#TokyoToppers: Former Hilltoppers set to Compete in the 2020 Olympics
We are 11 days out from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics officially beginning and several Hilltoppers will be taking their place on the world’s biggest sporting stage.
We’ll have coverage of each athlete in the coming days leading up to the opening of the games and in the two weeks of competition, but below you’ll find out who is competing and what nation they’re representing.
We’re hoping to compile as full a list as possible. If you see we are missing an athlete, shoot us a tweet, @TheTowelRackWKU, to let us know!
Michelle Finn, Ireland (3,ooom Steeplechase)
Former Sun Belt Champion Michelle Finn will take part in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, having won the SBC crown in the event in 2010 and 2012. She also holds the WKU record in the steeplechase (10:14.09–2012).
Finn represented Ireland in the 2016 Rio Games, finishing 11th in her heat (9:49.45).
The first round of the women’s 3,000m steeplechase will be held Sunday, August 1.
Larissa Franklin, Canada (softball)
Former WKU outfielder Larissa Franklin will be the program’s first ever softball Olympian in just under two-weeks time, as she’ll compete on the diamond for Team Canada.
Franklin, a Maple Ridge, B.C. native, played just one year on the Hill after transferring from IPFW. In her one season — the 2015 campaign — she hit .417 with 22 RBI and tied a program-best 15-game hitting streak.
Martin Owusu-Antwi, Ghana (4x100m relay)
The most-recent graduate of any of WKU’s Olympians this year, Owusu-Antwi will also run in the 4x100m relay, for his native Ghana.
He currently holds the program record for the mens indoor 200 and was a member of the 4x400 team that ran the best time in program history.
This will mark his first Olympic Games.
Heats for the men’s 4x100m race begin on Thursday, August 5.
Jessica Ramsey, U.S.A (shotput)
Former Hilltopper track and field star Jessica Ramsey is headed to Tokyo after setting a U.S. Olympic Trials record in the shotput event.
Women’s shot put begins Friday, July 30 at 5 a.m., Bowling Green time (19:00, or 7 p.m., Tokyo time). The final will take place on Sunday, August 1 (7:10 p.m. July 31 BG time, 9:10 am. Aug. 1 Tokyo time).
Gavin Smellie, Canada (4x100m relay)
Franklin won’t be the only Topper trading in WKU red and white for Canadian colours: runner Gavin Smellie is “likely” to compete in Canada’s 4x100m relay, according to WKU’s website.
Smellie won seven SBC titles, including a relay win in 2008 (4x400-yards).
If Smellie does indeed run, it’ll mark his second Olympic appearance, after participating in the same event in 2012. In the ’12 final, Smellie was part of a Canadian team that thought it had won bronze but was then disqualified due to a lane violation.
Heats for the men’s 4x100m race begin on Thursday, August 5.
