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Former Olympians visit Oxnard schools, inspire students

Former Olympians visit Oxnard schools, inspire students

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With the 2024 Olympics just around the corner, eight former Olympians visited students at Rose Avenue Elementary School in Oxnard on Wednesday, representing three countries, six sports and seven medals.

The bulk of those medals belonged to Greg Louganis, one of the most successful Olympic divers of all time, winning one silver and four gold medals.

Jason Richardson, who won the silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2012 London Olympics, and Tasha Danvers, who won the bronze medal for Great Britain in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, made up the rest of the group that has been touring local schools for the past three weeks as part of the Olympic Heroes summer program planned by the Oxnard School District.

The former Olympians answered questions and demonstrated some of their disciplines to a few dozen elementary school students Wednesday morning.

Juan Angulo, a member of the U.S. men’s wheelchair basketball team during the 2004 Athens Paralympics, showed off his custom chair. Nia Toliver, who played with the U.S. women’s rugby team during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, recruited students from the crowd to learn the basics of rugby passing and scrum.

Diver Katrina Young, who competed in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo games, and Louganis, who ended her Olympic career with two gold medals in Seoul in 1988, switched to the double hands-on stance.

Isaiah Murtaugh covers education issues for the Ventura County Star in partnership with Report for America. Reach him at [email protected] or 805-437-0236, and follow him on Twitter. @isaiahmurtaughAnd @vcsschoolsYou can support this work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America.