There were 40 athletes with South Florida ties at Tokyo Olympics. Here’s how they did
They traveled 7,500 miles from South Florida to Tokyo in the quest for Olympic glory.
Among the 40 local athletes who competed were a U.S. Army officer and Greco-Roman wrestler from South Miami, a karateka from Hialeah, a water polo player from the Redland, a beach volleyball player from Cooper City, equestrian jumpers from Wellington, sprinters who trained at Tropical Park and sailors who trained on Biscayne Bay.
Basketball player Sylvia Fowles, who got her start at Miami Edison and Gulliver Prep, won her fourth gold medal. Heat player Bam Adebayo won his first.
Most of the South Florida-based Olympians represented Team USA. Others competed for El Salvador, Paraguay, Israel, Trinidad and Tobago, Mexico, Sweden, Haiti, British Virgin Islands, Liberia, and Canada.
Two of them were flag bearers in the Opening Ceremony — El Salvadoran swimmer Celina Marquez, who is a student at Nova Southeastern University, and Team USA baseball player Eddy Alvarez, a Miami Columbus High grad who previously competed in the Winter Olympics as a short track speedskater.
Some of the Olympians will return with medals.
Ashleigh Johnson, a Ransom Everglades alumna, won her second gold medal as the goalkeeper for Team USA’s women’s water polo team.
Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson, a St. Thomas Aquinas alumna, won her first gold and third Olympic medal overall with the United States women’s volleyball team. USA won bronze in 2016 and silver in 2012.
Alvarez, Pembroke Pines’ Triston Casas and Miami’s Nick Martinez helped USA baseball to a silver medal. Alvarez became the sixth athlete ever to medal in both the Summer and Winter Games in the process.
Ariel Torres of Hialeah won a bronze medal in karate. Sprinter Fred Kerley, who trained at Tropical Park, won a silver medal in the 100 meters. Karate athlete Grace Lau, who trained in West Kendall, won a bronze. Pembroke Pines’ Kendall Ellis, a St. Thomas Aquinas graduate, won gold in the women’s 4x400-meter relay and won bronze in the 4x400-meter mixed medley relay.
All of the athletes will come home with lifelong lessons and memories.
Three-time taekwondo Olympian Paige McPherson, who won the 2012 bronze medal in London, made it back to the bronze medal match in Tokyo but fell short and settled for fourth place.
The COVID cloud hanging over these Games made it a less festive experience, she said. She gave up her Athlete Village accommodations to stay in a remote hotel so that she and her coach could feel safer and focus on the competition. She did not march in the Opening Ceremony.
Nevertheless, she came home to West Kendall feeling fulfilled.
“Honestly, it didn’t feel like an Olympics for me because I was secluded from all the festivities,” she said. “As far as my performance, it was a bittersweet. Your goal is to have a long day, get to four fights, and I did that. I was right there in the bronze-medal match. I am sad I was not able to achieve my goal but proud of myself that I was able to endure through the COVID uncertainty and re-motivate myself for another whole year. Had it been in 2020, it probably would not have been the same winners. I did the best I could and I’m happy with my performance.”
McPherson, 30, said just getting to Tokyo was an achievement.
“I see the results as not as important this time around because the resilience of all the athletes that endured the sacrifices and extra year is really commendable,” she said. “The athletes who did win medals showed amazing tenacity, but you can’t disregard the ones who didn’t. We all went through a lot to get there.”
Alejandro “Alex” Sancho, a U.S. Army officer and Greco-Roman wrestler from South Miami, was a first-time Olympian. He skipped the Opening Ceremony and the USA wrestlers stayed in a hotel to stay safer from COVID, but said he got a taste of the Olympic spirit and enjoyed eating “sushi galore.”
He lost his opening Round of 16 match against No. 3 Artem Surkov of Russia, the 2018 world champion.
“I’m obviously disappointed in my performance because I came here with one objective, to win a medal for the United States,” Sancho said by phone Wednesday from Tokyo, where he was doing a few days of sightseeing before heading home. “What I learned from these Olympics is I need to get overseas more and train with these top guys more, work on my feet and technique. I will be ready next time.”
Miami sailor Dave Hughes finished fourth in the medal race and ninth overall with teammate Stu McNay in the Men’s 470 event. Like McPherson, he had perspective as a repeat Olympian.
“The battle at the Olympics is trying to figure out what the priorities are and moving forward with every leg, every race, and every day,” Hughes said. “What sticks out to me from this regatta is just the two of us trying to be better teammates to each other through thick and thin, and through good races and bad races. And that was a real pleasure. At the end of the day, the best asset in the boat is the guy sitting next to you and across from the traveler bar.”
McNay and Hughes entered Tokyo as medal contenders after finishing fourth at Rio 2016 and fifth at the 2021 worlds in Portugal. “Coming out of Rio, we wanted to stand on the podium at this event and we constructed our quadrennium to make that happen,” said Hughes.
“This quad was obviously quite a bit different and turned out to be a five-year situation for all parties. Looking back on it, we essentially were just trying to become better sailors and let the regatta shake out as it may. We definitely accomplished that. So Stu and I are buoyed by that.”
For Alvarez, the thrill of victory came before the Olympic baseball competition even began. Alvarez, whose family defected from Cuba, was selected by the Team USA athletes to carry the flag in the Opening Ceremonies, alongside basketball player Sue Bird.
He had competed in the Winter Olympics as a short track speedskater, but this time it was more special, he said.
“To hold Old Glory, a symbol of freedom and liberty to many around the world, not just the United States was a victory of its own,” he said.
South Florida Olympian Results
Briseida Acosta, Mexico, Taekwondo (trains West Kendall): Round of 16 in 67 kg.
Bam Adebayo, USA, Basketball (Miami Heat): Gold medal
Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson, USA, Volleyball (Fort Lauderdale, St. Thomas Aquinas): Gold medal
Alejandra Alonso, Paraguay, Rowing (Barry University): Third in single sculls consolation Final D
Eddy Alvarez, USA, Baseball (Miami Marlins, Columbus High): Silver medal
Nikki Barnes, USA, Sailing (Miami): 12th in Race 10 Women’s 470
Jennifer Brady, USA, Tennis (Boca Raton): Lost first round.
Lloydricia Cameron, Jamaica, Track and Field (Miami Northwestern High): 22nd place in shot put qualification
Triston Casas, USA, Baseball (Pembroke Pines, American Heritage High): Silver medal
Aisha Chow, Trinidad and Tobago, Rowing (University of Miami alum): Single Sculls first consolation Final D
Lara Dallman-Weiss, USA, Sailing (Miami): 12th in Women’s 470 Two-Person Dinghy
Angelica Delgado, USA, Judo (Miami, Ferguson High, FIU): Round of 16 in 52 kg.
Virginia Diaz Rivas, Spain, Rowing (Barry University): Sixth in Coxless Pair medal final.
Kendall Ellis, USA, Track and Field (Pembroke Pines, St. Thomas Aquinas): 4x400 meter mixed relay bronze
Kent Farrington, USA, Equestrian (Wellington): 31st place
Sylvia Fowles, USA, Basketball (Miami, Miami Edison High, Gulliver Prep): Gold medal
Emma Gullstrand, Sweden, Diving (University of Miami): 13th in 3-meter springboard Semifinal.
Dave Hughes, USA, Sailing (Miami): Fourth in medal race, Ninth overall
Ashleigh Johnson, USA, Water Polo (Miami Redland, Ransom Everglades High): Gold medal
Mulern “Meme” Jean, Haiti, Track and Field (TruFit Athletics, Tropical Park): Seventh in 100-meter hurdles Semifinal heat
Fred Kerley, USA, Track and Field (TruFit Athletics, Tropical Park): 100 meters silver medal
Laura Kraut, USA, Equestrian (Wellington): 44th place
Grace Lau, Hong Kong, Karate (trained in West Kendall): Bronze medal
Adrienne Lyle, USA, Equestrian (Wellington): Team Dressage Silver medal
Nick Martinez, USA, Baseball (Miami, Belen Jesuit): Silver medal
Paige McPherson, USA, Taekwondo (Miami): Fourth place in 67 kg.
Nick Lucena, USA, Beach Volleyball (Cooper City, Western High): Round of 16
Celina Marquez, El Salvador, Swimming (Nova Southeastern University): Fifth in 100 backstroke preliminary heat, second in 200 backstroke preliminary heat
Ebony Morrison, Liberia, Track and Field (Miami, Robert Morgan High, Killian High, UM alum): 6th in 100 meter hurdles semifinal heat
Alysha Newman, Canada, Track and Field (University of Miami alum): No mark in pole vault qualifying round, did not advance.
Pedro Pascual, USA, Sailing (Miami, FAU): Sixth in medal race, ninth overall in RS:X sail board
Jessica Ramsey, USA, Track and Field (Boynton Beach): 3 fouls in shot put final; 10th in qualifying
Alejandro “Alex” Sancho, USA, Greco-Roman Wrestling (Miami, South Miami High): Round of 16 in 67 kg
Lexi Thompson, USA, Golf (Coral Springs): 33rd place
Ariel Torres, USA, Karate (Hialeah, Westland Hialeah High): Bronze medal
Danny Valencia, Israel, Baseball (University of Miami alum): Fifth place
Ben Wanger, Israel, Baseball (University of Miami): Fifth place
Jordan Windle, USA, Diving (Fort Lauderdale): Ninth place in 10 meter platform final
Anna Weis, USA, Sailing (Fort Lauderdale): Ninth overall Nacra 17 class
Zion Wright, USA, Skateboarding (Jupiter native): Eighth and 11th in Park preliminary heats, did not advance.
This story was originally published August 7, 2021 at 5:25 PM.