06.04.08
Asian American Olympic Hopefuls
Several Asian-Americans are up to bringing home the gold from the 2008 Beijing. Some of them are:
Badminton: Howard Bach – Bach was born in Saigon, Vietnam and grew up in San Francisco. And he also continued to pursue his passion for badminton at YMCA in U.S
Cycling: Kim Hayashi – 22 years and was born in Hawaii and will be competing for BMX racing.
Swimming: Tara Kirk – He is a half Chinese half Filipino and grew up in U.S. He was a champion in swimming since 2001.]
Table Tennis: Gao Jun Chang – She was born in Boading, China and now a U.S. citizen and is residing in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She had been playing table tennis since she was still 5 years old.
Judo: Taylor Takata – He is representing the U.S. for the 60-kilogram weight division for Olympics. And he is from Wahaiawa, Hawaii.
Rhythmic Gymnastics: Lisa Wang – An Asian-American which had won several championships already with Rhythmic Gymnastics. She will be studying at Yale University and will be taking up international studies or journalism.
Artistic Gymnastics: Ivana Hong – His parents are Chinese but they were born in Vietnam and now living in Laguna Hills, California.
Kevin Tan – who was a hyperactive child, but has won many to championships as a gymnast.
Yewki Tomita – a 23-year old native of Arizona got into the competition for the 2008 Olympics. His parents owned a gym that’s this was is stepping stone to becoming a good gymnast.
Sho Nakamori – He was still 7 years old when he got into the sport. This was also his parents’ favorite sport that’s why he was influenced by them.
Raj Bhavsar – a native of Texas who used furniture as his practice tools for gymnastics.
Diving: Haley Ishimatsu – She is a 15-year old girl from Seal Beach, California who is the representative for diving.
Kimiko Soldati – also a representative for diving and is a half Japanese.
Field Hockey: Binh Hoang – He was born in Vietnam and is now living at West Lake Village, California. He is already playing field hockey while he was still 7 years old.