
of dominance that included World Record swims throughout the 1980s.
She qualified and was expected to medal at the Moscow 1980 Olympic
Games but was unable to compete due to the U.S. boycott. She made
her Olympic debut at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and won
triple gold, taking both the 100- and 200-meter butterfly and
swimming the butterfly leg on the 4x100 medley relay. At the Seoul
1988 Olympic Games, she finished her Olympic career with silver in
the 4x100 medley relay and a bronze in the 200 fly. Meagher was one
of eight U.S. Olympians selected to carry the Olympic Flag into the
Opening Ceremony of the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games Her success was
not limited to the Olympic stage. Meagher captured several medals
at the World Championships in 1982 and 1986, including a pair of
individual titles. She won 24 National Titles and she also owns two
more golds apiece competing at the Pan American Games and the Pan
Pacific Championships. Picabo Street, Alpine Skiing A three-time
Olympian, Picabo Street first joined the U.S. Ski Team in 1989 and
earned a silver medal at the 1994 Olympic Winter Games in the
downhill. The Sun Valley, Idaho, native left her mark in Olympic
history in 1998, taking gold in the Nagano super G by a mere
hundredth of a second. Street medaled in three World Championships,
earning combined silver in 1993, and super G bronze and downhill
gold in 1996. Winning six of nine World Cup competitions in 1995,
Street became the first American to win a World Cup season title in
a speed event. After a leg injury and two years of rehabilitation,
Street returned to compete in 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt
Lake City before retiring. With nine career victories, she was
inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2005.
Willye White, Athletics The first woman to compete for the U.S.
Team in five Olympic Games, Willye White's Olympic career spanned
16 years, from 1956 to 1972. Specializing in the long jump and 100
meters, she earned a silver medal in long jump at the 1956 Olympic
Games in Melbourne at the age of 16, marking the first time an
American woman medaled in the event. She won her second silver
medal in 1964 as a member of the 4x100 meter relay team in Tokyo.
White was a member of more than 30 international and national track
teams and won 12 Amateur Athletic Union long jump titles during her
career. She set seven American records and won 13 national indoor
and outdoor titles. She has been inducted into 11 sports hall of
fames, including her 1981 induction into the USATF National Track
& Field Hall of Fame. White passed away in February 2007. Sarah
Will, Paralympic Alpine Skiing Sarah Will had her first run of the
mountain at the age of four. From that moment on she was hooked on
the sport. In 1988, the Olympic skiing hopeful was in a serious
skiing accident that paralyzed her from the waist down. Rather than
give up the sport she loved, she took up mono skiing and was back
on the slopes just one year later. Four years after her start in
the mono-ski, she competed in her first Paralympic Games, winning
gold in downhill and super G in 1992 in Albertville, France. Will
won a total of 12 Paralympic gold medals and one silver medal
throughout her four Paralympic experiences, making her the most
decorated female mono skier in U.S. Ski Team history. In 2002, Will
took the Paralympic alpine skiing gold medal sweep, winning all
four races, along with the U.S. Paralympic Spirit Award. 1992 U.S.
Men's Olympic Basketball Team Simply put, the 1992 U.S. Men's
Olympic Basketball Team dominated. In the first Olympic Games to
allow NBA players, the Dream Team steamrolled the rest of the world
on its way to gold. In eight games, they outscored opponents by an
average margin of 44 points, including a 121-76 blowout of
Lithuania in the semifinals. In the gold medal game, they faced a
Croatian squad featuring a few fellow NBA names and culminated in a
117-85 victory. The star-studded American roster was comprised of
NBA player legends: Charles Barkley, Larry Bird, Clyde Drexler,
Patrick Ewing, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Christian Laettner,
Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen, David Robinson and John
Stockton, and a legendary coaching staff consisting of the late
Chuck Daly, and assistants P.J. Carlesimo, Mike Krzyzewski and
Lenny Wilkens. How famous was the group? In addition to fans,
players representing opposing teams from all over the world asked
for the Americans' autographs and pictures before each tipoff. Abie
Grossfeld, Coach Abie Grossfeld served as head coach for the 1984
U.S. Olympic Men's Gymnastics Team that earned eight medals,
including the U.S. men's only Olympic team gold medal. He was also
the head coach of the men's gymnastics team at the 1972 and 1988
Olympic Games, as well as assistant coach for the men's team in
1964 and the women's team in 1968. He was the personal coach of
Peter Kormann, who became the first U.S. man to win an Olympic
medal in 44 years with a bronze medal on floor exercise in 1976.
Grossfeld also served as head coach for the U.S. men's gymnastics
team at five World Championships and two Pan American Games,
including the 1987 Pan Am Games when the men won the team gold
medal. The U.S. national coach for men's gymnastics from 1981-88,
Grossfeld coached the first U.S. men's team that defeated the USSR
in 1982. He also served as a collegiate gymnastics head coach for
42 years, spending one year at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and 41
years at Southern Connecticut State University. As an athlete,
Grossfeld represented the USA internationally from 1952-67. He
competed in two Olympic Games (1956, 1960), two World Championships
(1958, 1962) and three Pan American Games (1955, 1959, 1963: the
U.S. won the team gold all three years). At the University of
Illinois, he won four NCAA titles and seven Big Ten Championships,
as well as the Big Ten Medal of Honor. Additional honors include:
National Coach of the Year for USA Gymnastics (1984) and the NCAA
(1973, 1975 and 1976); USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame (as an athlete,
coach and contributor); and the first and only American to achieve
the status of FIG Master Coach (2000). Andrea Mead-Lawrence,
Veteran (Skiing) Andrea Mead-Lawrence skied at three Olympic Winter
Games, including the 1952 Oslo Games where she won gold medals in
slalom and giant slalom. Before America became the skiing force it
is today, she helped build the U.S. ski program from the ground up
to compete with the traditional European powers. Mead-Lawrence
became the youngest athlete to be chosen for the U.S. Women's
Olympic Alpine Ski Team when, at age 14, she made the 1948 squad.
In her Olympic debut, she finished eighth in the slalom at St.
Moritz. Four years later, her double gold performance was lauded by
Hall of Fame Olympic film producer Bud Greenspan, who called her
his No. 1 Winter Olympian. She concluded her Olympic career in
three races at the Cortina 1956 Olympic Winter Games, finishing
fourth in the giant slalom. Mead-Lawrence, the only U.S. woman to
win two skiing gold medals at one Olympic Winter Games succumbed to
cancer on March 30, 2009 at age 76. She is survived by her five
children and four grandchildren. Peter Ueberroth, Special
Contributor Over the last three decades, Peter Ueberroth may have
been the most influential figure to the Olympic Movement in the
United States. From 1980-84, he was President of the Los Angeles
Olympic Organizing Committee, heading the first private non-profit
organization responsible for staging and operating an Olympic
Games. Under Ueberroth's leadership, the Los Angeles Games came
away with a surplus of $238 million that continues to support youth
and sports programs throughout the United States. Ueberroth was the
first Chair of the restructured USOC Board of Directors from
2004-08. He stabilized the leadership of the USOC during a
turbulent time, and his leadership created momentum and credibility
for the Olympic Movement in the United States. Olympic TV ratings
shot up during his tenure, which ended with a record 110 U.S. Team
medal tally at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Ueberroth continues
to aid the USOC as President in an honorary capacity. He has
received the Olympic Order-Gold from the International Olympic
Committee, the IOC's highest honor. For more information on the
2009 inductees, including bios and photos, and a comprehensive list
of existing U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame members, please visit
http://www.teamusa.org/. About the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame The
charter class of the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame was enshrined in
1983, with such Olympic legends as Cassius Clay, Peggy Fleming,
Jesse Owens, Wilma Rudolph, Mark Spitz, and the 1980 "Miracle on
Ice" U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey Team. Annual additions continued
through 1992, adding Olympic legends such as Bart Conner, Dorothy
Hamill, "Sugar Ray" Leonard, Carl Lewis, Greg Louganis, and Mary
Lou Retton. In becoming the presenting sponsor of the induction
ceremony, Allstate sparked the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame's
revitalization in 2004. During the company's five-year tenure as a
partner, the Hall of Fame has inducted numerous decorated Olympic
athletes including: Bonnie Blair, Janet Evans, Florence Griffith
Joyner, Dan Jansen, Kristi Yamaguchi, and the 1996 "Magnificent
Seven" U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team. Following last June's
induction of the Class of 2008, the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame
currently consists of 213 distinguished athletes and 13 special
contributors. About Allstate The Allstate Corporation (NYSE:ALL) is
the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely
known through the "You're In Good Hands With Allstate(R)" slogan,
Allstate is reinventing protection and retirement to help
individuals in approximately 17 million households protect what
they have today and better prepare for tomorrow. Customers can
access Allstate products and services such as auto insurance and
homeowners insurance through approximately 14,700 exclusive
Allstate agencies and financial representatives in the U.S. and
Canada, or in select states at allstate.com and 1-800 Allstate(R).
Encompass(R) Insurance brand property and casualty products are
sold exclusively through independent agents. The Allstate Financial
Group provides life insurance, supplemental accident and health
insurance, annuity, banking and retirement products designed for
individual, institutional and worksite customers that are
distributed through Allstate agencies, independent agencies,
financial institutions and brokerdealers. Customers can also access
information about Allstate Financial Group products and services at
myallstatefinancial.com. About the USOC The United States Olympic
Committee (USOC) is recognized by the International Olympic
Committee as the sole entity in the United States whose mission
involves training, entering and underwriting the full expenses for
the U.S. teams in the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan
American Games. In addition to being the steward of the U.S.
Olympic Movement, the USOC is the moving force for support of
sports in the United States that are on the program of the Olympic,
Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games. DATASOURCE:
Allstate CONTACT: Raleigh Floyd of Allstate, +1-847-402-5600; or
Nicole Saunches of USOC, +1-719-866-2236; or Bates Grainger of
Taylor, +1-704-548-8556 Web Site: http://www.allstate.com/
http://myallstatefinancial.com/ http://www.teamusa.org/
http://support.chicago2016.org/halloffame
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