Santa Monica's Kate Grace to Compete in 800 Meters in Rio Games

Kate Grace to Compete in 800 Meters in Rio

Santa Monica Resident Kate Grace, 27, earned a berth on the Rio Olympic team by winning the 800-meter race at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials July 15, in a personal-best time of 1 minute, 59.10 seconds. Her performance was overshadowed by the stunning mishap that caused Alysia Montano to fall and Brenda Martinez to stumble, but Grace's patience in finding a path and her speed in moving up from sixth at the 600-meter mark were carryovers from Marlborough, where she was part of 400-meter and 1,600-meter relay teams that set what are still school records.

"Her nickname was Amazing Grace. She was quite a special kid, sort of once in a lifetime," said David Collicutt, her soccer coach and now the school's athletic director. "Just a real natural talent."

Grace graduated from Marlborough High School, and took up running just for conditioning. After graduating from Yale, Grace made the 2012 US Olympic Trials, but did not make the 2012 Olympic team.

Update. We are informed that "Kate Grace was a Santa Monica resident but NOT SamoHi grad. "Kate Grace was a Santa Monica resident but NOT SamoHi grad. Kate graduated second in the class of '07 from Marlborough School."

Santa Monica Beach Could Host Volleyball in 2024 Olympic Games

The City of Los Angeles has proposed itself as the host of the 2024 Olympic Games, to the US Olympic Committee. The play would involve errecting a temporary 12,000-seat venue at Santa Monica beach. The Santa Monica Planning Commission was cautiously receptive to the plan, and to the idea of hosting an Olympic event in 2024.

The commission heard a presentation from LA 2024 chief communications officer Jeffrey Millman, in which he proposed the temporary venue. “What we’d like to do is ultimately get approval from the City of Santa Monica, prevail in the competition and then have seven years to work on the details and various placements of things,” Millman said.

Millman showed a promotional video as LA 2024 campaigns for the bid. Other cities bidding include Budapest, Paris and Rome, among others. The International Olympics Committee will elect a venue in September 2017. Celebrities speaking in the video include Lakers player Kobe Bryant, actors Will Ferrell and Jessica Alba and famous chef Roy Choi, among politicians such as LA Mayor Eric Garcetti.

City to Conduct Downtown Preservation Workshop

How does the City plan to preserve Downtown’s character and sense of history? What should Downtown look like in the future and how will it be shaped? Come learn and share your perspective. Join the Santa Monica community and the City Planning Department for a discussion about the Downtown Community Plan and its approach to Preservation and Change.

"At this Saturday workshop, we will roll up our sleeves and discuss the importance of conserving character Downtown, as well as its sense of history. Explore various options for the scale of new buildings Downtown, the types of uses and how they should contribute to best serve the community. Listen to three local expert panelists share their perspectives on subjects like adaptive reuse, affordable and market-rate housing and the challenges of creating new projects that fit into their existing environments,” says the City.

Reservations are recommended. Saturday, August 13 from 10 am - 2 pm. Santa Monica Bay Women's Club. 1210 4th Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 Kate Grace