Sports & Leisure

The nation's passion for sports is obvious every day—at NASCAR races, kiddie soccer matches, and countless other contests. From a handball used by Abraham Lincoln to Chris Evert's tennis racket to a baseball signed by Jackie Robinson, the roughly 6.000 objects in the Museum's sports collections bear witness to the vital place of sports in the nation's history. Paper sports objects in the collections, such as souvenir programs and baseball cards, number in the hundreds of thousands.

Leisure collections encompass a different range of objects, including camping vehicles and gear, video games, playing cards, sportswear, exercise equipment, and Currier and Ives prints of fishing, hunting, and horseracing. Some 4,000 toys dating from the colonial period to the present are a special strength of the collections.

Rollercon 2005 roller derby sticker. Rollercon is the first All-Girl Roller Derby convention in Las Vegas, Nevada where more than 400 skaters from 50 leagues were represented from both flat track and banked leagues.
Description (Brief)
Rollercon 2005 roller derby sticker. Rollercon is the first All-Girl Roller Derby convention in Las Vegas, Nevada where more than 400 skaters from 50 leagues were represented from both flat track and banked leagues. As in skateboarding, stickers are an inexpensive and productive way to spread the roller derby culture throughout the world
Modern roller derby began in 2001 after four teams were formed and founded under the Bad Girls Good Women Productions name. In 2002, the Texas Rollergirls were formed from 65 members of the first BGGW teams after a disagreement over management practices caused a permanent split. Moore was a co-founder of the Women's Flat Track Association which helped define modern roller derby. BGGW took the remaining 15 skaters and became the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls forming a banked track league. The flat track derby uses a not-for-profit organizational model with skaters running the leagues and using their own money to buy rink time, produce tournaments, print programs and putting any money earned back into the organization.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2005
ID Number
2016.0190.21.2
accession number
2016.0190
catalog number
2016.0190.21.2
Program for the Furious Truckstop Waitresses vs the French Kiss Army for the April 24th, 2004 game. The Furious Truckstop Waitresses would eventually form the Tucson Roller Derby.
Description (Brief)
Program for the Furious Truckstop Waitresses vs the French Kiss Army for the April 24th, 2004 game. The Furious Truckstop Waitresses would eventually form the Tucson Roller Derby. Modern roller derby began in 2001 after four teams were formed and founded under the Bad Girls Good Women Productions (BGGW) name. In 2002, the Texas Rollergirls were formed from 65 members of the first BGGW teams after a disagreement over management practices caused a permanent split. BGGW took the remaining 15 skaters and became the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls forming a banked track league. The flat track derby uses a not-for-profit organizational model with skaters running the leagues and using their own money to buy rink time, produce tournaments, print programs and putting any money earned back into the organization.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2004
ID Number
2016.0189.09
accession number
2016.0189
catalog number
2016.0189.09
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2009
ID Number
2017.0021.02
accession number
2017.0021
catalog number
2017.0021.02
Booklet for the 2003 Special Olympics Golf Committee Meeting belonging to Special Olympian Marty Sheets.Marty Sheets was born with Downs Syndrome in 1953 but through Camp Joy, a camp for kids with intellectual disabilities, he found a love of sports.
Description (Brief)
Booklet for the 2003 Special Olympics Golf Committee Meeting belonging to Special Olympian Marty Sheets.
Marty Sheets was born with Downs Syndrome in 1953 but through Camp Joy, a camp for kids with intellectual disabilities, he found a love of sports. Invited to participate in the first International Special Olympic Games in Chicago in 1968, Marty formed a life long bond with founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver. Over the course of the next 40 years Sheets won over 250 medals while competing in golf, swimming, Alpine skiing, tennis and power lifting. His favorite sport was golf and In 2006, he was the PGA’s national volunteer of the year for his work at the Wyndham Championship in his hometown of Greensboro, N.C. He is also included in the portrait of Eunice Kennedy Shriver and other Special Olympians which now resides in the National Portrait Gallery collections.
From its beginnings as Camp Shriver in Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s backyard, to the first international games in 1968, Special Olympics has been about giving people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to participate in sport. This participation builds confidence, provides emotional support and offers social opportunities for the athletes and their families. With state chapters and a global presence through its World Games, “Special Olympics is the largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities with 5 million athletes in 170 countries worldwide.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2003
ID Number
2017.3064.17
nonaccession number
2017.3064
catalog number
2017.3064.17
Program for the WFTDA Dust Devil Western Regional Tournament Event , February 16-18th, 2007. Modern roller derby began in 2001 after four teams were formed and founded under the Bad Girls Good Women Productions (BGGW) name.
Description (Brief)
Program for the WFTDA Dust Devil Western Regional Tournament Event , February 16-18th, 2007. Modern roller derby began in 2001 after four teams were formed and founded under the Bad Girls Good Women Productions (BGGW) name. In 2002, the Texas Rollergirls were formed from 65 members of the first BGGW teams after a disagreement over management practices caused a permanent split. BGGW took the remaining 15 skaters and became the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls forming a banked track league. The flat track derby uses a not-for-profit organizational model with skaters running the leagues and using their own money to buy rink time, produce tournaments, print programs and putting any money earned back into the organization.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2007
ID Number
2016.0189.14.2
accession number
2016.0189
catalog number
2016.0189.14.2
Pink race cachet designed by Jona Van Zyle and carried by DeeDee Jonrowe in her sled bag from Anchorage, Alaska to Nome, Alaska. It was canceled in Anchorage on the day of the race start and on the day she finished in Nome.
Description (Brief)
Pink race cachet designed by Jona Van Zyle and carried by DeeDee Jonrowe in her sled bag from Anchorage, Alaska to Nome, Alaska. It was canceled in Anchorage on the day of the race start and on the day she finished in Nome. She is also the musher pictured in the Jeff Schultz photo used on the stamp on this envelope. As a breast cancer survivor, DeeDee likes Jona to use pink in her designs. Trail mail is on the list of required gear for all mushers to carry during the Iditarod, making it just as important as snow shoes, a sleeping bag, the vet book or an ax. Each musher is required to carry this mail cachet throughout the race and deliver it to the Nome post office when the race is completed. This cachet pays homage to the early history of the Iditarod Trail and its original purpose of providing mail and supplies for the Alaskan settlers drawn to the area by the gold rush.
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race is an extreme sports challenge that tests the skill and endurance of competitors while celebrating Alaska’s sled dog culture and history. Teams of 12 to 16 dogs, primarily Alaskan Huskies, and their musher experience harsh terrain and weather conditions during the 1,150 mile run from Anchorage to Nome. In its modern iteration as an extreme sport, the Iditarod takes an intense physical toll not only on the human competitors but also on the sled dogs. The race follows a large network of Native trade and travel routes which travelers used when gold was discovered in the isolated town of Iditarod. This discovery led to a “rush” of miners and settlers from across the country, transforming the trail into the region’s main mail and supply route. The area’s harsh winter conditions made sled dog teams the main source of transportation along the Iditarod Trail and it is this rich history which the Iditarod race celebrates today. In 1978 Congress designated the 2300 mile Iditarod Trail as a National Historic Trail recognizing its importance in the shaping of America. Through its beginnings as a regional story, the Iditarod provides us the opportunity to explore the American Experience through the origins of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and the transformation of the Alaskan sled dog culture into an international sport. The Iditarod is now the largest and most prominent sled dog race in the world, attracting international competitors and world-wide media attention.
Jon and Jona Van Zyle are both artists who live outside of Anchorage and have raised sled dogs for many years. Jon has been a supporter of the Iditarod since it beginnings and ran the race in 1976. Jon produced the first official poster for the Iditarod in 1977 which was such a huge success he was voted official artist of the Iditarod in 1979, a position he holds to this day. Jona also contributes her artistic talents to the race by designing logos for the Junior Iditarod and race cachets for the Iditarod and personal cachets for various mushers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2009
referenced
Jonrowe, DeeDee
artist
Van Zyle, Jona
ID Number
2014.0116.11.1
accession number
2014.0116
catalog number
2014.0115.12.1
New York Mets baseball jersey worn by pitcher Pedro Martinez.Right-handed pitcher Pedro Martinez (b.
Description
New York Mets baseball jersey worn by pitcher Pedro Martinez.
Right-handed pitcher Pedro Martinez (b. 1971) played Major League Baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1992-1993,) Montreal Expos (1994-1997,) Boston Red Sox (1998-2004,) New York Mets (2005-2008,) and Philadelphia Phillies (2009.) The native of the Dominican Republic was an 8-time All-Star and 3-time Cy Young Award Winner. In 2004 Martinez helped lead the Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918.
Martinez attained a career 219-100 Win-Loss record along with a lifetime 2.93 earned run average and 3,154 strikeouts. He has had his number retired by the Red Sox, and was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2005-2008
Associated Name
Martinez, Pedro
New York Mets
maker
Majestic Athletic, Ltd.
ID Number
2017.0334.13
catalog number
2017.0334.13
accession number
2017.0334
Pink letter included in the race cachet designed by Jona Van Zyle and carried by DeeDee Jonrowe in her sled bag from Anchorage, Alaska to Nome, Alaska. It was canceled in Anchorage on the day of the race start and on the day she finished in Nome.
Description (Brief)
Pink letter included in the race cachet designed by Jona Van Zyle and carried by DeeDee Jonrowe in her sled bag from Anchorage, Alaska to Nome, Alaska. It was canceled in Anchorage on the day of the race start and on the day she finished in Nome. She is also the musher pictured in the Jeff Schultz photo used on the stamp on this envelope. As a breast cancer survivor, DeeDee likes Jona to use pink in her designs. Trail mail is on the list of required gear for all mushers to carry during the Iditarod, making it just as important as snow shoes, a sleeping bag, the vet book or an ax. Each musher is required to carry this mail cachet throughout the race and deliver it to the Nome post office when the race is completed. This cachet pays homage to the early history of the Iditarod Trail and its original purpose of providing mail and supplies for the Alaskan settlers drawn to the area by the gold rush.
The Iditarod Sled Dog Race is an extreme sports challenge that tests the skill and endurance of competitors while celebrating Alaska’s sled dog culture and history. Teams of 12 to 16 dogs, primarily Alaskan Huskies, and their musher experience harsh terrain and weather conditions during the 1,150 mile run from Anchorage to Nome. In its modern iteration as an extreme sport, the Iditarod takes an intense physical toll not only on the human competitors but also on the sled dogs. The race follows a large network of Native trade and travel routes which travelers used when gold was discovered in the isolated town of Iditarod. This discovery led to a “rush” of miners and settlers from across the country, transforming the trail into the region’s main mail and supply route. The area’s harsh winter conditions made sled dog teams the main source of transportation along the Iditarod Trail and it is this rich history which the Iditarod race celebrates today. In 1978 Congress designated the 2300 mile Iditarod Trail as a National Historic Trail recognizing its importance in the shaping of America. Through its beginnings as a regional story, the Iditarod provides us the opportunity to explore the American Experience through the origins of the Iditarod National Historic Trail and the transformation of the Alaskan sled dog culture into an international sport. The Iditarod is now the largest and most prominent sled dog race in the world, attracting international competitors and world-wide media attention.
Jon and Jona Van Zyle are both artists who live outside of Anchorage and have raised sled dogs for many years. Jon has been a supporter of the Iditarod since it beginnings and ran the race in 1976. Jon produced the first official poster for the Iditarod in 1977 which was such a huge success he was voted official artist of the Iditarod in 1979, a position he holds to this day. Jona also contributes her artistic talents to the race by designing logos for the Junior Iditarod and race cachets for the Iditarod and personal cachets for various mushers.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2009
referenced
Jonrowe, DeeDee
artist
Van Zyle, Jona
ID Number
2014.0116.11.2
accession number
2014.0116
catalog number
2014.0116.12.2
Trophy for the Most Improved player was awarded to Sparkle Plenty aka Rachelle Moore. The trophy is from Bad Girls Good Women Productions for the year 2002, the only year this league was in existence.
Description (Brief)
Trophy for the Most Improved player was awarded to Sparkle Plenty aka Rachelle Moore. The trophy is from Bad Girls Good Women Productions for the year 2002, the only year this league was in existence. Modern roller derby began in 2001 after four teams were formed and founded under the Bad Girls Good Women Productions (BGGW) name. In 2002, the Texas Rollergirls were formed from 65 members of the first BGGW teams after a disagreement over management practices caused a permanent split. BGGW took the remaining 15 skaters and became the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls forming a banked track league. The flat track derby uses a not-for-profit organizational model with skaters running the leagues and using their own money to buy rink time, produce tournaments, print programs and putting any money earned back into the organization.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2002
ID Number
2016.0190.03
accession number
2016.0190
catalog number
2016.0190.03
Funeral program for Rosemary Kennedy, 2005. From its beginnings as Camp Shriver in Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s backyard, to the first international games in 1968, Special Olympics has been about giving people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to participate in sport.
Description (Brief)
Funeral program for Rosemary Kennedy, 2005. From its beginnings as Camp Shriver in Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s backyard, to the first international games in 1968, Special Olympics has been about giving people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to participate in sport. This participation builds confidence, provides emotional support and offers social opportunities for the athletes and their families. With state chapters and a global presence through its World Games, “Special Olympics is the largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities with 5 million athletes in 170 countries worldwide.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2005
ID Number
2017.3156.17
nonaccession number
2017.3156
catalog number
2017.3156.17
Promotional card for the Gotham Girls Roller Derby All-Stars vs. the Boston All-Stars, March 28, 2009. The reverse is black with color images of roller derby girls and the dates and times of the tournament list in black and yellow print.
Description (Brief)
Promotional card for the Gotham Girls Roller Derby All-Stars vs. the Boston All-Stars, March 28, 2009. The reverse is black with color images of roller derby girls and the dates and times of the tournament list in black and yellow print. Emily Langmade, as Fisticuffs, started her career with the Tucson Roller Derby and later joined the Gotham Girls who went on to become four time champions at Women's Flat Track Roller Derby. Langmade saw the sport change from a hard hitting free for all to a serious sport with worlds class athletes.
Modern roller derby began in 2001 after four teams were formed and founded under the Bad Girls Good Women Productions name. In 2002, the Texas Rollergirls were formed from 65 members of the first BGGW teams after a disagreement over management practices caused a permanent split. Moore was a co-founder of the Women's Flat Track Association which helped define modern roller derby. BGGW took the remaining 15 skaters and became the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls forming a banked track league. The flat track derby uses a not-for-profit organizational model with skaters running the leagues and using their own money to buy rink time, produce tournaments, print programs and putting any money earned back into the organization.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2009
user
Langmade, Emily
ID Number
2016.3170.02
nonaccession number
2016.3170
catalog number
2016.3170.02
Postcard for the Texas Shootout, Womens Flat Track Derby Association Championship Tournament, 2007. Modern roller derby began in 2001 after four teams were formed and founded under the Bad Girls Good Women Productions (BGGW) name.
Description (Brief)
Postcard for the Texas Shootout, Womens Flat Track Derby Association Championship Tournament, 2007. Modern roller derby began in 2001 after four teams were formed and founded under the Bad Girls Good Women Productions (BGGW) name. In 2002, the Texas Rollergirls were formed from 65 members of the first BGGW teams after a disagreement over management practices caused a permanent split. BGGW took the remaining 15 skaters and became the TXRD Lonestar Rollergirls forming a banked track league. The flat track derby uses a not-for-profit organizational model with skaters running the leagues and using their own money to buy rink time, produce tournaments, print programs and putting any money earned back into the organization.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2007
ID Number
2016.0189.07.2
accession number
2016.0189
catalog number
2016.0189.07.2
Miller Racing Group, Inc. (MRG) team owner shirt worn by co-owner Leonard T. Miller is a white, short sleeve polo shirt with red trim and the collar and cuffs. This shirt was worn at public relation events around the country from 2003-2006.
Description (Brief)
Miller Racing Group, Inc. (MRG) team owner shirt worn by co-owner Leonard T. Miller is a white, short sleeve polo shirt with red trim and the collar and cuffs. This shirt was worn at public relation events around the country from 2003-2006. Miller Racing Group was an African American racing team owned by father and son Leonard W. and Leonard T. Miller. MRG was sponsored by Dr. Pepper from 2001-2003 and delivered Dr. Pepper its first corporate win in the brand's history. The team competed in the NASCAR Late Model Stock Weekly Racing Series throughout the southeast. After the 2003 season, the Millers did not have a corporate sponsor for MRG and sustained the team with their personal funds and resources.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2003
user
Miller, Leonard T.
ID Number
2016.0308.03
accession number
2016.0308
catalog number
2016.0308.03
Association for Minorities in Motorsports trailblazer award given to Leonard W. Miller, 2002. Miller was presented this Trailblazer Award in Greensboro, NC on January 12, 2002. He was acknowledged for blazing the way for minorities in motorsports.
Description (Brief)
Association for Minorities in Motorsports trailblazer award given to Leonard W. Miller, 2002. Miller was presented this Trailblazer Award in Greensboro, NC on January 12, 2002. He was acknowledged for blazing the way for minorities in motorsports. This organization was one of many minority groups advocating African American teams and drivers competing in NASCAR as a result of insufficient corporate sponsorship in the 1990s and 2000s. Ironically, many of these advocate organizations are now defunct due to lack of corporate sponsorship and interest.
In 1969, Len Miller and his brother Dexter for Miller Racing to race hot rods on the drag racing circuit in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Northeast. With success on the racetrack he formed Vanguard Racing in 1972 and was the first African American to enter a car in the Indianapolis 500. He then went on to found the Black American Racers Association in 1973. The goal of the organization was to “unify African-American drivers in all types of racing – stock car, open wheel, and drag racing -- pave the way for greater success and introduce race fans to African-American’s history in motorsports.”
Later that same year the Black American Racers, Inc. (BAR) was formed with Benny Scott as their second generation African-American driver. Also in 1973, BAR became the first team to have an African American driver compete in England. In 1975, BAR driver Benny Scott would break the color barrier at the Long Beach Grand Prix, when the team entered a Formula 5000 car in the inaugural race. Len and Benny Scott were inducted into the Black Athletes Hall of Fame for their achievements in motorsports in 1976. In 1978, BAR experienced a setback when their driver Tommy Thompson was killed in an accident at the Trenton Speedway. Many of the team members took a break after this tragedy and in the 1980s the team turned toward stock car racing.
Location
Currently on loan
date made
2002
user
Miller, Leonard W.
ID Number
2016.0359.10
accession number
2016.0359
catalog number
2016.0359.10
American professional racing cyclist Lance Armstrong (b.
Description
American professional racing cyclist Lance Armstrong (b. 1971) may have written a book called It’s Not About the Bike, but his seven Tour de France victories, now annulled as a result of a 2012 investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), all benefited from increasingly advanced racing bicycles.
For almost a century, race bikes used steel tubing construction. Steel was stiff and durable, but was also relatively heavy. High-quality steel frames without wheels or components weighed around 3.75 to 4.5 lbs. Because a lighter bike has a significant advantage on long climbs in the mountains, bike manufacturers attempted to reduce weight as much as possible. During the 1980s, modern manufacturers began experimenting with lighter and more versatile construction materials such as aluminum alloys, titanium, and most recently, carbon fiber. Armstrong’s, now-voided, first Tour de France victory in 1999 was on a carbon fiber Trek 5500. The 5500 frame was still comparatively heavy by modern standards, weighing around 3.85 lbs. At the time of his second tour attempt in 2000, Armstrong was riding both the 5500 frame, as well as a lighter and more advanced 2.75 lb Trek 5900 frame for the mountain stages. Other weight savings and technological improvements found on both bicycles include a larger 1 1/8” steerer tube, a threadless headset, and 9-speed Shimano Dura Ace components.
Armstrong brought several bikes to the 2000 Tour de France. This particular bicycle was raced on some of the flatter stages, such as Stage 11 from Bagnères-de-Bigorre to Revel in Southwest France, as well as the final stage on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. During the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Armstrong used this bike as a spare, but did not ride it in competition.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2000
used during certain stages
2000-07-01 to 2000-07-21
user
Armstrong, Lance
maker
Trek USA
ID Number
2005.0214.01
accession number
2005.0214
catalog number
2005.0214.01
Base for the soccer ball signed by the 2004 championship Los Jets boys team from Jordan-Matthews High School. The Los Jets soccer team was formed in 2002 in Siler City, North Carolina as a growing influx of Latino families moved to the area.
Description (Brief)
Base for the soccer ball signed by the 2004 championship Los Jets boys team from Jordan-Matthews High School. The Los Jets soccer team was formed in 2002 in Siler City, North Carolina as a growing influx of Latino families moved to the area. Competing in a Southern football town, Coach Paul Cuadros and the team often fought through ugly stereotypes from the predominantly white and African-American communities in which they played. Cuadros united the team through hard work and dedication and won the state championship in 2004, only two years since forming. Through success the team found increased support from the school and the community.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2004
ID Number
2017.0100.02.2
accession number
2017.0100
catalog number
2017.0100.02.2
Olympic credentials for horse owner, Chin-Yuan Yang used during the 2008 Beijing Olympics is a yellow laminated card with a color photo of Yang in the upper right corner.
Description (Brief)
Olympic credentials for horse owner, Chin-Yuan Yang used during the 2008 Beijing Olympics is a yellow laminated card with a color photo of Yang in the upper right corner. There is a yellow lanyard with the Beijing Olympics logo throughout attached to the card at the top by two metal hooks. There are seven Olympic pins attached to the lanyard and include: United States Equestrian Federation, FEI, Hong Kong, Special Agent, Mexico, Lenovo and a United States Department Diplomatic pin. Ravel is considered to be the most successful dressage horse in American History. His owner, Aikiko Yamazaki teamed Ravel up with rider Steffen Peters and they went on to a World Cup Final title, they swept the CHIO Aachen, won the only individual World Equestrian Games (WEG) dressage medals for the United States and have come closer to an individual Olympic dressage medal at the 2008 Beijing Games than any American team since 1932, placing fourth. Ravel retired from competition in 2013 and lives with Yamazaki at her Four Winds Farms.
The 2008 Summer Olympics, also known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad were held in Beijing, China with 204 countries, 6,305 men and 4,637 women athletes participating. The swimming competition included 65 World and Olympic records being set which most attribute to the use of the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit developed in part my NASA. Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at these games, the most of any athlete in a single Olympic Games and broke many records. The LZR Racer was subsequently banned from competition as they gave the competitor a technical edge that was deemed unfair by FINA, the International Federation used by the International Olympic Committee for overseeing international water sport competitions. BMX racing was added to the cycling events and American Nastia Liukin won gold in the all-around gymnastic competition. Two disabled athletes competed in the Olympics instead of the Paralympics because neither used a prosthesis to give them an advantage in competition. The United States won the medal count with 112 but China won the gold medal count with 12 more than the Americans.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2008
ID Number
2017.0021.04
accession number
2017.0021
catalog number
2017.0021.04
Olympic credentials for horse owner, Akiko Yamazaki used during the 2008 Beijing Olympics is a yellow laminated card with a color photo of Yamazaki in the upper right corner.
Description (Brief)
Olympic credentials for horse owner, Akiko Yamazaki used during the 2008 Beijing Olympics is a yellow laminated card with a color photo of Yamazaki in the upper right corner. There is a yellow lanyard with the Beijing Olympics logo throughout attached to the card at the top by two metal hooks. There are three Olympic pins attached to the lanyard and include: Team USA, Peking 2008 and a white flag with a blue cross. Ravel is considered to be the most successful dressage horse in American History. His owner, Aikiko Yamazaki teamed Ravel up with rider Steffen Peters and they went on to a World Cup Final title, they swept the CHIO Aachen, won the only individual World Equestrian Games (WEG) dressage medals for the United States and have come closer to an individual Olympic dressage medal at the 2008 Beijing Games than any American team since 1932, placing fourth. Ravel retired from competition in 2013 and lives with Yamazaki at her Four Winds Farms.
The 2008 Summer Olympics, also known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad were held in Beijing, China with 204 countries, 6,305 men and 4,637 women athletes participating. The swimming competition included 65 World and Olympic records being set which most attribute to the use of the Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit developed in part my NASA. Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at these games, the most of any athlete in a single Olympic Games and broke many records. The LZR Racer was subsequently banned from competition as they gave the competitor a technical edge that was deemed unfair by FINA, the International Federation used by the International Olympic Committee for overseeing international water sport competitions. BMX racing was added to the cycling events and American Nastia Liukin won gold in the all-around gymnastic competition. Two disabled athletes competed in the Olympics instead of the Paralympics because neither used a prosthesis to give them an advantage in competition. The United States won the medal count with 112 but China won the gold medal count with 12 more than the Americans.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2008
ID Number
2017.0021.03
accession number
2017.0021
catalog number
2017.0021.03

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