Olympic hurdler and Army veteran Willie Davenport competes for Team USA. (U.S. Olympic Museum)
26 Jul 2021
There are hundreds of United States service members who’ve competed in the modern Olympic Games and dozens who’ve won medals. Some participated in the Games before joining, while others were members of Team USA while simultaneously serving.
Every individual who qualifies for a U.S. Olympic team is a world-class athlete, but there are some whose athletic performance and service records distinguish them from the rest of an impressive crew.
Here are 10 gifted Olympic athletes who also served their country.
Louis Zamperini
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Mark Pavelich, a center on the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team, has passed away at the age of 63. At the Lake Placid games, that team defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union, perhaps the greatest win in the history of team sports. The American victory has since come under fire from the left, which dislikes the idea of the United States as a winner. Back in 1980, the nation was losing badly at home and abroad. The Soviets were on the march in Afghanistan and their proxies making inroads in Central America. Iran was still holding American hostages and humiliating the United States. Jimmy Carter’s surging “misery index” left the nation with little to cheer for, but at Lake Placid, help was on the way.