Dave Sime -- a Duke School of Medicine student dubbed the "world's fastest human" by Time magazine in 1956.
Nancy Hogshead-Makr -- a swimmer who overcame childhood asthma to capture three gold medals and a silver in the 1984 Olympics.
Randy Jones -- a former Duke football and track star who traveled the world -- on a bobsled.
These former Duke athletes are among about 30 Blue Devils whose quest for Olympic gold is a testament to Duke's mission of excellence in athletics, academics, research and healthcare.
"Duke has always been dedicated to excellence, so it's not surprising that we've had so many Olympians here," said Duke professor and track coach emeritus Al Buehler, who trained Olympic athletes as coach of Duke's track and cross country teams. He also is a longtime member of the U.S. Olympic Committee. "The amount of focus, determination and skill that it takes to be an Olympian is something we see at Duke in all areas."
Duke's ties to Olympic track and field, along with basketball and soccer are legendary, with most athletes competing in those sports. As captain of the U.S. Soccer Team, Carla Overbeck, assistant coach of Duke's soccer team, grabbed the gold in 1996 and silver in 2000. And Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who helped the U.S. capture gold medals in Los Angeles in 1984 and Barcelona in 1992, is shooting for another win in Beijing this summer as head coach of the USA Men's Senior National Team.
With the 2008 Olympics in Beijing Aug. 8 to 20, Working@Duke explores Duke's connection by sharing stories of three current Duke faculty and staff with ties to the world's most historic athletic event.
There's Buehler, the former U.S. Olympic Track and Field team manager. He's spent 53 years at Duke, encouraging Blue Devils. Duke also counts among its ranks a star fencer, Leslie Marx. She is an economics professor at Duke's Fuqua School of Business who competed in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. And there's Liz Wort, an assistant coach of Duke's Women's Cross Country Team and a Duke alumna. She is vying for a position on the U.S. Olympic Track Team and will race in the 3,000-meter steeplechase during the U.S. Olympic Team trials in Oregon (June 27 to July 6). She overcame hurdles, literally, even despite an injury.
Here are their stories:
The Steeplechaser
After stretching her muscles, Liz Wort sprinted around the Wallace Wade Stadium track, leaping over 30-inch hurdles. But the three-time All American athlete wanted to improve her speed. In her second attempt, she sailed over the barriers faster.
"I'm still recovering from a hamstring injury, but I'm determined not to let that stop me," said Wort, 24, as she wiped sweat from her brow. "Every time I see an ad for the Olympics, it suddenly hits me that it's right around the corner."
In late June, Wort, assistant coach of Duke's Women's Cross Country Team, will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in the Olympic Trials for a spot on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track Team.
"This will be my first time to try out for the Olympics, and it probably won't feel real until I'm actually there," said Wort, a 2007 Duke graduate who joined Duke's coaching staff last summer.
Having won the 2007 NCAA East Regional in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Wort knows it is one of the most daunting track events. Along with running 7.5 laps around a 400-meter track, she must jump 28 hurdles and clear seven water barriers in each race.
"The water jumps are really challenging," she said. "You don't want to miss them or you lose points. Plus, you could wind up pretty soggy."
Wort trains about four hours daily by running, lifting weights and doing core-strengthening exercises such as yoga and pilates. She adjusted her diet, adding protein smoothies and complex carbohydrates such as whole wheat pasta. She receives support at Duke from colleagues, including Greg Dale, Duke professor of sports psychology and ethics, who helps her hone her focus.
Wort is among 11 elite athletes who received a USA Track & Field Foundation travel grant for the trials. "I still can't believe it's all happening," she said. "It's like a dream come true."
The Fencer
Olympic fencer and Fuqua economics professor Leslie Marx continues to hit the mark -- more than a decade after competing in the historic games and being highlighted in Time magazine.
"Every day, I use the skills I learned in training such as focusing," said Marx, 41, who finished 16th in the women's epee in the 1996 games in Atlanta. "The most exciting part of the Olympics was having the opportunity to compete against the world's best athletes after working so hard for so many years."
She traveled to Richmond, Virginia, in December for the first Olympic trial for the 2008 games and placed 8th among 150 competitors, but she doesn't plan to attend the games in Beijing.
"I've got three children now, all under the age of five, so I think my competitive days are behind me, unless you consider dueling with kids a sport," she said, laughing. She lives in Durham with husband and triathlete Jeff Wilcox and their children. And she works as a volunteer assistant coach for the Blue Devils fencing team.
Marx first picked up a sword as a Duke student. She became the most-celebrated Blue Devil fencer as the women's epee gold medalist at the Pan-American Games in 1995. She won the U.S. National Fencing Championship in 1993 and 1996.
"Some people compare fencing to a combination of ballet and sport because competitors have to be agile and dexterous, but they also have to be relentless in pursuit," she said.
That pursuit of excellence still propels Marx, a 1989 Duke graduate who joined Fuqua's faculty in 2002. Her research at Fuqua ranges from anti-competitive business practices to the mechanisms of collusion at sealed-bid auctions. She's an expert on game theory, which focuses on situations where an individual's success depends in part on the choices of others.
Said Marx, "Game theory is a lot like fencing because one set of actions dictates another."
The Coach
Duke professor and track coach emeritus Al Buehler is a walking/running encyclopedia of Olympic knowledge.
As coach of Duke's cross country team in 1956, he cheered in the Melbourne stadium when Blue Devil track star Joel Shankle captured the bronze in the 110-meter hurdle and became Duke's first Olympic medalist.
As the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team manager in 1972, Buehler helped American athletes deal with tragedy when terrorists struck the Olympic Village in Munich.
When the Olympic Committee was looking for athletes to join the U.S. bobsledding team in Lillehammer in 1994, Buehler suggested Randy Jones, a Duke football and track standout. Jones, a four-time Olympian, became one of the first African-Americans to win a medal at a Winter Olympics.
"Duke has a great history with the Olympics," said Buehler, 77, who stepped down as Duke's track coach in 2000 but teaches "History of Sports" each semester. "We've had Duke athletes compete in almost every sport, from basketball to yachting, and they've all played vital roles as ambassadors of goodwill and good sportsmanship around the globe."
Buehler, a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, has never competed in the Olympics, but he has attended every Olympics since 1956. He hopes to continue that tradition this summer.
"Each Olympics has its own personality and this one should be really interesting, considering the political climate and China's new role in the world," he said.
Buehler has trained Duke Olympians. As the U.S. Olympic Track and Field team manager in 1972, 1984 and 1988, he helped coordinate recruitment, training and transportation for athletes.
"The most memorable part is walking into the games during the opening ceremony," Buehler said. "Every time I marched into the stadium, I was always thinking about the amazing opportunities Duke has given me and how fortunate I was to be at the Olympics."