Past Newsletters

On a bright note, we announce the appointment of a new vice president, Tony Brooks, by the Midwest Chapter Board.  Brooks stroked the 4 without coxswain at the 1976 Olympic Games in rowing to an eighth-place finish and was alternate for the silver medal-winning eight at the 1972 Olympic Games.  The 1975 Pan American Games bronze medalist (4+) and two-time World Championships Team Member gives back to the Olympic Movement not only through his service as head coach for St. Ignatius College Prep crew and as varsity girls coach, but also as a volunteer on behalf of World Sport Chicago. Brooks serves as managing director-Chicago for The Ansley Consulting Group and is a graduate of Harvard University (cum laude) and Harvard Business School. Congratulations Tony!
It is with great sadness that we mourn the loss of Meta Neumann Elste (gymnastics, 1948, 1952) of Morton Grove, who exemplified the Olympic Spirit and served as a role model throughout her life.  She was 91.  Ms. Elste and her 1948 teammates became the first team to win an Olympic medal in women's gymnastics when they won bronze.  Thanks to the U.S. Olympic Committee's U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Manager Cindy Stinger and Christine Taylor for supplying a flag and letter for the memorial and to Jackie Klein Fie (gymnastics, 1956) for meeting with the family.  To Read More (Tribune); To Read More (Sun-Times).

Midwest Chapter officers:

 * President - Diane Simpson-Bundy (Gymnastics, 1988)

 * Vice President - Tony Brooks (Rowing, 1972, 1976)

 * Vice President - Steve Gregg (Swimming, 1976)

 * Treasurer - John Vande Velde (Cycling, 1968, 1972) 

 * Secretary - Linda Mastandrea (Wheelchair Athletics 1992, 1996)

Find news and events at  www.midwestolympians.com and www.midwestparalympians.com.  We are now accepting names and bios with paid dues of $30 for 2011 for posting to our website. We can provide a free link to Olympian and Paralympian websites.  Or please support our activities to promote fellowship among Olympians, Paralympians and elite hopefuls in the Midwest. Email john.vandevelde@yahoo.com to donate or to update us with your success.
Don't forget to email us at dsb1988@sbcglobal.net if you have upcoming events or information to highlight in future newsletters.

Athlete Ambassadors Meeting

Thanks to World Sport Chicago, which hosted an Athlete Ambassadors meeting in September in Greektown.  Steve Alley, hockey, 1976, Brooks, Chair and WSC Board Member Bob Berland (judo, 1984, 1988), Midwest Chapter Secretary Linda Mastandrea (athletics, 1992, 1996), WSC Board Member Jack Rusher (rowing, 1992, 1996), WSC President Bill Scherr (wrestling, 1988), and Midwest Chapter President Diane Simpson-Bundy (gymnastics, 1988), joined WSC Executive Director Scott Myers, Amanda Sowa and Alex Davies, and Chip Hardt and Tony Lorenz at the meeting.

Cast Your Ballots

Don't forget that Olympians have until Dec. 10 to cast their ballots for  U.S. Olympians and Paralympians vice presidents.  Although Paralympians were included officially into the national organization during the U.S. Olympic Assembly this fall, a ballot process is still being determined for the new Paralympian vice president.

World Fit Expanded Support

World Fit is an initiative of the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association targeted to help curb the alarming rates of childhood obesity and to improve overall health and attitudes toward fitness.  World Fit will participate in the President's Challenge Physical Activity and Fitness Awards Program.  World Fit athletes can earn the President's Active Lifestyle Award certificate-in addition to the World Fit certificates and medals. We're still looking for volunteers to help grow World Fit to 200 programs in 2011.  During the six-week program, middle school students across the nation will walk, talk and be inspired by Olympians, Paralympians, teachers and other community leaders as they improve their fitness and well-being, and gain discipline and confidence with the goal to walk 60 miles.  Adopt a school today at:www.worldfit.org.

Four-time Ice Dancing World Medalists Ben Agosto (figure skating, 2006, 2010) and Tanith Belbin took part in October's 2010 All That Skate LA figure skating spectacular at the Staples Center. Agosto, who grew up in Northbrook, Ill., teamed with Belbin to win silver at the 2006 Olympic Games.

Mackenzie Caquatto, a Naperville native and Olympic hopeful, helped vault Team USA to the silver medal at the 2010 World Gymnastics Championships.  Caquatto trains at Legacy Elite Gymnastics under Olympic medalists Jiani Wu and Yuejiu Li, who both medaled for China at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Two-time Olympic champion and current World Cup leader Shani Davis (speedskating, 2006, 2010) commands the oval this season.  Davis edged rival Simon Kuipers in 1 minute, 45.04 seconds to win the 1,500 meters and claim his second consecutive World Cup race this season in Heerenveen, Netherlands.  In Berlin, Davis recorded his second straight 1,000 meter victory in 1:08.82. He took third at the Essent ISU World Cup in Hamar, Norway.

Hopeful Michael Devine of Winnebago, Ill., competed in the Pan American Cup 2010 in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Dec. 4.  The meet served as a trampoline selection for the 2011 Pan American Games.

Two-time Paralympic Medalist Anjali Forber-Pratt (athletics, 2008) of Savoy has added another chapter.  After taking fourth in the wheelchair division at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, she is now an author. Her educational coloring book for kids, "All About Sports: For Athletes with Physical Disabilities," has arrived.  The book tells Forber-Pratt's story and showcases four sports-wheelchair racing, wheelchair basketball, sled hockey and downhill skiing, while educating about the Paralympics and disabled sports.

Glenview, Ill.'s Lana Gehring (speedskating, 2010) teamed with Champaign's Katherine Reutter, Jessica Smith and Morgan Izykowski, both of Michigan, at the ISU Short Track World Cup in Quebec. Reutter (speedskating, 2010) secured the lead in the world cup 1,000 meter-rankings with a silver medal in the 1,000 finals.  Both Gehring and Reutter have recorded wins-with Reutter adding second-place finishes- in international races this season.

Olympic judo hopeful Max Golembo of Vernon Hills celebrated his 17th birthday as he became the first U.S. man since 1992 to fight for a medal at the Junior World Championships held in Ajadir, Morocco in October. He finished fifth. Another Chicagoan, Lydia Au, competed in the 63-kilogram division.

Cammi Granato (hockey) joined Canadian Four-time World Champion Angela James as the first female players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame last month.  Granato, a 1998 Olympic gold and 2002 silver medal winner and the younger sister of former NHL player Tony Granato, hails from Downers Gove, Ill.  She runs an annual summer hockey camp in Chicago.

Olympic Silver Medalist Morgan Hamm (gymnastics, 2000, 2004) appeared with other fellow elite gymnasts, including Belleville, Ill.'s Wes Haagensen during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. Meanwhile, Hamm's brother, Paul, the 2004 Olympic Champion has left Chicago to train for London 2012 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.

Fresh off their first trip to the World Championships in Moscow, Shelby Kisiel, Glenview's Michelle Przybylo and Deerfield's Sydney Sachs have joined North Shore Rhythmic Gymnastics Center group teammates to compete at the 2010 Pan American Championships Dec. 2-5 in Guadalajara, Mexico. Northbrook teammate Stephanie Flaksman and JoAnna Arnold also competed at worlds this fall.

Champaign, Ill.'s World Allround Championships Silver Medalist Jonathan Kuck (speedskating, 2010) won a silver medal in a personal-best 6:18.85 in the 5,000 meters at the Essent ISU World Cup in Berlin. He also recorded a top-10 finish in Hamar, Norway in the 10,000. Kuck teamed with Glenview's Brian Hansen and Chad Hedrick to win a silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Games in the team pursuit.

Paralympian Gold Medalist Amanda McGrory (athletics, 2008) of Savoy, Ill., bested 2009 defending champion Tatyana McFadden (athletics, 2004, 2008) and Forber-Pratt (third) to win her third Bank of America Chicago Marathon in the wheelchair division in 1:47.25.  McGrory, who medaled in four of five events at the 2008 Paralympic Games also claimed the Oita Marathon in 1:44.38 and took third in the ING New York City Marathon. McFadden won in New York and won a silver and a bronze at the Paralympic Games in Athens, as well as three silvers and a bronze in Beijing.  The three of them train at the University of Illinois, along with four-time Paralympics Medalist Josh George (athletics, basketball 2000, 2004, athletics, 2008) and U.S. Olympic Committee Coach of the Year and Paralympics Silver Medalist Adam Bleakney (athletics, 2004, 2008), former wheelchair-division Chicago Marathon winners who raced in both Chicago and New York with top-10 finishes.

Downers Grove North's Haley Sims continued the successful family swimming tradition and was named the Chicago Tribune/WGN Ch.-9 Preps Plus Athlete of the Month after she won individual state championships in the 200-yard individual medley and the butterfly, and helped set a state meet record in the 200 medley relay in 1 minute, 44.3 seconds with sisters, Gabby (second 100 freestyle, backstroke) and Maddy, and Allison Soper at the Illinois Girls Swimming and Diving State Championships. Her father, David Sims (swimming, 1980), won the 500 freestyle in 1980 for Joliet Catholic, while brother, Burke claimed the title in the same event for DGN, setting a state record, back in 2009. Haley Sims will join her brother next year at Stanford, her father's alma mater.

Paralympian and Iraq War veteran Melissa Stockwell (swimming, 2008) donated her time as a prosthetist in Guatemala this October as part of the Range of Motion Project (ROMP).  ROMP provides artificial limbs and orthotic braces to those who do not have access to these services.

Christian Vande Velde (cycling, 2000, 2008) fought back from crashes at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France to race at the Vuelta a Espana and later at the World Road Championships held in Australia.

Former World Champion Debi Thomas, MD, (figure skating, 1988) - the first black from any nation to medal in the Winter Olympic Games with her bronze in Calgary - joined other orthopedic surgeons on a mission to Katmandu, Nepal, in September as part of the Women Orthopaedist Global Outreach.  WOGO is a non-profit volunteer medical service organization that provides free hip and joint replacement surgeries to underserved Nepalese women who suffer from arthritis.

Three-time Olympic Team Member and two-time World Cross-Country Champion Craig Virgin (athletics, 1976, 1980, 1984) was elected to the 2010 USA Track and Field Hall of Fame but has asked to differ his induction ceremony until next year when the ceremony will be held in St. Louis.  Virgin serves as the Mo-IL Chapter of US Olympians and Paralympians vice president.

Paralympian Sam Williams (boccia, 2004) served as keynote speaker at the 19th  Annual Thonar Award ceremony held at Rush University Medical Center. The Thonar Award is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant impact on disability awareness at Rush.

Archery championship, U.S. Cellular Field, Spring or Summer 2011 Date TBD

Chicago Cup International Rhythmic Gymnastics championship, June at the  Broadway Armory

Cover Girl Classic Gymnastics meet, July 21 at UIC Pavilion

Paralympic Warrior Games, August 2011

2^nd Annual Family Sports Festival, August or September 2011

Diane Simpson-Bundy
President, Midwest Chapter
dsb1988@sbcglobal.net