Monday, August 25, 2008

How did the featured Home Depot olympians fare in 2008?

So you remember that commercial Home Depot ran over, and over, and over again about how they "Employ more Olympic/Paralympic hopefuls..."?

Well, I was wondering, how did the featured Home Depot Olympians fare in 2008?

This is the commercial titled "Sweat":


Olympians featured in the commercial and their 2008 results:

Howard Bach (Cashier):
Professional badminton player. Competed in the 2004 Olympics, but no mention of him making it to the 2008 Olympics.

Kristi Marano (Lawn & Garden):
Freestyle Wrestler. Not at the 2008 Olympics. It is spelled "Kristie" everywhere and not "Kristi" as shown in the video, so they must have made a spelling mistake in the video.

Ryan Reser (Millwork):
Judo wrestler. Was actually at the 2008 Olympics, but he was knocked out in the round of 32.

Rebecca Quinn (Kitchens):
Racing cyclist. Not selected for the 2008 squad.

Brian Sell (Garden):
Marathoner and distance runner. Made the 2008 Olympics marathoner squad. Finished 22nd (3rd among Americans) with a time of 2:16:07.

A.G. Kruger (Tools):
Hammer thrower. Competed in the 2008 Olympics, but did not reach the final as he finished in the bottom 7 in qualifying.

Mary Wineberg (Lighting):
Competed in the 400m race, and finished 5th in her heat. Competed in the 4x400m relay and won gold!

Well, seems like this was more of a "check out our past and present Olympians" commercial rather than the "check out our 2008 Olympians" commercial I was hoping it was. Still, at least there was a gold medal in there.

Home Depot was quoted as saying "So far this year, 17 Home Depot athletes have qualified for the U.S. Olympic team"
http://www.ajc.com/business/content/business/stories/2008/05/10/hdolympics_0511.html

So, where is the list of the other Olympians? Not on Home Depot's web page. I found some listed in some flash here:
http://teamusa.homedepot.com/


Olympians NOT featured in the commercial and their 2008 results:

Lindsey Durlacher:
Greco-Roman style Wrestling. Appears to have not qualified. I can't find her in any results.

Merrill Moses:
Water Polo. Qualified for the Olympic team. Team won the silver medal!
Kristin Heaston:
Shot Put. Qualified 2nd for the Olympic team. Placed 23rd in the qualifying round with a throw of 17.34m

Ronda Rousey:
Qualified for the Olympic team. Lost the quarter final match, but ended up winning a Bronze medal via the repechage bracket!

Chris Boyles:
Decathlon runner. Does not appear to have qualified. No results listed under his name.

Michelle Guerette:
Rowing. Earned a silver medal with a time of 7:22.28 in the single sculls!

Josh McAdams:
3000m Steeplechase. Qualified for 2008 Olympics. Finished 9th in his heat, so did not advance to finals.

Simona Hradil:
Taekwondo. Does not appear to have qualified. No results under her name.

Hanna Thompson:
Fencing. Qualified for the 2008 Olympics. Did not advance past Women's Individual Foil - Round of 32. However, as part of the American foil team, captured the silver medal!

So, overall pretty good for "Team Home Depot". If I missed anything, be sure to let me know. It would be nice if Home Depot had a 'list' instead of me having to glean this information from various locations.

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