Quotes from U.S. players, coach
prior to start of Squash competition in Rio
de Janeiro, Brazil. by Craig Sesker, USOC Press
JAMIE CROMBIE
“Natalie (Grainger) is just an amazing player – she
has a great chance to win this tournament. She’s been
a great addition to our team.”
“A lot of people see me and think I’m a coach.
I’ve managed to keep my level of play high enough
to make another team. It’s fun to be a part of a great
event like this. Squash is like high-speed chess where there
is a thinking part and a part where you have to react quickly.”
"This is my third Pan American Games, but I'm just as excited
about the Opening Ceremonies this year as I've ever been.
Having an opportunity to represent your country in a sold
out stadium of 80 or 90,000 people is pretty incredible
and amazing. It's going to be crazy. For a sport like squash,
you don't get a whole lot of attention so it's really neat
for us to be a part of the Opening Ceremonies."
COACH CHRIS WALKER
“This is Natalie’s first major event since becoming
a U.S. citizen. She’s a very, very good player and
I’m excited to see what she can do.”
"We've got a great chance to win a few medals here and have
a good showing. This team looks very strong."
NATALIE GRAINGER
“I kind of have goose bumps right now just thinking
about how exciting the Opening Ceremonies will be. I’m
so excited, I can’t wait. To be in the stadium with
all those people screaming and cheering, there’s nothing
quite like it. It’s going to be very cool. I love
being an American citizen. Having a chance to play for the
U.S. is a tremendous honor for me.”
"We hope to win some gold medals and really put the U.S.
on the map. We think we have a good chance to do that."
MICHELLE QUIBELL
“The Pan Am Games are a really big event for Squash
because we’re not yet an Olympic sport. This is the
big event that we really look forward to. We’re really
excited and pumped up for this tournament.”
"The Brazilians are such sports fanatics anyway, so they'll
really be into it for the Opening Ceremonies. All the athletes
will really be into it too so it should be an unbelievable
experience."
CHRISTOPHER GORDON
“We think this is one our best teams ever and hopefully
we can continue to build and improve. We have some good
young players and a good performance here could serve as
a springboard for our team in the future.”
"The Opening Ceremonies are going to be an amazing experience.
At the very most, we might play in front of a thousand people
so this is a great reward to take part in something where
there will be thousands of people in a big stadium. It's
going to be an incredible rush to take part in this."
JULIAN ILLINGWORTH
“U.S. squash is coming up, and getting better and
better. We’ve got some real good players. We’re
looking forward to the challenge of this event.”
