Alameda Olympians

Alameda's connection to the Olympic Games dates back to 1920 when the city hosted the first U.S. Olympic Swimming Tryouts held at Neptune Beach. Swimmers from this event would move on to the Olympic Trials that were held in New York (Women) and Chicago (Men) in July of that year.

The first Olympic athletes with Alameda roots were Harold Von Schmidt, Charles Tilden Jr. and Charles "Red" Mehan who were all graduates of Alameda High School. They were all members of the gold medal winning 1920 U.S.Olympic Rugby team. Tilden and Von Schmidt were also members of the 1924 Olympic Rugby team although neither of them participated in a match that year. Alameda born Francis Frederick was on the 1928 Olympic Rowing team that won the gold medal that year. Alameda sister and brother pair Marian Gilman & Ralph Gilman were also Olympians. Marian was a member of the 1928 Olympic swim team and placed fourth that year in the 100 meter backstroke. Ralph was a member of the 1936 Olympic swim team and took home a silver medal as a member of the 4 x 200 meter relay team. Alameda High School senior swimming sensation, Tom Blankenburg was a member of the 1928 Olympic swim team and placed fourth in the 200 meter breaststroke. Blankenburg also qualified for the 1932 Olympic team but was ruled ineligible shortly before the games because he worked as a lifeguard while earning money to attend college.

More recently, Alameda born David Roberts was a member of the 1994 U.S. Hockey team, Alameda High School alumnus Nicole Carroll participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Track & Field (javelin) and St. Joseph Notre Dame High School graduate Jason Kidd was a member of two gold medal winning Men's Olympic Basketball teams in 2000 & 2008. The most recent Alameda Olympian is Alexia Pappas who ran the 10,000 meters for Greece in the 2016 Olympics.

Alameda's most decorated Olympian is swimmer Mikhalia Rutherford! A 2006 Alameda High School graduate she participated in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, Greece and brought home 4 medals (3 gold, 1 Silver) for the U.S. team.

The Alameda Sports Project would also like to acknowledge this Olympic athlete who now calls Alameda home:

Pamela Jiles (1976 Olympics: Track & Field)