Angela Ruggiero

Angela Ruggiero included in Sports Illustrated esteemed list of Top 40 Athletes of the Title IX Era

Sports Illustrated

Who made the grade?
Considering the explosion of athletic opportunities over the last four decades, and the extraordinary women who have taken advantage of them, compiling a list of the top 40 female athletes of the Title IX era was a monumental undertaking. Paying homage to the original aim of the legislation — increasing gender-equity in higher education — we narrowed the pool of candidates with the stipulation that each had to have competed in a sport for at least one year at the college level. Doing so removed a [few] worthy athletes, but it opened up spots for many other women who also deserve accolades. After soliciting input from editors, producers and writers from the magazine and website, we present the top 40 female athletes of the last 40 years.

Angela Ruggiero
The all-time leader in games played for Team USA helped the country win the first gold medal in Olympic history at the 1998 Games. She continued steering the U.S. team in the next three Olympics, guiding it to two silver medals, one bronze and three world championships. In 2003, The Hockey News named her the No. 1 women’s hockey player in the world. At Harvard, Ruggiero won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2004, given to the nation’s top female college hockey player. She made history in 2005 when she took to the ice for the Tulsa Oilers, becoming the first woman to play in a men’s game at a position other than goalie. (read more)

Boston Business Journal

MC10 has tapped Tennessee Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and several other pro-athletes to form a Sports Advisory Board (SAB) to help it develop the next version of its athletic performance monitoring devices. Included in this group of elite athletes is four-time ice hockey Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero.

The Cambridge-based maker of flexible electronics will get feedback from the athletes on its sensing platform that allows for sensors to measure hydration, heart rate, muscle activity, motion, and other indicators of athletic performance. The sensors are small and nearly invisible, according to the company. (read more)

Record-Journal

WALLINGFORD — One of the most decorated players in United States Women’s Hockey history, Angela Ruggiero returned to Choate Rosemary Hall earlier this week.

It’s where her hockey journey began.

Ruggiero, 32, was a standout defenseman for the U.S. National Team for 16 years. Her career included four Olympics. As an 18-year old, she nabbed a gold medal at the 1998 Nagano (Japan) Games while still attending Choate.

Ruggiero, a 1998 Choate graduated, returned to Wallingford on Tuesday to prepare for a commencement speech that she will deliver on June 3.

“It’s amazing to be back,” said Ruggiero, who grew up in California. “I missed the campus and the people and just the whole experience that I had attached to my time here. The memories are so vivid because I spent four instrumental years here.” (read more)

Four-time Olympic medalist Angela Ruggiero of the United States has been named as the chair for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the 2016 Winter Youth Olympics in Lillehammer.

Inside The Games

Angela Ruggiero is one of the rising stars in the IOC and retired from ice hockey at the end of last year to concentrate on her work in sports administration after 16 years in the sport.

The Harvard University graduate was just 18 when she won Olympic gold with the US team in 1998 – when women’s ice hockey made its debut on the Games program in Nagano – and she followed it up by claiming Olympic silver at Salt Lake City in 2002, bronze at Turin in 2006 and silver again at Vancouver in 2010. The former defenseman is also a four-time ice hockey world champion and finished her career having recorded 208 points for the US team, including 67 goals and 141 assists.

Ruggiero was in Innsbruck in January for the inaugural edition of the Winter Youth Olympics in the Austrian city, where she praised the concept of the competition, which is credited as being the brainchild of IOC President Jacques Rogge.

“For me, the Youth Olympics is a great event and a great addition to the Olympics,” she told insidethegames.

“I think a lot of the young athletes that will compete and then be inspired to work harder to go on to the Olympics…But I think the real goal of the event is just to participate and to be part of the Olympics…A big part of the event is the Cultural and Education Program that helps young people learn about Olympism and Olympic values so that they can take them back to their respective countries…So I think it has all the right elements become a huge success going forward.”

The announcement marks Ruggiero’s growing prominence in the IOC after she was nominated by her fellow sportsmen and women, along with British bob skeleton rider Adam Pengilly, as one of the 12 elected members on the IOC’s Athlete’s Commission during Vancouver 2010. (read more)

Ice Hockey Olympian Angela Ruggiero Elected to Key Leadership Seat;
Set to Succeed Current President Laila Ali in 2013

The Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) announced today the appointment of a new President-Elect and four new members to the Board of Trustees. Olympic gold medalist Angela Ruggiero, Ice Hockey, has assumed the role of president-elect and will continue serving on the Board of Trustees to provide leadership and visibility for the organization’s mission. Ruggiero will succeed current WSF President Laila Ali in 2013.

WSF is also proud to announce that Jean Afterman, Senior Vice President and Assistant General Manager, New York Yankees, Terri D. Austin, Chief Diversity Officer, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Tamika Catchings, WNBA MVP and two-time Olympic gold medalist, Basketball, and Larry Scott, Commissioner, Pac-12 Conference, have been appointed to serve on the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, effective immediately.

As president-elect, Ruggiero will serve a two-year term as an official spokesperson for the Foundation and will help shape strategic direction and development initiatives for the organization.

“The Women’s Sports Foundation holds a unique position in developing opportunities for girls and women of all abilities to be active whether recreationally or competitively, and I’m excited to help lead the organization to impact even more lives,” expressed Ruggiero, who joined the Women’s Sports Foundation Board of Trustees in January 2010. “It is an honor to continue to build the legacy created by Billie Jean King and all of our leaders. As president-elect, I look forward to working with Laila Ali to fulfill her vision as president and to carrying the torch forward for all of our athletes who cross all abilities.” (read more)