Hokies Youssef Ramadan and Antani Ivanov have both qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games as have Hokie alum Marcel Lomnický and signee Barbora Malíková. Ramadan and Ivanov are the first two current student-athletes at Virginia Tech to head to Tokyo.
Ramadan swam an Olympic standard A-Cut time on Sunday, qualifying him for competition in the 100 butterfly for Egypt. The freshman is no stranger to the big stage in the 100-fly as he had his most notable performance of the season in the event.
At the 2021 ACC Championships, Ramadan had a record-breaking time in the 100 butterfly at 44.32, the third fastest time ever in the NCAA, the fastest time swum by a freshman in NCAA history, and the No.1-time in the country at that point in the season. Ramadan’s time also broke the ACC record, the ACC meet record, the school record, and the Greensboro Aquatic Center record.
Ivanov qualified in both the 100 and 200 butterfly earlier this month for Bulgaria. Although this is Ivanov’s first Olympic appearance, he has competed on the Bulgarian Junior National and National Team for several years.
This past season, Ivanov, a junior, earned a bronze medal in the 200 fly at the 2021 NCAA Championships back in March with a time of 1:39.26. Ivanov also took sixth place in the 100 fly, earning his second individual All-American honor of the season. At the ACC Championships he placed second in the 200 fly and third in the 100 fly.
Ramadan and Ivanov will be joined in Tokyo by Hokie alum, Ian Ho. Ho will compete in the 50-freestyle sprint for Hong Kong.
The 2020 Olympic Games will begin July 23 and will conclude on August 8 in Tokyo, Japan. Swimming competition will run from July 24 through August 1 at the Tokyo Aquatics Center in Koto City, Tokyo.
Hokie alum Marcel Lomnický and signee Barbora Malíková punched their tickets to the Tokyo Olympics at their respective national championships this weekend.
Lomnický ’12, the two-time NCAA champion while at Virginia Tech, qualified for his third Olympic games in the hammer throw with a heave of 259′ 10″ (79.19m) to win the Slovakia National Championships.
Lomnický advanced to Tokyo having competed for Slovakia at both the London and Rio Olympics, finishing fifth at the 2016 games. The 33-year-old Slovak enters the Tokyo games ranked seventh in the world with his throw from this weekend.
Malíková delivered a blazing performance in the 400m, winning the national championship with a time of 51.23 seconds and securing her spot at the Olympic Games.
The 19-year-old won the gold medal at the 2017 World U18 Championships and the silver medal at the 2019 European Junior Championships, both in the 400m.
Malíková also owns the Czech Republic’s U20 national record in the 800m at 2:03.14.
