STORRS — Former UConn great Sue Bird was among those honored by the school at the unveiling of a monument commemorating Olympians and Paralympians with ties to the athletic program.
The 20-minute ceremony took place on Hillside Road, outside Gampel Pavilion on Sunday morning ahead of the UConn-Notre Dame women’s basketball game. Bird was joined by 12 other Olympians connected to UConn, including Rebecca Lobo, Kara Wolters, Swin Cash, Asjha Jones, and Jen Rizzotti.
Among those watching the ceremony was soccer star Megan Rapinoe, Bird’s partner.
The monument lists names of athletes by year of Olympic appearance and reads, “Dedicated to the world-class athletes and coaches from the University of Connecticut that were selected to represent their country at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”
Bird and former UConn teammate Diana Taurasi are five-time Olympic Gold medalists. Taurasi did not attend the ceremony.
The 41-year-old recently played in her final Olympics for Team USA, winning a gold medal in Tokyo. Bird won gold at 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janiero and 2020 Tokyo, which was pushed back to summer 2021 due to the pandemic.
Cash, a three-time WNBA champion, won gold medals in 2004 and 2012 and is now vice president of basketball operations for the NBA’s New Orleans Pelicans. Bird, Taurasi and Cash were teammates on one of the greatest teams in college basketball history in 2001-02.
Jones won gold in 2012 and currently works in the Portland Trailblazers front office.
Bird, Jones and Cash did not make themselves available to the media Sunday.
Lobo won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and Wolters was a gold medal winner at the 2000 Sydney games. Rizzotti, the president of the Connecticut Sun, was an assistant coach for Team USA in Tokyo.
Athletic director David Benedict and board of trustees member Andy Bessette, also a former Olympian, spoke during the ceremony, along with interim president Dr. Andrew Agwunobi.
“It’s a historic day,” Agwunobi said. “This monument is a monument that we’ll all be looking at many, many years to come. Decades, maybe even generations. People will be looking at it and say, this has been here forever. No, it’s today. This is the day that it starts.”
UConn also honored the Olympians at halftime of the game against Notre Dame. Coach Geno Auriemma, who won gold as head coach of Team USA, and Canadian Olympian Aaliyah Edwards were also honored during the halftime ceremony.
Stefanie Dolson, who won a gold medal with the 3x3 team in Tokyo and is coming off a WNBA title with Chicago, was not at the unveiling but did attend the halftime ceremony.
"bird" - Google News
December 06, 2021 at 01:10AM
https://ift.tt/3os6gms
UConn honors Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Rebecca Lobo, and other Olympians with ceremony - CT Insider
"bird" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2s1zYEq
https://ift.tt/3dbExxU
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "UConn honors Sue Bird, Swin Cash, Rebecca Lobo, and other Olympians with ceremony - CT Insider"
Post a Comment