CHICAGO – With one last Olympic trials to run, Joan Benoit Samuelson’s place in the Hall of Fame is already secure.
The 50-year-old Samuelson, who will run in her fourth and final Olympic trials in Boston on Sunday, is one of nine individual athletes who will be part of this year’s U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame class. The class was announced Tuesday at the U.S. Olympic Committee media summit and will be inducted June 19.
Joining Samuelson in this year’s class are: Karch Kiraly, a three-time Olympian in volleyball; Bob Baumgartner, who won gold, silver and bronze medals in wrestling; gold medal figure skater Brian Boitano; boxer Oscar de La Hoya; original Dream Team member David Robinson; swimmer Amy Van Dyken, a six-time gold medallist; J. Michael Plumb, an eight-time Olympian who has marched in more opening ceremonies than any other U.S. athlete; Lones W. Wigger Jr., a double gold medallist in shooting; and Paralympic swimmer John Morgan.
The “Magnificent Seven,” which in 1996 became the first U.S. women’s gymnastics team to win Olympic gold, will be inducted in the team category. Carlo Fassi, who coached Peggy Fleming and Dorothy Hamill, was selected in the coach category, and gold medal figure skater Carol Heiss Jenkins is the veteran inductee. Hollywood producer Frank Marshall will join the hall as a special contributor.
“This is a very humbling experience,” said Dominique Dawes, a member of the “Magnificent Seven” along with Shannon Miller, Dominique Moceanu, Kerri Strug, Jaycie Phelps, Amanda Borden and Amy Chow. “It’s amazing to think it’s been 12 years since that wonderful achievement.”
Samuelson won the inaugural Olympic women’s marathon in 1984 and is a two-time Boston Marathon champion. She is the oldest of the 162 runners registered for the women’s trials Sunday in Boston, and has said it will be her final competitive marathon.
Robinson is the only U.S. basketball player to be named to three Olympic teams, in 1988, 1992 and 1996. After winning a bronze medal in 1988, he joined Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird on the first “Dream Team” and won gold at the Barcelona Games. He won a second gold medal in 1996.
Kiraly is the only player to win Olympic medals in indoor and beach volleyball. He won golds in 1984 and 1988 with Team USA, then teamed with partner Kent Steffes to win gold when beach volleyball made its debut in 1996. Van Dyken was the first U.S. woman to win four golds at a single games, doing it in her Olympic debut in 1996, and added two more golds in 2000.
Baumgartner is one of only eight Americans to win medals at four different Olympics. He was the gold medallist in 1984 and 1992, won a silver in 1988 and completed his medals set with a bronze in 1996. He also was the flag bearer and captain of the U.S. team in Atlanta.
Boitano won the gold medal in 1984, beating Canada’s Brian Orser in the “Battle of the Brians.” De La Hoya won the lone gold medal for U.S. boxers in 1992, capturing the lightweight title. Plumb won six medals in an Olympic career that began in 1960, including team golds in 1976 and 1984. Wigger competed in 1964, 1968 and 1972 and qualified for the 1980 Games, which the United States boycotted.
Competing as a visually impaired swimmer, Morgan won eight gold medals and a pair of silvers at the 1992 Games.
