Top Olympic Athletes from NJ
The Tokyo Olympics has been arguably one of the most anticipated competitions within the history of the Olympics. It’s one of the first major entertainment events we have had since March of 2020. Many of us, including myself, have had our eyes glued to our screens to keep up with the tally of qualifications and medals. Yet, these Olympians that supposedly represent us and that we’re supposed to connect with and find inspiration from can feel kinda...distant. In their glimmering suits on a huge world stage, it’s hard to remember that they are normal people just like us- simply living out their dreams through hard work. In reality, they all came from humble beginnings. And if you look a bit closer, it’ll become apparent that our icons and source of inspiration grew up just like us...quite literally! The best of the best come straight from the many suburbs of New Jersey, and here are the top ones!
Carli Loyd
Carli Anne Loyd is an incredibly illustrious athlete. Having won the World Cup and a gold medal twice, she’s become an icon. Not only that, but she’s going to the Tokyo Olympics as one of the oldest athletes there. At the age of 39, being a midfielder for one of the best soccer teams in the world is unheard of- but not with her tenacity. From a young age, she was determined to become a world champion. For her, it all started out in Delran, New Jersey, where she played for her town’s high school team and left her mark. She became captain of her team and with multiple goals and victories, became “Girls' High School Player of the Year”. Twice. After she graduated, she further advanced her career in New Jersey while going to Rutgers college and playing for their team, the Scarlet Knights.
Nic Fink
Representing the United States in the 200m BR during the Tokyo Olympics, the 28-year-old is one of the top breaststrokers in the world. Crazily enough, Nic Fink did not always want to be an Olympic swimmer. Rather, his local swim teams near Morristown, the place he grew up in, were the ones that pushed him into the career he now loves. The swimmer from New Jersey first started out on the Cromwell Hills summer team. He would later go on to swim at the Lakeland Hills, the Greater Morristown YMCAs, and the Cougar Aquatic Club. As a graduate from the Pingry School, in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Nic Fink went on to qualify for Team USA. He sure makes all of us from NJ proud.
Tobin Heath
Another Morristown native, Tobin Powell Heath is #17 on the US women’s national team. The United States Soccer Federation has praised her as “perhaps the USA's most skillful player". Also voted the US Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2016, she, alongside Carli Loyd, has won two World Cups and two gold medals. She started out playing soccer at the age of 4 behind her local YMCA in the town she grew up in: Basking Ridge, New Jersey. She graduated from the town’s high school (Ridge High School) in Basking Ridge, after playing soccer there for three years. She also played for another local team, the New Jersey Wildcats, where her career started to kick off. With 25 goals made during her professional career, it’s an exultant moment for her to represent us once again.
Todd Frazier
Todd Frazier, nicknamed “the Toddfather”, was born in Point Pleasant, NJ. The professional baseball player who has played for the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers, and New York Mets (along with many others) has never forgotten the state he grew up in and has left his mark in many ways. He started young, at 12 years old, in fact, in the Toms River East American Little League All-Star team. He helped his team win the 1998 Little League World Series and would later be invited to the Yankee Stadium, where he would stand by the famed Jerseyan, Derek Jeter. Frazier went on to play for Toms River’s High School team, as well as the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers (again, in NJ). Even after playing for some of the best baseball teams of all time, Todd Frazier lives right where he grew up, in Toms River. In a touching tribute to the person who became an idol and hope for many, the Little League field nearby is named after him.
The Olympic athletes mentioned above are only a handful of Jerseyans that are representing the United States. English Gardner, who has one of the top 10 fastest times in the world for the 100-meter dash, Piscataway native Colton Brown, and the foil fencer Jacqueline Dubrovich are just a few more examples of the many Olympians with Jerseyan roots. Talent and hard work, as well as the top athletes of the future, are in fact, closer than we think.
Edited by Chloe Lee.
