The crew of 15 Minnesota Olympians who met up for drinks Sunday night at Redstone Grill in Minnetonka described one another as a big family — even though most had never met.
"I think when you walk in, you're like, 'These are my people,' " said Carrie Tollefson, who ran the 1,500 meters at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. "It feels like you're family, even though you don't know everyone."
The former Olympians — plus four from other states — gathered at the restaurant to reminisce and share memories of their own Olympic glory days while the current games in Rio de Janeiro splashed across big-screen TVs.
Everyone there understood the grueling practice it takes to make it to the Olympics, and that creates a common bond, many attendees said.
The event was more than just hugs and handshakes. A secondary purpose was to start making connections between the 150 to 200 living Minnesotans who were once Olympians, said Katrina Radke, president of the Minnesota chapter of the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association.
The association had its first meeting in January, Radke said.
"We're trying to get it so we get more and more of us together to create a community," said Radke, who finished fifth in the 200-meter butterfly in the 1988 Games in Seoul.
All 10 members of the 1976 Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team showed up to reunite, handing out red T-shirts and sharing stories about the Olympics in Montreal. Six were from Minnesota, once considered a powerhouse state for Greco-Roman wrestling.
