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SportsUnited
Formerly known as SportsUnited, Sports Diplomacy is the U.S. Department of State's sports diplomacy division. Sports Diplomacy uses sport to help youth around the world develop important off-the-court skills, including leadership, mutual understanding and academic achievement. The four pillars of the program include Sports Envoys, Sports Visitors, Sports Grants, and the Empowering Women and Girls through Sport Initiative. The program began in 2002 and has since reached thousands of participants in more than 140 countries. An overarching theme in most of Sports Diplomacy’s programming is disability sport access and inclusion. History The U.S. Department of State, through the SportsUnited division, restarted sports programming in 2002 with a grants competition focused on Muslim community outreach. In 2003 the State Department brought a group of Iraqi archers to the U.S. to compete in the World Archery Championship. The State Department implemented the first Sports Envoy pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Larkin
Barry Louis Larkin (born April 28, 1964) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. As a player he spent his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the Cincinnati Reds from 1986 to 2004. He briefly played in the minor leagues before making his MLB debut in 1986. He quickly won the starting shortstop role for the Reds and enjoyed a long run of strong seasons with the team. Larkin struggled with a string of injuries between 1997 and 2003, limiting his playing time in several seasons. Larkin retired after the 2004 season and worked in a front-office position for the Washington Nationals for several years until he joined ESPN as a baseball analyst. He served as a coach for the American team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and managed the Brazilian national team for the same event in 2013. Larkin is considered one of the top players of his era, winning nine Silver Slugger awards, three Gold Glove awards, and the 1995 National League Most Valuable ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruthie Bolton
Alice Ruth Bolton (born May 25, 1967), known as Ruthie Bolton, is an American former professional women's basketball player. Born in Lucedale, Mississippi, she played at the collegiate, Olympic and professional levels of women's basketball. Bolton played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) from 1997 through 2004 with the Sacramento Monarchs. She played collegiately at Auburn University, teaming with her older sister, Mae Ola Bolton. She was inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011. Bolton has also served as a first lieutenant in the United States Army Reserves as a transportation officer. Professional career Bolton started her professional career for the Visby Ladies in Sweden during the 1990–91 season. The following season, she played in Hungary, becoming the first USA woman to play professionally in the country. She spent the 1992–93 season with C.A. Fainzia in Italy, averaging 26 points per game. In 1994, Bolton moved to Italy to play f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dikembe Mutombo
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (June 25, 1966 – September 30, 2024) was a Congolese-American professional basketball player. He played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "Mount Mutombo" for his defensive prowess, he is commonly regarded as one of the best shot-blockers and defensive players of all time. Outside of basketball, he was known for his humanitarian work. A center, Mutombo moved to the United States from the Democratic Republic of the Congo at age 21 to attend Georgetown University with the hope of eventually earning a medical degree and returning to the DRC to practice medicine. Those plans changed when John Thompson, coach of the Georgetown Hoyas, recruited him to play college basketball. Mutombo played three seasons for Georgetown, establishing a reputation as a tenacious defender. In 1991 the Denver Nuggets chose him with the fourth overall pick of the NBA draft. During his NBA career, he played for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sam Perkins
Samuel Bruce Perkins (born June 14, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player and executive. Perkins was a three-time college All-American, was a member of the 1982 national champion North Carolina Tar Heels, and won a gold medal with the 1984 United States men's Olympic basketball team. Perkins played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 17 seasons. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, Perkins attended Samuel J. Tilden High School. He later attended and graduated from Shaker High School in Latham, New York. He was named large-school player of the year (high school) by the New York State Sportswriters Association in 1980 and was also named to the 35 Greatest Boys McDonald's All Americans team. College career Perkins attended college at the University of North Carolina and played basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels from 1980 to 1984. He was named ACC Rookie of the Year in 1981 and starred alongside future NBA Hall of Fam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Sanneh
Anthony Sanneh (born June 1, 1971) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a defender or midfielder. Club career Youth and college Tony Sanneh was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota to an African father from Gambia and an American mother from Wisconsin. He attended the St. Paul Academy and Summit School and played for the local soccer team, St. Paul Blackhawks. He graduated in 1990 having been selected twice to the All State team. He went on to play college soccer for the NCAA Division I Milwaukee Panthers, where, as a striker, he became the school's all-time scoring leader, with 53 goals and 32 assists from 1990 to 1993. He was named an NCAA Second-Team All-American in 1993. Professional In 1994, his first year out of college, Sanneh played with USISL's Milwaukee Rampage, where he scored 14 goals and 14 assists while teaming up with Brian McBride. His partnership with McBride was highlighted by a goal that the latter scored during the opening 2002 World C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Politics And Sports
Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies politics and government is referred to as political science. Politics may be used positively in the context of a "political solution" which is compromising and non-violent, or descriptively as "the art or science of government", but the word often also carries a negative connotation.. The concept has been defined in various ways, and different approaches have fundamentally differing views on whether it should be used extensively or in a limited way, empirically or normatively, and on whether conflict or co-operation is more essential to it. A variety of methods are deployed in politics, which include promoting one's own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising internal and external ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamika Catchings
Tamika Devonne Catchings (born July 21, 1979) is an American retired professional basketball player who played her entire 15-year career for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Widely considered as one of the greatest female basketball players and one of the most decorated players in WNBA history, Catchings has won a WNBA championship (2012), WNBA Most Valuable Player Award (2011), WNBA Finals MVP Award (2012), five WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Awards (2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012), four Olympic gold medals (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016), the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award (2002), and an NCAA championship with the University of Tennessee Lady Vols (1998). She is one of only 11 women to receive an Olympic gold medal, an NCAA Championship, a FIBA World Cup gold and a WNBA Championship. She has also been selected to ten WNBA All-Star teams, 12 All-WNBA teams, 12 All-Defensive teams and led the league in steals eight times. In 2011, Catchi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brandi Chastain
Brandi Denise Chastain (born July 21, 1968) is an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster. She played for the United States national team from 1988 to 2004. In her 192 caps on the team, she scored 30 goals playing primarily in the defender and midfielder positions. She scored a World Cup–winning penalty shootout goal against China in the 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup final. Chastain played professionally for Shiroki FC in the Japan Women's Football League, the San Jose CyberRays of the Women's United Soccer Association, FC Gold Pride of Women's Professional Soccer, and California Storm of Women's Premier Soccer League. Chastain was named to the USWNT All-Time Best XI in 2013. In March 2017, she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame. In 2018 she was inducted into the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. Early life Chastain was born and raised in San Jose, California ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorrie Fair
Lorraine Fair Allen (born Lorraine Ming Fair; August 5, 1978) is a retired United States, American professional sports, professional Association football, soccer midfielder who was a member of the World Cup Champion United States women's national soccer team, United States women's national soccer team in 1999. Over the span of ten years, she was a part of one World Cup Team and three Olympic teams, and retired from international play in 2005. Her twin sister, Ronnie Fair, (now Ronnie Fair Sullins) was also a member of the national team. When Ronnie was called in to participate in a game against England on May 9, 1997 at San Jose, California, it became the first time a pair of sisters played together on the USWNT. In 2023, Fair was named to the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame. Early career Lorrie and Ronnie both participated on Los Altos High School's female soccer team in Los Altos, California, where they grew up. They were born at Stanford Hospital, but moved to New York for t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julie Foudy
Julie Maurine Foudy ( ; born January 23, 1971) is an American retired soccer midfielder, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist. She played for the United States women's national soccer team from 1988 to 2004. Foudy finished her international career with 274 caps and served as the team's captain from 2000 to 2004 as well as the co-captain from 1991 to 2000. In 1997, she was the first American and first woman to receive the FIFA Fair Play Award. From 2000 to 2002, Foudy served as president of the Women's Sports Foundation. In 2006, she co-founded the Julie Foudy Sports Leadership Academy, an organization focused on developing leadership skills in teenage girls. In 2007, she was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame with her teammate, Mia Hamm. She is currently an analyst, reporter and the primary color commentator for women's soccer telecasts on ESPN. Foudy is the author of ''Choose to Matter: Being Courageously and Fabulously YOU' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michelle Kwan
Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired American competitive figure skating, figure skater and diplomat who served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Belize, United States Ambassador to Belize from 2022 to 2025. In figure skating Kwan is a two-time List of Olympic medalists in figure skating, Olympic medalist (silver in 1998, bronze in 2002), a five-time World Figure Skating Championships, world champion (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003) and a nine-time United States Figure Skating Championships, U.S. champion (1996, 1998–2005). She is tied with Maribel Vinson for the all-time National Championship record. She competed at the senior level for over a decade and is the most decorated figure skater in U.S. history.Athlete bio at usfigureskating.org , accessed September 8, 2006. Known ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cal Ripken
Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed "the Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played his entire 21-season career in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his position's most productive offensive players, Ripken compiled 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career, and he won two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. He was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP), in 1983 and 1991. Ripken holds the record for consecutive games played (2,632), having surpassed Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 which had stood for 56 years and which many deemed was unbreakable. In 2007, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with 98.53% of votes, the sixth-highest election percentage ever to-date. Born in Maryland, Ripken grew up traveling around the United States as his father, Cal Sr., was a p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
