SMC Olympians Through the Years
Basketball players Patty Mills and Matthew Dellavedova are the latest Gaels to compete in the Olympics. Here’s a look at SMC’s Olympians:
Valerie Fleming '03
Fleming and Shauna Rohbock won silver medals in women's bobsled in the Winter Olympics in Turin in 2006. They ended a medal drought for U.S. teams in the bobsledding, luge and skeleton events of the games. Fleming has a master's degree in health, physical education and recreation from Saint Mary's. Read more about Fleming’s career.
Patrick “Patty” Mills
Mills, who was a standout on the Gaels basketball team from 2007 to 2009 and now plays for the San Antonio Spurs, is returning to the Olympics this year as a member of the Australian national team after his debut in 2008. At that time, he was the only men's basketball player in the Olympics who was currently playing collegiate basketball in the United States. At 19, he was also the youngest player on any Olympic basketball roster. Read about Mills’ performance at the 2008 Olympics.
Matthew Dellavedova ’13
Dellavedova, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year and point guard extraordinaire, is also playing for Australia’s team at the Olympics. He is one of only two collegiate players competing in the 2012 Games. Read about Delly and Mills’ preparation for the Olympics.
Other Gael Olympians are:
Joseph Lang '33, who competed in boxing in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles and came in fourth in the bantamweight event.
Tracee Talavera, a member of the silver medal-winning American team at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles who later came to Saint Mary's and earned a B.A. in Communications in 1990. In 1998 she was inducted into the USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame.
Jeffrey Hamilton '88, who won the bronze medal in speed skiing at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville.
Heather Pease, who competed in synchronized swimming in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and won a gold medal, attended SMC from 1992 to 1996.
Saint Mary's women's volleyball coach Rob Browning is also participating in the London Olympics as manager of the U.S. men's volleyball team. He went to the Beijing games as a team leader and was a coach for men's volleyball in the Athens games in 2004 and the Sydney, Australia, games in 2000.
Teresa Castle
Office of College Communications