You are reading

Several Athletes at the Tokyo Olympics Come From Queens

Dalilah Muhammad, Tina Charles, Curtis McDowald and Juan Liu are from Queens and competing at the Olympics (Photos: Wikipedia and Team USA)

July 29, 2021 By Michael Dorgan

The Olympic Games kicked off in Tokyo last week and there are several athletes from Queens chasing glory for Team USA.

The World’s Borough is being represented in track and field, basketball, fencing and table tennis.

Dalilah Muhammad, who is from Jamaica, Queens, is looking to reclaim her crown as the top Olympian in the 400-meter hurdle division. Muhammad won gold in the race in Rio in 2016.

Muhammad’s road to Tokyo has been bumpy with the 31-year-old suffering a hamstring injury earlier this year and she was also struck down with COVID-19 twice. The heats get underway Friday evening with the final scheduled for Tuesday evening.

Tina Charles, who was born in Flushing and raised in Jamaica, Queens, is aiming to win her third gold medal at the Games in women’s basketball. Charles, 32, also clinched gold with Team USA in 2012 and in 2016.

The women’s basketball team kicked off its Olympic campaign Tuesday with an 81-72 victory over Nigeria. The side faces off against Japan Friday at 12:40 a.m. EST.

Curtis McDowald, who is from Jamaica, Queens, is making his first appearance at an Olympic Games and is representing Team USA in fencing. McDowald, 25, is competing in épée fencing, which is one of the three types of fencing at the games along with foil and sabre.

He suffered an opening-round loss Sunday in the singles category and was knocked out to place 24th overall. McDowald’s Olympic journey is not over, however, as he will fence in the team category Thursday at 9 p.m. EST.

In table tennis, Juan Liu from College Point has already been in action at the games and was narrowly beaten in her last sixteen match Tuesday.

Liu, who was born in China, just fell short of becoming the first Team USA player to reach the quarterfinals of an Olympic table tennis event since 2008. The 36-year-old has represented China at the national level in the past.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

City opens new 35-acre public nature preserve along the Rockaway waterfront in Edgemere

City officials, elected leaders, developers and community members gathered at the location of a formerly vacant illegal dumping ground on Beach 44th Street Wednesday to cut the ribbon at the new 35-acre Arverne East Nature Preserve and Welcome Center along the Rockaway waterfront in Edgemere.

The preserve represents phase one of an ambitious Arverne East development project, which will transform more than 100 acres of underutilized space between Beach 32nd Street and Beach 56th Place into 1,650 units of housing — 80% of which will be affordable, serving low-income and middle-income individuals and families — in addition to retail and community space, a hotel and a tap room and brewery.

Two men sought in Kew Gardens attempted robbery and stabbing: NYPD

A 24-year-old man was stabbed when he put up a fight during an attempted armed robbery in Kew Gardens early Monday morning. Police from the 102nd Precinct in Richmond Hill are looking for two suspects who confronted the victim as he walked in front of a Visionworks store at 85-11 126th St. just after 2:15 a.m.

One of the assailants pulled out a knife and demanded his property. When the victim refused to comply, a physical altercation ensued and the victim was stabbed multiple times in his right thigh, police said. The attackers fled the location empty-handed in an unknown direction.