THE UNITED STATES OLYMPIC COMMITTEE ATHLETE SPOTLIGHT. JOE KOVACS, SHOT PUT As the track & field outdoor season comes to a close, shot put thrower Joe Kovacs has enjoyed a breakout year in 2015. At the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, Kovacs won his first World Championship title in the men’s shot put on August 23. Kovacs finished the qualifying round in the lead with a mark of 21.36m, automatically qualifying him for the final on just his second attempt. In the final, he threw a 21.93m for his fifth attempt at the Bird’s Nest, setting him apart from the pack with a 19cm lead. The win in Beijing marks Kovacs’ seventh first place victory so far in 2015 and he is the sixth United States thrower to win a world title. Leading up to the World Championships in Beijing, Kovacs led the pack throughout the season. He had a strong start at the UCLA Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational in April where he claimed first place and improved his personal best distance. Kovacs continued this strong momentum into the 2015 IAAF Diamond League meets where he dominated the competition earning three first place finishes as well as a second and a fourth place. To add to his list of 2015 gold medals and first place finishes, Kovacs won gold at the USA Track & Field National Championships in June with a throw of 21.84m. One of Kovacs’ biggest victories during his outstanding 2015 season was at the IAAF Diamond League meet in Monaco in mid-July. At the meet, Joe threw a record-breaking 22.56 meters, shattering the oldest IAAF Diamond League record. The momentous throw in Monaco measured out to be the best throw since 2003 and ranked Kovacs eighth on the world all-time list. Looking to other record books, Kovacs owns six of the ten farthest throws in 2015. He currently is tied with German thrower David Storl for first place in the 2015 Diamond League title chase with 14 points and three wins each. There is one more opportunity to claim the title at the final Diamond League meet in Brussels, Belgium, on September 11. Before he became a world champion, Kovacs gained success in shot put on both state and collegiate levels. During his senior season at Bethlehem Catholic High School in Bethlehem, Pa., Kovacs won first place at the PIAA state championship in both the shot put and discus. His throw during the state championship meet set the shot put distance record for the PIAA’s AA division and is the third farthest throw in Pennsylvania’s history. Kovacs continued his shot put career on the collegiate level at Penn State University where he furthered his success in the sport. At Big Ten Championships, Joe was the indoor shot put champion in 2011 and consecutive outdoor champion in 2011 and 2012. In NCAA Outdoor Championships, he placed third in 2011, fourth in 2012 and took home first place at the 2012 Penn Relays. Following a strong collegiate run, Kovacs placed fourth at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2012. Joe joined the resident program at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center in 2013 after graduating from Penn State with a degree in Earth and Mineral Science in 2012. With the 2016 Rio Olympic Games just around the corner, Kovacs will soon turn his focus to chasing a spot on the Olympic Team. ANNOUNCEMENTS. TEAM USA SHOP DISCOUNTS Resident athletes receive a 20% discount on merchandise at the Team USA Shop in the Visitor Center at the CVOTC. Stop by to pick up some great Team USA gear! SEPTEMBER 2015 1 OLYMPIC VOICE RIO 2016. LESS THAN ONE YEAR TO GO Let the countdown begin. It is now less than one year until the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Opening Ceremony will take place on August 5, 2016, to kick off the festivities and will include some of Brazil’s best performers showcasing their culture and heritage. With a population of over six million people, Rio de Janeiro will be the first South American city to host an Olympic Games. An estimated 10,500 athletes from 205 countries will compete in over 300 medal events in 42 different sports throughout 19 days including 136 women’s events, 161 men’s events and nine mixed events. Rio 2016 organizers are anticipating 7.5 million tickets to be sold. There will be a total of 33 competition venues located in four different regions of the city – Barra, Deodoro, Maracanã and Copacabana. The Barra zone will have a total of 15 competition venues staging 23 Olympic sport disciplines as well as the Olympic Village, International Broadcasting Centre and Main Press Centre. Within the Olympic Park, the Carioca Arenas will hold basketball, wrestling, judo, fencing and taekwondo competitions. The Olympic Park, which will be turned into an Olympic Training Center post-Games, will also have the Olympic Tennis Centre and the Olympic Aquatics Stadium for swimming and water polo. Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre, to be used for diving and synchronized swimming competitions, and the Rio Olympic Arena, which will host artistic, rhythmic and trampoline gymnastics, were originally constructed for the 2007 Pan American Games. The Olympic Park will also feature the new Rio Olympic Velodrome for track cycling events and there will be the temporary Future Arena venue to host handball. Riocentro is the city’s main exhibition and convention center, next to the Olympic and Paralympic Village and within five minutes of Barra Olympic Park. Riocentro pavilions will be the site of Olympic competition in weightlifting, boxing, badminton and table tennis. Just a little further away, in the Barra da Tijuca neighborhood, is the beach-side Pontal and the start and finish point of the Olympic road cycling time-trial events. The Olympic Golf Course is just north of Marapendi Lake and will welcome the return of the sport for the first time since 1904. After the Games, the venue will be the city’s first public golf course. Deodoro Olympic Park is the second largest cluster of Olympic venues behind Barra. Nine venues in the area will host 11 Olympic sports and four Paralympic sports. Many of the venues were built for the 2007 Pan American Games and are being repurposed for the 2016 Olympics. Deodoro venues include the Olympic Equestrian Centre, Olympic Shooting Centre and Olympic Hockey Centre. The Youth Arena will hold early games in the basketball tournament. Modern pentathlon events will also be held in the various Deodoro venues. The new X-Park will include the Whitewater Stadium for canoe slalom, the Olympic BMX Centre and the Mountain Bike Centre. Deodoro Stadium will host rugby sevens’ Olympic debut. Rugby was previously last included in the 1924 Olympic Games in the rugby union (15s) format. Earlier this year, both the USA Rugby Men’s and Women’s Sevens National Teams qualified for the 2016 Olympic Games. The Maracanã zone features the namesake Maracanã stadium, home to Opening and Closing Ceremonies as well as the final rounds of the soccer tournaments. The 2007 Pan American Games brought a renovation to the Julio de Lamare Aquatics Centre and the Maracanãzinho (or ‘Little Maracanã’) within the Maracanã complex. The Lamare Aquatics Centre will stage part of the 2016 Olympic water polo tournament and the Maracanãzinho is home to volleyball competition. Also in the area is Sambódromo, typically known for the carnival parade, but will instead host the start and finish of the Olympic marathons and archery events. The Olympic Stadium was originally built for the 2007 Pan American Games and will stage track and field events and some early soccer matches. Copacabana will provide the courses for the Olympic marathon swimming and the triathlon’s swimming section. The Olympic triathlon running section will stretch along the waterfront and cycling section will start and finish at Fort Copacabana, as will the cycling road race event. Lagoa Stadium at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas will stage the rowing and canoe/kayak sprint competitions. Marina da Glória will be the venue for sailing events. The Beach Volleyball Arena is a temporary venue right on Copacabana beach and is expected to be one of the most iconic locations during the Rio 2016 Games, especially given the popularity of the sport in Brazil. Team USA dominated the medal count in the 2012 London Games with 104 total medals, 46 of which were gold. Numerous U.S. Olympic Team Trials events will take place in the months leading up to the Games next summer to determine which athletes will represent Team USA in Rio. For CVOTC resident athletes, there are some other important dates over the course of the next year in addition the regular World Cup and World Series schedules. The first nomination shoot of Archery Olympic Trials will take place alongside the Texas Shootout Tournament from September 4-7. The top 16 male and female athletes will continue on to the second nomination shoot in April 2016, which will then narrow the field to the top eight men and top eight women. The final nomination shoot in June 2016 will determine the final ranking. Three men are eligible for the U.S. Team and one female spot has been secured in the 2016 Olympic Games. The women’s team will have one last chance to qualify a full team later in 2016. The U.S. Olympic BMX Team will be named through a combination of points rankings and an Olympic Trials event. The 2016 BMX Power Rankings started in July of this year with the 2015 UCI BMX World Championships and will carry through the 2016 UCI BMX World Championships in May 2016, including all World Cups in between and National Championships.