Olympics

by Paul Teetor      This past weekend Lakers fans got a chance to see something they probably will never see again: a relentless, focused and, determined LeBron James leading a talented supporting cast to a championship. Team USA’s 98-87 victory over France in the Gold Medal game Saturday afternoon provided plenty of proof that LeBron is […]

Olympic High: How Mira Costa produced 16 Olympians  by Mark McDermott   The path to Mount Olympus is never an easy one. But in the middle of July 1976, Alio and Constance Fonoimoana drove 2,868 miles, from Manhattan Beach to Montreal, Canada, with five of their six kids packed into a Dodge van. They were headed […]

by Brianna Smith Barbra Fontana made her way to Atlanta to compete in the Olympics in 1996 as a member of Team USA’s very first beach volleyball team. What made her journey particularly unlikely was that only a few years earlier she’d thought her competitive volleyball days were over.  Fontana was a star player at […]

by Paul Teetor The Dodgers desperately need reinforcements – and the trade deadline is Tuesday afternoon at 3. So by the time you read this you’ll know if they’ve done anything significant to shore up a team that badly needs shoring up. Especially on their pitching staff, but also for the infield and the bottom […]

by Randy Angel Editor’s note: Redondo Beach native Sean Rosenthal went to the Olympics twice with partner Jake Gibb. They finished fifth both times, in Beijing in 2008, and in London in 2012. Rosenthal also won two AVP Manhattan Beach Opens, 2009 with Olympics teammate Jake Gibb, and in  2014 with Phil Dalhauser. The following […]

How Mike Dodd won a silver medal at the Olympics first Beach volleyball competition   by Mark McDermott Whatever faint hope Mike Dodd may once have harbored to be an Olympian had faded a decade and a half earlier by the time beach volleyball was named an Olympic sport in 1995. He was 38 years […]

He left volleyball behind to play in the NBA. But he always intended to return to the sport he loved to chase an Olympic gold. by Mark McDermott Chase Budinger had a tough but enviable choice to make. It was 2006, and his high school days at La Costa Canyon in Carlsbad were coming to […]

by Garth Meyer  She found out May 30th.  The last time, she was just short. “I was 14th out of 13,” said Jordan Raney, of Manhattan Beach, about being cut from the 2021 U.S. Olympic women’s water polo team. This time she made it. She was told the news in an individual meeting with Coach […]

by Robb Fulcher Editor’s note: Mira Costa graduate Cliff Meidl (Class of ‘84) competed in kayaking in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. He was selected by his fellow American Olympians to carry the American Flag during the opening ceremonies. In an interview this week, he credited his younger […]