It’s no secret that athletes from all over the world train tirelessly for years with the goal of qualifying for their country’s Olympic team. For them, there’s no greater honor than representing their nation at the international event held every four years. As over 10,000 of the world’s best head to Paris to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics, we decided to check in with three former Olympians who not only showed up for the US, but also for Rhode Island.
Swimming: 2008, 2012 & 2016
Three-time Olympian and two-time medalist (and the first woman to swim to Block Island), Saunderstown native Elizabeth Beisel returns to the Olympic Games this summer – but not as an athlete. Beisel is part of the NBC Sports team working as a commentator and poolside reporter. She channels the excitement of her first Olympics in 2008 into this new opportunity, saying, “The first time I made the Olympic Team was by far the best moment of my life. Whenever someone asks me what my favorite and proudest moment of my swimming career was, I always tell them, making the team for the first time. It’s the moment when my life changed forever.”
Beisel’s most precious memories revolve around her teammates, many of whom remain close friends. “Swimming is such a close-knit community,” she explains. “We see each other at meets at least once a month during the season, so having six weeks of uninterrupted training (in the lead-up to the games) and competing with these people is the absolute best. It’s like summer camp, but for Olympic athletes.”
Beisel still champions the Olympic ideal. “The culture of the Olympics represents so much peace and hope for the world,” she says. “It’s the one time when everyone comes together, and although it’s to compete against one another, there is such profound respect among athletes.” Unlike basketball or soccer, there is no professional league for swimming – the Olympics is the pinnacle, adding to the significance of the competition. “Representing the United States is an honor. I’m beyond proud and thankful for the men and women who make it possible for us as athletes to compete at the Olympics.”
Soccer: 2008
This summer, the USA men’s soccer team returns to the Olympics for the first time since the 2008 games in Beijing, China. Cranston native Michael Parkhurst, who recently helped establish the Rhode Island Football Club (RIFC), played on that team. His selection to the team came as a surprise to the defender, who was playing professionally for the New England Revolution at the time. “It came as a complete shock to me when I was selected for the group,” Parkhurst recalls. “It was only a few weeks before the Olympics began. Being there was an amazing experience.”
Like so many others, Parkhurst has vivid memories of the opening ceremonies. “We convinced coach to let us go to the opening ceremonies,” he explains. “It was about an hour and a half away from where we were staying, and we had a game the next day. The heat was incredible, and Polo Ralph Lauren had us outfitted in collared shirts with a jacket. Everyone was sweating through everything they were wearing.”
That year, the men’s soccer team played two of their three games outside of Beijing. “Only one of our games was in Beijing and we were planning to stay at the Olympic Village,” says Parkhurst. “We spent one night there, but Argentina, who had already qualified for the next round, was on the floor right above us, and they were up all night celebrating. Our coach switched us to a hotel after that.” Parkhurst jokes that he had no bitter feelings toward the Argentinians, as the American team would have likely done the same. “It doesn’t matter where you are from in the world; there’s that mutual respect. Sport unites us.”
Hockey: 1998 & 2002
Warwick native Sara DeCosta-Hayes competed in two Olympics: the 1998 games in Nagano, Japan, where she won a gold medal playing goalie for the women’s hockey team, and 2002 in Salt Lake City, where she won silver. “Both Olympics were different experiences – each exciting and amazing,” she recalls. “Representing your country and wearing the USA jersey, walking in the opening ceremonies, especially the first Olympics, was a dream come true. The Olympics were a big deal at my house; we always had a party and waited to see what Team USA was wearing. I always dreamt of going to the Olympics.”
Like many former Olympians, DeCosta-Hayes recalls her emotions at the opening ceremonies. “I think as an athlete, the moment you walk into the opening ceremonies is when you truly feel like an Olympian,” she says. “The ceremonies in ’98 were just amazing. Marching in with Team USA is a surreal moment. It just hits you – we’ve had such a long journey, training for all these years to get here.”
DeCosta’s first Olympics came just after her freshman year at Providence College. Those games were the first to include women’s hockey as an official sport. “It was a new experience for all 20 of us,” she remembers. “That team still has the strongest bond of any team I’ve ever been on.”
DeCosta welcomes the expansion of women’s hockey on the collegiate level and in the newly established Professional Women’s Hockey League, founded in 2023. “It shows the growth of the female sports movement,” she says. “There are so many opportunities; you go to any rink and you’ll see girls on the ice with the boys or girls on a team together. In the ’98 Olympics, all the girls had played on boys’ teams; now the level of women’s hockey is outstanding. For us to see how far it has come is what it’s all about.”
“The beauty of the Olympics is that when you go there, you’re not just the hockey team or the bobsled team,” emphasizes DeCosta. “You are Team USA, you are one team – it really feels like that.”
Follow a handful of Rhode Islanders heading to Paris this month to compete.
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