Famous Twins with Olympics Connections

This is our incomplete list of twins who have competed in the Olympics or who are schedule to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

A

• Anderson, John and Tom - Australian twin brothers who each captured gold medals in the 1972 Olympics in Munich, albeit in different events. , Tom Anderson and John Shaw grabbed gold in the Dragons event, while Tom's twin, John, teamed with skipper Dave Forbes of Sydney to take the gold in the Star in a chartered boat

B

• Branch, Ed and Lou - U.S. Gold Medalists at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in Greco/Roman Wrestling in 198 1/2 and 220 Pound Classes, respectively
• Brands, Terry and Tom - (born Apr. 9, 1968) - Wrestling greats who are both members of the United States National Wrestling Hall of Fame (Terry was inducted in 2006 and Tom in 2001). Terry is a two-time World Champion and Olympic Bronze Medalist (2000) who now coaches for USA Wrestling. Tom is a former Olympic Gold Medalist (1996) and World Champion and is now the head wrestling coach at the University of Iowa
• Bryan, Bob and Mike - (born April 29, 1978) - Mirror-image identical twins who have been the top-ranked men's tennis doubles team in the world off-and-on since 2004. Have won 39 men's double titles together (as of May, 2007), including five Grand Slam titles (Wimbledon 2006, Australia 2006 & 2007, U.S. Open 2005, French 2003). Will be competing in their 2nd Olympics together in Beijing although they did not medal in Athens. They lost to a Swiss team that included Roger Federer int he semis in Beijing and played later for the bronze medal

C

• Cooper, Jacqui, Fiona and Sarah - (born Jan. 6, 1973) - Jacqui is an Aerial Freestyle Skiing World Champion from Australia and part of a fraternal set of female triplets. She was a favorite in the 1998 and 2002 Olympics but failed to medal

D-E

• Evers-Swindell , Georgina and Caroline - (born Oct. 10, 1978) - New Zealand identical twin sisters who the Gold Medal in the Athens Olympics in 2004 in the Double Sculls Women's Rowing Event and then repeated that feat in 2008 in Beijing. Two-time World Champions in Doubles Rowing who were also co-named 2005 Rowing Female Crew of Year by the International Rowing Federation

F-G

• Graffin, Andrew and Allen - (born Dec. 20, 1977) - Track distance runners from England. Andrew competed for England in the 2000 Olympic Games. Both have run sub-4 minute miles

H

Paul and Morgan Hamm in competition

• Hamm, Morgan and Paul - (born Sept. 24, 1982) - Olympic gymnasts who were on the U.S. silver medal-winning men's team in the 2004 Olympics in Athens while also competing in 2000 in Sydney. Paul won the gold medal in the All-Around Men's competition, although the scoring was disputed in a controversy immediately following the announcement of the results (it was not overturned). He was the first American male ever to win Olympic gold in the all-around. They returned to active competition in 2007 and both qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing although injuries forced both brothers to withdraw before the games began
• Harrison, Alvin and Calvin - (born Jan. 20, 1974) - U.S. Olympic Track & Field Gold Medalists (Alvin in both 1996 and 2000, Calvin in 1996) who overcame adversity of homelessness to earn Olympic gold and then later saw success tainted with suspensions from international competition due to use of illegal substances
• Hauser, Brad and Brent - (born March 28, 1977) - Distance runners, Brad ran 5000 meters for USA at 2000 Olympics
• Hochschorner, Pavol and Peter - (born Sept. 7, 1979) - Olympic Canoeing - Slovakian twins who teamed to win gold at 2000 Olympics and then repeated in that category in 2004 in Athens and then entered the twins record books (there should be this kind of record book if it doesn't exist currently) by winning a third straight Olympic gold in Beijing
• Hollonbock, Scot and Sean - (born Nov. 5, 1969) - Scott won 2 gold medals at 1992 Paralympics and set world records in 800 and 1500 meters

I-J

• Josephson, Sarah and Karen - Olympic Synchronized Swimmers who were 1988 Silver Medalists and 1992 Gold Medalists. Sarah also won two individual Olympic medals and Karen won one individual medal

K-L

• Koslowski, Dennis and Duane - Each won gold medals in 1988 Olympics in Greco-Roman Wrestling
• Kowalski, Kerstin (El Qalqili) and Manja - Kerstin won an Olympic Gold Medal in the quadruple sculls rowing event in 2000 in Sydney while still rowing under her maiden name, Kowalski. Her twin sister, Manja, also was part of that Olympic gold-medal winning team. Kerstin got married in 2001 to a Palestinian native, Iradj El Qalqili, who founded the Palestinian Rowing Federation. She repeated that gold medal performance for the German team in Athens with their winning time of 6:29.29 on August 22, 2004
• Landvoigt, Bernd and Joerg - East German twin brothers who won the 1980 gold medal in the men's pair rowing competition in Moscow, finishing just ahead of Russian twin brothers, Yuri and Nikolai Pimenov

M

• Maher, Phil and Steve - (born May 10, 1957) - Skiing greats, Phil and Steve went 1-2 in slalom at 1984 Winter Olympics

N-O-P

Q-R

S

• Scheepstra, Maartje - Dutch ice hockey star who won a medal in the 2002 Winter Olympics. She was born in 1980 in Irian Jaya in an African tribe (the Yali) that felt twins were the sign of the devil. She was adopted by a Dutch family shortly after her birth. Maartje's twin died at age 3
• Sedin, Henrik and Daniel - (born Sept. 26, 1980) - Swedish hockey star twins who both play for Vancouver Canucks. Helped their native Sweden earn the Gold Medal in hockey in the 2006 Olympics in Turin. Twins who have played hockey together their entire lives, they ended the 06-07 season separated by just four points in their NHL careers (Daniel 306 points, Henrik 302)
• Steele, Dan and Darrin - (born March 20, 1969) - Dan won a bronze medal in the 4-man bobsled at 2002 Olympics and also is a former NCAA hurdles champion
• Stewart, Geoff and James - (born Dec. 15, 1974) - part of Australia's Bronze Medal-winning men's Coxless Four rowing team at 2000 Olympics and then repeated that bronze finish (joined by a younger brother, Stephen) in the eight-man event in 2004 in Athens

T-U-V

• Tancheva, Vladislava and Galina - The Tancheva Twins were part of the Bulgarian rhythmic gymnastics team that took bronze in the group finals on the last day of the Athens games on August 29, 2004
• Thorpe, Jim and Charlie - (born May 28, 1888) - Jim Thorpe is considered one of the greatest athletes in modern history and was an Olympic gold medalist in the 1912 Olympics in pentathlon and decathlon as well as professional athlete in the NFL, MLB and basketball. His twin brother Charlie died of pneumonia at age 9. A career .252 hittier in the majors for parts of five seasons, Jim Thorpe was better-known for his football career in which he led the (pre-NFL) Canton Bulldogs to championships in 1916, 1917 and 1919. Thorpe died virtually penniless on March 28, 1953
• Velasco, Roel and Mansueto - (born June 26, 1972) - Boxers from The Phillipines who each won medals in the same event, Light Flyweight, in different Olympics. Roel won the Bronze Medal in 1992 in Barcelona, while Mansueto earned the Silver Medal four years later in Atlanta. In both Olympics, the Velasco Twins finish represented The Phillipines only medal
• Vilagos, Penny and Vicky - Canadian Synchronized Swimmers who won a Silver Medal in 1992 Olympics behind fellow twins Sarah and Karen Josephson

W-X-Y-Z

• Wurtele, Rhoda and Rhona (born Jan. 21, 1922) - Women's skiing pioneers from Canada who were among their country's first female Olympians. Members of both USA and Canada Skiing Hall of Fames
• Xiaoshuang, Li and Dashuang - (born Nov. 1, 1973) - Olympic Gymnastics--Li won the all-around Gold Medal at the 1996 Olympics

Please visit this wiki article for our complete list of famous multiples.