Iowa athletes compete in Beijing for 2008 Olympics

Iowa may be about 6,000 miles from Beijing, China, but starting this week, Iowa will have a presence in the 2008 Olympic hub.

More than 10 athletes from Iowa or with Iowa connections are arriving in the Chinese capital this week to compete in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which run Aug 8-24.

*Northwest Iowa man A.G. Kruger will compete with the U.S. track and field team, throwing the hammer. Kruger, a Sheldon native, was the champion hammer thrower at the U.S. Olympic trials with a 75.81 meter throw, according to U.S.A. Track and Field. A Morningside College alum, Kruger has earned several national titles and was a 2004 Olympic Team member. He now resides in Ashland, Ohio.

*Shawn Johnson a gymnast from West Des Moines, who will be a junior in high school this fall, is on her way to the 2008 Olympics. Some of her career highlights include a first place finish at the Olympic Trials in June and for the second year in a row she was named the National Champion at the 2008 Visa National Championships. Shawn has also been nominated for the 2008 Teen Choice Awards. Shawn attends public school and lives with her parents and her pets, a Golden Retriever and two cats in West Des Moines.

*Lolo Jones, a former Des Moines resident, is the current record holder for the 100m hurdles for the State of Iowa at the high school level with a time of 13.40 seconds. She went on from there to present day honors such as winning the 2008 Olympic Trials in 12.29 seconds. That time tied the No. 2 ever run under any conditions record. Jones, a Louisiana State University graduate, now lives in Baton Rouge, La.

*Jennifer Barringer's third-place finish and a personal best time of 9:22.73 in the women's steeplechase qualified her for the 2008 Olympic Team Trials. Barringer also captured the 2007 USA Outdoor champion title and is a two-time NCAA champion. Barringer was born in Webster City, Iowa, but currently lives in Boulder, Colo.

*Ben Askren, a volunteer assistant wrestling coach from Wisconsin, will compete in the 74 kg. weight class in wrestling at the Olympics. Askren won the U.S. Open and the 2008 Olympic Trials. He became the first University of Missouri graduate wrestler to qualify for the Olympics. Askren was born in Cedar Rapids.

*University of Iowa assistant wrestling coach Doug Schwab will compete on the 145.5 pound free style wrestling team after winning the 2008 Olympic Team Trials. An Osage native, the 5'5" U of I graduate won a gold medal at the Pan American Championship in 2007 and grabbed several national honors.

*Christine Thorburn, a Davenport native, will be cycling on the U.S. women's team. A Grinnell College graduate, Thorburn began competitive cycling at Stanford University after a nagging knee injury made running difficult. She earned a trip to the 2004 Olympics in Athens after winning the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. When she's not on her bike, the medical doctor works as a rheumatologist at the practice she opened in Palo Alto.

*Jason McCartney, a Coralville resident, will be competing in the Olympic cycling competition in Beijing. The Hawaii native was working at a shoe store in Iowa City and sold a pair of shoes to a bike shop owner, who then offered McCartney a job and also hooked him on competitive cycling. McCartney won the Tour de Georgia in April and one stage of the Vuelta a Espaņa in 2007.

*Nancilea Underwood Foster, a University of Iowa graduate, is diving in the 2008 Olympics. A Conroe, Texas native, Foster was national champion four times (two times on the 3-meter and two on the synchronized 3-meter). The daughter of a professional football player for the Oilers, Giants and Broncos, Foster began diving at the age of 5 in 1989.

*Leigh Smith, who attended Ankeny High School and won national titles with the javelin as a youth on the USA Track and Field program in Iowa, will be throwing the javelin for the U.S. men's team in Beijing. Smith's 83.74 meter throw in May set him at the top of the 2008 list for javelin throws. He also played high school football, quarterbacking as a senior with an average 1.6 passing touchdowns per game.

*Steve Mocco, who began his college wrestling career at the University of Iowa, will be wrestling for the U.S. team in China. The New Jersey native won the 285-pound Division I championship in 2003. Then in 2008 Mocco, who lives in St. Louis, Mo., took U.S. National champion honors.