Rio De Janeiro, Brazil – American shooters, water polo players and synchronized swimmers helped their country earn 12 Olympic berths Sunday during the final day of the Pan American Games.
In all, the United States qualified athletes in 10 sports for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Two modern pentathletes grabbed spots in the Beijing Games. Eli Bremer, of Monument, qualified by winning the men’s competition, and Mickey Kelly qualified by winning a bronze medal and finishing as one of the top two North Americans in the women’s event.
U.S. shooters picked up three spots in the final opportunity to earn Olympic spots.
Sandra Uptagrafft secured the women’s 25-meter pistol berth with her gold medal. Jason Turner grabbed an individual spot by finishing atop the men’s 50-meter pistol competition, and Michael McPhail got a berth in men’s 50-meter prone rifle with a silver medal. Tom Tamas won the event but had earned his place at the Olympics during a World Cup competition.
In triathlon, Andy Potts and Julie Ertle won berths with gold-medal performances.
The world champion women’s water polo team clinched a berth for Beijing when it earned gold at the Pan Ams. Then the U.S. men’s team claimed a spot in the Olympic field with a win.
Synchronized swimming qualified the duet and the eight-person team for Beijing. The duet will feature Christina Jones and Andrea Nott.
Jun Gao of Gaithersburg, Md., won the women’s singles in table tennis and qualified for a spot at the Olympics.
“I would estimate that roughly 25 percent of our team in 2008 will have been a part of our delegation here in Rio,” said U.S. chief of sport performance Steve Roush. “Our main performance goal centered around maximizing our 2008 Olympic qualification opportunities. We are very pleased with our results in those sports.”
