It’s Olympics time! Happy Summer Olympics everyone! Did you know that UMBC actually has a pair of alumni athletes competing in Rio?

We’re proud of our athletes Mohamed Hussein ’14 and Cleopatra Borel ’02 for representing our university and their countries at the 2016 Rio Olympics.Mohamed is a swimmer and will compete in the 200m individual medley. The event is slated for Wednesday, August 10th at 1:14 PM. While at UMBC, Mohamed studied mechanical engineering, swam on the men’s varsity team, and broke two school records in the 100 and 200 yard backstroke. He is currently studying to earn his master’s in Engineering Management.We’re sending Mohamed our best wishes as he represents Egypt and goes for the gold!

Cleopatra is a track and field star who will be competing in the women’s shot put competition. She is scheduled to enter competition on Friday, August 12th at 10:05 AM for the qualifiers. We can’t wait to see Cleopatra represent UMBC and Trinidad & Tobago! Cleopatra was an Interdisciplinary Studies major during her time at UMBC and racked up the athletic accolades at the same time!

She was a three time All-American, broke indoor and outdoor shot put school records, and won the NCAA Division I Track and Field Championships, which makes her the first Retriever athlete to win an NCAA Div I title. To add to an impressive list of accomplishments, Cleopatra won a gold medal at the Pan Am Games in 2015. This will be Cleopatra’s 4th Olympic appearance after Athens, Beijing, and London.

We’d also like to extend a special shout out to Emily Escobedo ’17, a current student who participated in the 2016 US Olympic Trials and came in an impressive 10th in the semifinals for the 200m breaststroke.

It’s great to see our alumni and students representing both our university and the world at the Olympic Games!