Inside Iowa State
July 5, 1996
Iowa Staters to Olympics
by Steve Jones
Jim Nespor may be cheering for American athletes at the
Atlanta Olympics this month, but he can't favor U.S. boxers.
A physical therapist and athletic trainer at Iowa State,
Nespor will spend two weeks in Georgia volunteering his
sports medicine skills at the Olympics. He was told he will
work with boxing teams.
"I'll be working with athletes from many countries, and I was told I can't show any favoritism," said Nespor, one of several Iowa State staff and students volunteering their expertise at the Olympics.
Nespor said he has never worked with boxers before. "However, as a trainer, a shoulder is a shoulder and a knee is a knee, no matter if it's on a boxer or football player," he explained. Nespor reports to Atlanta in early July and does most of his work prior to the Olympics, which begin July 19.
Press row
Erin Davison, assistant director of athletic media
relations, will oversee press row for judo, a sport with
which she has no experience. "I didn't know much about judo
and had to do some quick research, including calling the ISU
Judo Club," said Davison, who also may work with Olympic
wrestling. She said she expects to learn some Japanese
because much of the sport's terminology is in that language.
Two of Davison's student assistants in the athletic media relations office are expected to join her in Atlanta. Stephanie Green, a Cyclone volleyball player, will be a volunteer "runner" for the volleyball press operation. Thad Dohrn, a former pitcher on the ISU baseball team, was to help edit publications, but his publications area was closed and he has yet to be reassigned.
Cheer squad
Seventeen members of the Iowa State cheer squad will perform
with several other collegiate cheerleading teams in the
opening ceremonies. Anne Clausen, coordinator of ISU's spirit
squads, said nine females and eight males will rehearse in
Macon, Ga., preparing for the internationally televised
event.
"We're very excited," Clausen said. "This is the chance of a lifetime."
The cheer squad, which will be wearing red, white and blue uniforms rather than their Cyclone outfits, will do basic cheers, pyramids and tosses, similar to stunts done at ISU athletic events. The group was chosen from among many U.S. cheer squads that auditioned, Clausen said.
Also, Tera Hansen, a Department of Public Safety officer, will be part of the security force for the Atlanta games.
Inside Iowa State, inside@iastate.edu, University
Relations
Iowa State homepage
Copyright © 1996, Iowa State University, all rights
reserved
URL:
http://www.iastate.edu/general/Inside/1996/0705/Olympics.html
Revised 7/5/96