* UPDATED: JULY 29 -- Blomberg is in Heat 2 at 7:47 PM Central. Live coverage can be seen on NBC tape-delayed, but live online by clicking the link attached to this release. *

TOKYO – With the Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony set for Friday, July 23, UT Arlington Athletics will once again have representation on the world's preeminent athletic stage at the Summer Olympics.
 
Emil Blomberg, a 2015 UTA graduate, is set to become the 13th different UTA product to compete in the Olympic Games when he represents his native Sweden in the 3000-meter steeplechase inside the Olympic Stadium hosting the Opening Ceremony.
 
More information about each of UTA's 12 previous Olympians is included later in this release.
 
NBC will air live Opening Ceremony coverage beginning at 6 a.m. Central on Friday, with a primetime re-broadcast at 6:30 p.m. again on NBC to officially kick off the two-week event.
 
Blomberg will need to wait a bit before he officially begins his Olympics as the preliminary races in the 3000m steeple will commence on Thursday, July 29, at 7 p.m. Central. Three heats scheduled 17 minutes apart (7:17, 7:34) will comprise the 45-person field, which will race beginning at 9 a.m. local in Japan on Friday, July 30 – a +14-hour time difference. The prelims are scheduled to be broadcast live on NBC and USA.
 
Qualifying runners advance to the final on Monday, Aug. 2, at 7:15 a.m. Central – 9:15 p.m. in Tokyo. That race is slated to be broadcast live on NBC's streaming platform Peacock. It is free to sign up for the service; for more information visit: peacocktv.com.
 
This will be Blomberg's first Olympic appearance. A former European Championship finalist, Blomberg set his personal best in the 3000m steeplechase earlier this year with a time of 8:20.55. While with the Mavericks from 2011-15, Blomberg won seven conference championships across indoor and outdoor, including the 3000m steeplechase in three-straight seasons: the 2013 Western Athletic Conference Championships and the 2014 and 2015 Sun Belt Conference Championships.

Blomberg will be the eighth all-time former Maverick to compete in a track and field event at the Olympics; however, he will become the first UTA middle distance/cross country athlete as an Olympian. In addition, alumnae Karin Olsson – a previous Mav sprinter – was a member of Sweden's 2002 Winter Olympics Bobsleigh Team, giving UTA nine total former track and field members as Olympians.

In addition to Summer Olympic representation, UTA alumnus Tobi Fawehinmi will also be in Tokyo next month to compete for Team USA in the Paralympic Games from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5. More information about the jumper will be posted on UTAMavs.com as the date draws closer.
 
Below is more information about each of UTA's 12 previous Olympians, dating back to the first appearance in 1968. In total, UTA products have claimed a total of four medals: three Gold and one Silver. Of those 12 members, four have represented USA, while Canada (two), Barbados (one), Kenya (one), Jamaica (one), Sweden (one), El Salvador (one) and Nigeria (one) have been represented by a former Maverick.
 
Including this year's Games, UTA will have had at least one former athlete represent the Mavs at the Summer Olympics in 11 of the previous 14 Games, with the lone exceptions being in 1980, 2000 and 2016.
 
Doug Russell (USA) | Swimming
1968 – Mexico City, Mexico
The first UTA athlete to compete in the Olympics, Russell won not one, but two, Gold Medals at the 1968 Games in the 100 butterfly and the 4x100 medley relay. It was the first-ever Gold Medal awarded in the men's 100 butterfly – an event which made its debut at the 1968 Olympics – in an upset over teammate and favorite Mark Spitz. An NCAA Champion in the 100 fly as well, Russell was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1985. He is a member of UTA's Hall of Honor and was a two-time All-American while with the Mavs.
 
Lanny Bassham (USA) | Rifle
1972 – Munich, Germany | 1976 – Montreal, Canada
The first Maverick to compete in two Olympic Games, Bassham won Gold in the 1976 Games competing in the mixed 50-meter rifle at three positions. Bassham finished tied for 1st place with Margaret Murdock with a total score of 1162. However, following a closer review of the targets, officials deemed Bassham the winner. In a testament to the type of Maverick Bassham was, he requested that two Gold Medals be awarded in lieu of a Gold and Silver; when that was denied, he asked Murdock to share the top of the awards podium with him, which she did and in the process became the first woman to win an Olympic medal in shooting. In the 1972 Games, Basshmam totaled 1157 in the same event to claim a Silver Medal.
 
Larry Dowler (USA) | Swimming
1976 – Montreal, Canada
Dowler – who competed for Team USA while he was still an undergraduate at UTA – finished 9th in the 1976 Games in the 100 breaststroke after reaching the semifinals of the event. Dowler was inducted to UTA's Hall of Honor in 1998.
 
David Peltier (Barbados) | Track & Field
1984 – Los Angeles, California
Peltier's 4x400 relay team finished 6th in the 1984 Olympics with a time of 3:01.60. That mark still stands to this day as a national record for Barbados. Peltier also competed in the 400 meters, advancing to the quarterfinal round before finishing 29th overall.
 
Joseph Sainah (Kenya) | Track & Field
1988 – Seoul, South Korea
Sainah was a member of the Kenyan 4x400 relay team at the 1988 Olympic Games. Sainah's cousin, Peter Rono of Kenya, won Gold at the same Olympic Games in the 1500 meters. Sainah was a four-time All-American during his time with UTA before graduating in 1991.
 
Peter Dajia (Canada) | Track & Field
1992 – Barcelona, Spain
Dajia was Canada's lone representative in the men's shot put at the 1992 Games. His best throw was a delivery of 16.81 meters (55 feet, 1 inch) in the qualifying round, but did not advance to the finals.
 
McClinton Neal (USA) | Track & Field
1992 – Barcelona, Spain
An NCAA champion in the 400 meter hurdles and five-time All-American, Neal finished 9th at the Olympics in the same event after reaching the semifinals thanks to easily winning his heat in a time of 49.14. He competed despite having a left upper-leg injury which kept him at about 85-percent health. Neal was inducted into UTA's Hall of Honor in 1996.
 
Elston Cawley (Jamaica) | Track & Field
1996 – Atlanta, Georgia
Cawley finished 7th in the 2nd round of qualifying in the 200 meters with a time of 20.75. He advanced out of his 1st-round heat with a 3rd-place finish in a time of 20.73. Cawley was a six-time All-American at UTA and was inducted into its Hall of Honor in 2015.
 
Karin Olsson (Sweden) | Bobsleigh
2002 – Salt Lake City, Utah
A former sprinter for the UTA track and field team, Olsson became the first female UTA Olympian and also its first to compete in the Winter Olympics. She finished 14th in the women's two bobsledding with a time of 1:40.30.
 
Takeshi Fujiwara (El Salvador) | Track & Field
2004 – Athens, Greece
Fujiwara represented his birth country in his only Olympics appearance, finishing 7th in his heat of the 400 meters with a time of 48.46 when he was still a teenager. In 2013, he decided to switch to representing his father's country of Japan.
 
Jared Connaughton (Canada) | Track & Field
2008 – Beijing, China | 2012 – London, England
Connaughton was only the second Maverick to ever compete in multiple Olympics. In 2008, he finished 6th in the 4x100 meter relay, and was a semifinalist in the 200 meters. Four years later, he finished 17th in the 200 meters. He was also part of the Canadian 4x100 meter relay team which finished in bronze-medal position, but was later disqualified due to a lane violation.
 
Derrick Obasohan (Nigeria) | Basketball
2012 – London, England
Obasohan became UTA's first basketball athlete to play for his national team at the Olympics. The starting shooting guard for Nigeria, Obasohan averaged 10.6 points and 3.2 rebounds over five Olympic contests, including a personal high of 18 points in the final Group A Preliminary Round matchup against France. A former Southland Conference First Team member who still ranks 7th in program history with 1,308 career points, Obasohan spent the 2019-20 season as UTA's men's basketball Player Development Coordinator.

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