Bill Text: FL S1740 | 2014 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Florida Athletes of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 24-13)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-04-11 - Adopted [S1740 Detail]

Download: Florida-2014-S1740-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2014                            (NP)    SR 1740
       
       
        
       By Senator Hukill
       
       
       
       
       
       8-02986E-14                                           20141740__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing the dedicated and inspiring
    3         Florida athletes who competed in the 2014 Winter
    4         Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, on January 27, 2014, the 230-member 2014 United
    7  States Olympic Team was announced, consisting of 106 returning
    8  Olympians, 13 of whom were Olympic champions, and
    9         WHEREAS, even though the Sunshine State is short on snow
   10  and ice, seven Floridians were among those selected to compete
   11  in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, held February 7-23, 2014, and
   12         WHEREAS, five of the seven selected athletes made their
   13  Olympic debuts, Eddy Alvarez, Nathan Bartholomay, Brittany Bowe,
   14  Joey Mantia, and Felicia Zhang; and two were returning
   15  Olympians, Chris Fogt and Lauryn Williams, and
   16         WHEREAS, each of our athletes has an inspiring story of
   17  years of training, personal battles, dedication, sacrifice, and
   18  overcoming adversity, which has led him or her to the starting
   19  line and the chance to represent the United States on an
   20  international stage, and
   21         WHEREAS, the United States was represented on the ice by
   22  long track speed skaters Brittany Bowe and Joey Mantia, both of
   23  Ocala in Marion County, and
   24         WHEREAS, Brittany Bowe started skating at Skate Mania in
   25  Ocala at the age of 8, and she has since competed in inline
   26  skating world championships, where she has won a total of 32
   27  medals, and
   28         WHEREAS, Brittany Bowe has valued being a team player
   29  throughout her life, especially when playing basketball for
   30  Florida Atlantic University, and
   31         WHEREAS, after graduating from college in 2010, Brittany
   32  Bowe switched from inline skating to speed skating and was on
   33  the ice for the first time that year, and
   34         WHEREAS, after just one season on the ice, Brittany Bowe
   35  earned a spot on the United States Long Track Sprint National
   36  Team and the United States World Cup Team, and, in the 2013-2014
   37  racing season, she was ranked second in the world in the 1,000
   38  meter distance, and
   39         WHEREAS, Joey Mantia became an inline speed skater at a
   40  very young age and went on to win 26 gold medals for world
   41  inline skating, and
   42         WHEREAS, between 2003 and 2007, Joey Mantia was named
   43  American Speed Skater of the Year four times, and
   44         WHEREAS, Joey Mantia’s dream of being an Olympian led him
   45  to make the move to the ice to further challenge himself, and
   46         WHEREAS, after his move to long track speed skating, Joey
   47  Mantia found his stride during the 2013-2014 season, claiming
   48  his first individual World Cup Gold Medal in the 1,500-meter
   49  skate, and
   50         WHEREAS, pairs figure skaters Nathan Bartholomay and
   51  Felicia Zhang teamed up in May 2011, training 30 hours a week at
   52  the Ice and Sports Complex in Ellenton in Manatee County, and
   53         WHEREAS, since Nathan Bartholomay and Felicia Zhang began
   54  skating together, they have earned a bronze medal at the 2013
   55  National Championships and a silver medal at the 2014 National
   56  Championships, and
   57         WHEREAS, Nathan Bartholomay and Felicia Zhang began skating
   58  at a young age, with Felicia beginning at the age of 7 after she
   59  attended a skating birthday party and Nathan beginning at the
   60  age of 8 after his family encouraged him to follow his sister’s
   61  path and pursue skating, and
   62         WHEREAS, before Nathan Bartholomay began skating with
   63  Felicia Zhang in 2010, he was the United States Junior Bronze
   64  Medalist, and
   65         WHEREAS, when he is not training with Felicia Zhang, Nathan
   66  Bartholomay works part-time, takes courses in sports therapy,
   67  and coaches the next generation of skaters, and
   68         WHEREAS, in 2008, Felicia Zhang received the United States
   69  Novice Bronze Medal as a single skater, and won the 2010 United
   70  States junior pairs title with a former partner, and
   71         WHEREAS, Felicia Zhang is currently a student at the
   72  University of South Florida, where she studies psychology, and
   73         WHEREAS, short track speed skater Eddy Alvarez, a Miamian
   74  from Miami-Dade County, started skating on the streets of South
   75  Beach at the age of 5, and
   76         WHEREAS, Eddy Alvarez proved himself as someone who never
   77  gives up in the face of adversity when he underwent 5 hours of
   78  grueling surgery to repair 12 tears to his patellar tendons, and
   79         WHEREAS, Eddy Alvarez trains 6 days a week during the
   80  season, which paid off when he became the first Cuban-American
   81  male ever to win a Winter Olympic medal, taking home the silver
   82  medal with his team in the 5,000-meter relay, and
   83         WHEREAS, Chris Fogt, born in Orange Park in Clay County,
   84  made his Olympic debut at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in
   85  Vancouver, British Columbia, and
   86         WHEREAS, after competing in Vancouver, Chris Fogt spent a
   87  year deployed in Iraq as a Second Lieutenant in the Military
   88  Intelligence branch of the United States Army, and
   89         WHEREAS, Chris Fogt began competing in the sport of bobsled
   90  in 2007, after attending a camp in Lake Placid, New York, and
   91         WHEREAS, throughout his career, Chris Fogt has won many
   92  medals and, during the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, took home the
   93  bronze medal in the Men’s Four-Man Bobsled competition, and
   94         WHEREAS, Chris Fogt will return to active duty on May 5,
   95  2014, and his service and sacrifice to our country are greatly
   96  appreciated, and
   97         WHEREAS, four-time Olympian Lauryn Williams, of Miami in
   98  Miami-Dade County, graduated in 2004 from the University of
   99  Miami, and
  100         WHEREAS, previously a track-and-field athlete competing as
  101  a sprinter, Lauryn Williams won a silver medal in the 100-meter
  102  dash at the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, and a
  103  gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2012 Summer Olympic
  104  Games in London, England, and
  105         WHEREAS, Lauryn Williams also won a gold medal in the 100
  106  meter dash and a gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay at the 2005
  107  World Championships in Helsinki, Finland, and
  108         WHEREAS, Lauryn Williams began practicing the sport of
  109  bobsled only in 2013, but she was able to bring home the silver
  110  medal in the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, making the United States
  111  the only nation to win medals in every women’s bobsled Olympic
  112  event since the sport made its debut at the 2002 Winter Olympic
  113  Games in Salt Lake City, Utah, and
  114         WHEREAS, Lauryn Williams continues to give back to the
  115  community through the Lauryn Williams Dynamic Female Athlete
  116  Scholarship Fund, which she established in 2006 to assist
  117  emerging female athletes, NOW, THEREFORE,
  118  
  119  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
  120  
  121         That the athletic accomplishments, sacrifice, and
  122  dedication of Florida’s Olympians, Eddy Alvarez, Nathan
  123  Bartholomay, Brittany Bowe, Chris Fogt, Joey Mantia, Lauryn
  124  Williams, and Felicia Zhang, are recognized and that these
  125  talented athletes and members of the 2014 United States Olympic
  126  Team will continue to inspire others to follow their dreams.
  127         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that it is recognized that the many
  128  accomplishments of the Team USA Olympians would not have been
  129  possible without the love and support of their coaches, their
  130  communities, and, most importantly, their families.
  131         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Floridians stand united in
  132  their respect and admiration for our Olympians and their
  133  achievements in the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

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