Brown University
Click here for Brown’s 54 Olympians
The first Brown athlete to win a gold medal was Norm Taber ‘13. But he may be better remembered for requiring what some call the first Olympic photo finish. Taber was awarded the bronze medal in the 1500-meter race at the 1912 Stockholm Games. Fellow American, and eventual silver-medal winner Abel Kiviat, posted the same time as Taber (3:56.9). Judges awarded Kiviat the silver and Taber the bronze after reviewing a photograph from the finish line.
Taber’s gold came in the 3000-meter team race, an event that only appeared at the 1912, 1920 (Antwerp), and 1924 (Paris) games. The United States team also included Tel Berna and George Bonhag. The team’s time was 8:45.2.
The first female athlete from Brown to compete in the games was Albina Osipowich ‘33. Osipowich, a swimmer, won two gold medals at the 1928 Amsterdam games, in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4×100-meter freestyle relay.
In more recent Olympiads, however, Brown has seen a steady stream of male rowers and female hockey players make it to the Games. In the last twenty years, Brown rowers Igor Boraska ‘94 (Croatia), Porter Collins ‘97, Jamie Koven ‘95, Xeno Mueller ‘94, Ted Patton ‘88, Nikola Stojic ‘97 (Yugoslavia), Dave Simon ‘02, John Smith ‘83 and Dennis Zvegelj ‘97 have competed in the Summer Olympics. Mueller, Patton, and Smith have won medals.
Tara Mounsey ‘01 and Katie King ‘97 have been members of the United States’ women’s ice hockey team since its inception in 1998. They won the gold medal at the ‘98 Nagano games, beating Becky Kellar ‘97 and her Canadian teammates. Canada, however, got the best of the U.S. team in the 2002 Salt Lake City championship game, winning the gold medal.
On the men’s hockey side, Michael Mastrullo ‘79 became the first and only Ivy League Olympic hockey player that did not represent the U.S. or Canada, as the former Bear suited up for the Italian squad in Sarajevo ‘84.
Brown has also fielded two unique Olympic competitors, Jimmy Pedro ‘94 and Igor Boraska ‘94. Pedro competed in the Lightweight Judo competition in 1992 (Barcelona), 1996 (Atlanta), and 2000 (Sydney), winning the bronze medal in 1996. Boraska, a native of Croatia, demonstrated his versatility as an athlete through the Olympic Games. He represented Croatia in rowing at the 1992, 1996, and 2000 games. After his rowing days were over, he adopted a winter sport, bobsledding for Croatia in 2002. Boraska has since returned to his original love and qualified to row in Beijing.
