Admittedly, since the IOC shed all pretense of "best amateurs" and basically opened the Olympics to everybody, giving us NBA players goofing around and the recent foofaraw over Becky Hammon's decision to play for Russia... Btw, the coach of the US women's team is not a close relative, or even a moderately close one - our forbears did probably live in the same general region of Ireland once. Anyway, I don't watch the Olympics much anymore, and when I do, it tends to be the Winter Games.
But there are some bits I still pay attention to, even though it makes for seriously boring TV... so let's introduce the Army Olympians who will be competing in the shooting sports.
1) Staff Sgt. Libby Callahan, age 56, will be the oldest U.S. female Olympian when she competes at the Summer Games in Beijing. This three-time U.S. Olympian also has a shot at becoming the oldest female Olympic medalist in history. Competing in women's sport pistol, this South Carolina native learned to shoot as a member of the D.C. police force. Click here if you'd like to know more about the seasoned SSG Callahan.
2) Maj. Michael Anti, age 42, brought home a silver medal from the 2004 Summer Games. To reward himself, he purchased a silver Corvette. This prone rifle shooter has set his sights on a gold Corvette and medal following his competition in Beijing. Heh. He's assigned to the US Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning. Which indicates he's probably an Infantryman - so all my "Ha! An aviator!" instincts regarding his interest in 'vettes was wrong. Majors are getting paid better than this Major did... Learn more about the 'Vette-driving Major Anti by clicking here.
Speaking of the Army Olympic athletes overall, Army Training and Doctrine Command Chief of Public Affairs Colonel Michael Negard added: "We believe our Soldiers will have a slight advantage since they already posses the mental and physical toughness that can only be obtained by wearing the uniform of a U.S. Army Soldier." And he offered this link to video on You Tube about of some of Army's World Class Athletes in training.
For those in the New York region, if you've got the time and head into Manhattan, you can catch the Army's Olympic contingent - not just the shooters, but the runners, jumpers, punchers and more - tomorrow, June 18, at the Times Square fitness challenge. New video will post to the official Army YouTube channel immediately following the event.
I may not like how the current games have morphed - but that doesn't mean as a former jock myself, I don't appreciate the rush of the competition and the drive to excel. Here's betting those soldiers are... Army Strong. And no, nobody paid me to say that. But for once, it applies with no cavils!
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