Other Olympians from the CNMI

The CNMI may not be part of the Olympic family and thus not able to send athletes to the 2024 Paris Olympics, but that hasn’t prevented athletes from the U.S. territory to partake in the Games.

Just this past Olympics, Filomenaleonisa Iakopo carried the American Samoa flag to the quadrennial event and ran the 100m sprint.

But even before the recent Kagman High School graduate, two other former Northern Marianas residents partook in the Olympics—Jon Sakovich in the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics and William “Bill” Tavares in the 1992 Albertville Winter Olympics.

Representing neighboring Guam, where he went to high school, the then 18-year-old Sakovich was part of the island’s national swimming team and competed in the 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 400 m freestyle, 1,500m freestyle, 200m freestyle, and 400m individual medley in the Olympics.

The now 54-year-old associate head coach of the Louisiana State University swimming team said since the CNMI can’t send athletes to the Olympics he swam for Guam, where he had residency, and was one of the fastest swimmers in the U.S. territory.

It turns out being eligible to swim for Guam was the easy part as Sakovich said qualifying for the 1988 Olympics “was not easy.”

On his experience once he was in the Olympics, it was “Pretty amazing. There were a lot of different countries, sports, and people around…Being in the athletes’ village with the best athletes in the world [was the best experience]!” he said

On the gear he got for his Olympic stint, Sakovich said it wasn’t a lot since he represented Guam. “I think a few shirts, a warm up, and open ceremony outfit.” He added that the beddings at the athletes’ village were also OK.

After the 1988 Olympics. Sakovich went on to swim for the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. During his NCAA career, he received seven All-American honors.

Later in his swimming career, he represented the United States in international competitions like the 1995 Pan American Games. He went on to become the head coach and aquatics director at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida from 2015 until 2018, before becoming the associate head coach of LSU in 2021.

Tavares, meanwhile, competed in luge, a small one- or two-person sled, in the 1992 Winters Olympics, coincidentally also held in France in Albertville. He and his doubles partner finished ninth overall.

However, aside from being an Olympic athlete in 1992, Tavares has also served as the U.S. luge and bobsled team’s head coach for seven more editions of quadrennial event.

“As an athlete I competed in 1992 in the sport of luge, yes, a winter sport. But I have also have been to seven Olympic games as a coach or head coach. So, 1998 bobsled coach, 2002 women’s bobsled head coach, 2006 women’s bobsled head coach, 2010 bobsled coach, 2014 luge coach, 2018 luge head coach, and 2022 luge team leader. And I will be going to France to support the U.S. team at the Paralympics at the high-performance center.”

As for qualifying for the 1992 Olympics, Tavares said he had to compete on the national team for four years and actually finished third in singles for luge before winning the Olympic trials in doubles.

On his Olympic experience as a then 28-year-old, he said the best part of it was “having my sister and sister-in-law watch me compete.”

He also shared some memories from the athletes’ village and actual competition when he said, “The food was amazing, beds were small and they give you so much and they make sure everything was fitted to you…It’s amazing how everyone is like a family. From speed skating to figure skating, skiing. You see all the top athletes.”

Born in Guam, Tavares moved to Saipan for his formative years. He left the island in the late 1970s after his father, who worked for the U.S. Department of the Interior, was transferred to Tracy, California.

“Growing up on an island less than 100 feet from the beach. I look back and what a way to grow up. I wish my kids could experience it. It was a true big family. The Sablan family especially David ‘Uncle Dave’ was my dad’s best friend and really took care of us,” he shared about his overall experience on the island.