Rio 2016: Meet The 4 Long Island Olympic Athletes

Story posted August 5, 2016 10:19 pm ET

Photo: (l-r) Sue Bird, Maria Michta-Coffey, Crystal Dunn and Allie Long

Four Long Island natives are in Rio to compete in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Two are first-time Olympians, one is on her second Olympic journey, while another woman is looking to nab her fourth Olympic Gold Medal.

It all began Friday night's opening ceremony.

Now, meet your Long Island Olympians:

Sue Bird— Basketball

Syosset native Sue Bird is the veteran of the group. She will be participating in her fourth Olympic Games this year.

The basketball star competed on the U.S. Women's Olympic Basketball Team in 2004, 2008 and 2012, earning Gold Medals each time.

Bird was a star high school basketball player at Christ the King High School in Queens who brought her talents to the University of Connecticut women’s basketball team and then to the WNBA.

According to her bio, Bird won two New York State titles in high school, two National Championships at UConn, two WNBA Championships with the Seattle Storm and two gold medals with USA Basketball all before turning 30 years old. Since then, she has added a long list of accomplishments to her resume and looks to bring back more hardware at the Rio Olympics.

Image via Wikipedia Creative Commons

Maria Michta-Coffey— Race Walk

Farmingville resident Maria Michta-Coffey is a professional race walker who qualified for her second Olympic Games on June 30. She competes in the 20k race walk, which is 50 laps around an outdoor track. Race walk is a lesser known Track and Field event, so if you don’t know anything about the sport, you can go here to learn the rules.

Race walk is commonly seen during high school winter track meets. While on the Sachem High School Track team, Michta-Coffey was introduced to the event. From there, she earned four national titles and competed twice at the USATF Indoor Open Championships in high school, according to her website.

She then attended a Division II school which was one of the few schools to offer race walk at the collegiate level. She qualified for her first Olympic Games in 2012 after an injury-plagued 2008 Olympic year.

Michta-Coffey explains her goals for Rio on her website: “I am stronger, faster, and wiser this time around. I have new goals and new aspirations. It’s not just about making it this time, it’s about how well I can place against my international competitors.”

Besides being an elite athlete, Michta-Coffey, 30, recently earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

Read more about her journey on her website.

Image via Getty Images

Crystal Dunn— Soccer

Rockville Centre native Crystal Dunn was one of two Long Island women selected to the U.S. Olympic Women’s National Team. This will be the South Side High School graduate’s Olympic debut and her first international tournament.

Dunn, 24, serves as a forward on the NWSL team Washington Spirit. She was the first overall pick in the 2014 draft after playing for the University of North Carolina, where she won a national title her junior year.

“I am more than excited about going to Rio,” Dunn told the Washington Spirit. “Making this roster means so many things to me. I have worked very hard to be exactly where I am today. I feel like everything I’ve gone through has made me better. I am excited to represent my country in Rio!”

Read more about Dunn’s accomplishments on her Washington Spirit roster page.

Image via Wikipedia Commons

Allie Long— Soccer

The second Long Island woman to make the U.S. Olympic Women’s National Team is Northport native Allie Long.

Long, 28, scored 22 goals with 10 assists in just 65 appearances as a midfielder for the Portland Thorns, making her third in the all-time NWSL leaders list, according to SB Nation.

Long split up her college career between Penn State and UNC, where she earned a national title in 2008, according to the Thorns.

SB Nation described Long as a “late bloomer” in women’s soccer. Long started her professional career at the Washington Freedom and went on to play for Sky Blue FC, the Paris Saint-Germain Football Club and the New York Fury before she joined the Thorns in 2013.

On her Instagram page, Long shared her thoughts on her journey to an Olympic Team:

“I can't really explain the feeling of making this team, I've never took my eye off the goal and to see it come to fruition is the best feeling in the world. I thank God for the faith to see this through, for the opportunity to play and represent my country. I thank my parents, friends, family, family in-law. I thank my fiancé for step by step helping me develop my game and being there for me through it all. I thank the Thorns organization for believing in me and always having my back. My team for challenging me everyday in training and making me better. Most of all, everyone that doubted me, THANK YOU. Without you those days I didn't feel like putting in an extra rep, oh I did. To persevere and to prove everyone wrong... I hope I inspire everyone to just keep working, no matter what -believe in yourself, do not listen to anyone who says you can't because YOU CAN. #roadtorio.”

Read more about Long’s accomplishments on her Portland Thorns roster page.

Image via Wikipedia Commons