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Leathernecks earn top finishes at world games

An Olympic hopeful triathlete and a rookie welterweight boxer scored silver and bronze respectively for the Marine Corps and Team USA last month at the Military World Games in India, an impressive feat for the Corps, which sent only six members to the competition.

Second Lt. Justine Whipple, assigned to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo., took second in the women’s triathlon, finishing just seconds behind a competitor from China. Boxing newcomer Lance Cpl. Samuel Martinez of Camp Lejeune, N.C., claimed the bronze after thrashing two opponents before losing a 24-4 decision to a Russian competitor.

“[Martinez] definitely was the most inexperienced boxer on the team, and there were three extremely tough opponents he was competing with. But what he did was great. I was there for one of his matches, and he looked like a seasoned veteran,” said Steven Dinote, Corps sports director.

Whipple is an athletic phenom who attended the Naval Academy, where she won back-to-back championships at the USA Triathlon Collegiate competition. Before graduation, she was invited to train in Colorado Springs, which she did with the blessing of the Corps.

“The potential to have a woman who is an Olympian helps Recruiting Command,” Dinote said. “It’s huge to get any athlete to the Olympic Training Center, and it’s not easy for Marines.”

Martinez, 21, has been boxing since he was 14. But this was his first year on the U.S. Armed Forces team. “Martinez is probably the surprise boxer on the U.S. team,” head coach Basheer Abdullah said in a release. “He’s improved a hell of a lot since the Olympic trials.”

The Military World Games are held every four years, about nine months before the Summer Olympics, allowing military personnel to compete at the highest levels of amateur sports. “Thirty percent of the athletes you see at the Olympics are from their country’s military,” Dinote said.