Old GOLD And Black: Purdue At The 2012 Summer Olympics

Since I have likely broken my ankle (Thursday night softball, YEAH!) I am going to be spending a lot of time with my foot elevated on the couch. Thankfully, the Olympics are on TV. There are hours and hours of coverage coming through my wonderful cable and onto my screen in HD. That also means a chance to watch some Boilermakers go for Olympic gold. Purdue has four athletes at the games competing for three different countries, and there is definitely a chance they will be putting the gold in Old Gold and Black. Here is the schedule for each former Boiler:

David Boudia - Men's Diving - United States

David is probably Purdue's best shot at gold as he is one of the top-ranked divers in the world. Individually, David will have to wait until the end of the Olympics. He is competing in the 10-meter platform with the semifinals on August 10 and the finals on August 11. He will also be diving in the 10-meter synchronized diving event with partner Nick McCrory. That event is on Monday, July 30.

In 2008 David was fifth in the synchro with Thomas Fiinchum and 10th in the individual competition. He won silver in the 10-meter individual at last year's World championships, however.

David can be followed on Twitter at @davidboudia.

Kara Patterson - Women's javelin - United States

This is Kara's second Olympics, as she competed in Beijing and finished 41st with a throw of 54.39 meters. She has a shot at medalling, however, because she is the American record holder with a throw of 66.67 two years ago. That would have been good enough for bronze in 2008. She will compete in the qualifying rounds on August 7th and the finals will be on August 9th.

Kara is also on Twitter at @karathrowsjav, and has her own blog as well.

Lauren Sesselmann - Women's Soccer - Canada

Lauren has already competed twice in these games, as soccer got an early start this week. She made 15 appearances for the Canadian National Team before the Olympics and has played in both matches as a defender. So far, Canada lost its opener to defending World Cup Champion Japan 2-1, but they are currently leading South Africa 2-0. If that result holds, both Japan and Sweden will secure advancement from the group stage, while Canada will likely need a result in their final match against Sweden to advance to the quarterfinals. The top two teams in each of the three groups advance tot he quarterfinals, as well as the top two of the three third place teams.

Canada plays Sweden Tuesday at 2:30pm ET.

UPDATE: Canada cruised to a 3-0 victory over South Africa earlier today and is in third place in their group with 3 points. They also now have a +2 goal differential, putting them in an excellent position to advance as long as they at least tie Sweden.

Lauren is also on Twitter at @lsesselmann.

Nedžad Mulabegović - Shot Put - Croatia

The final Purdue athlete is representing Croatia at these games, as the former Boiler shot-putter is competing in his first Olympics. He placed 29th in the 2009 World Championships and has a personal best throw of 20.66 meters in Jamaica earlier this year. The 31-year old has an outside chance at a medal. 21.51 won gold at the 2008 games, and his 20.66 would have been good enough for 6th at the last games.

Nedžad will compete this coming Friday, August 3rd in both the qualifications and the finals.