By: Todd McCormick & Mary E. Mortimer
Logan County’s first known Olympic connection was in 1964 when David Wagner of Zanesfield served as an interpreter at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. While attending Yale University, Wagner became fluent in both Korean and Chinese languages. He served eight years in the U.S. Air Force as a linguist, and flight crew chief and was also an intelligence agent in the U.S. Air Force Security Service in Vietnam. He was stationed in Korea, Japan, Okinawa, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. After his military service, he taught English in China and then returned to Logan County where he taught Chinese at Bellefontaine High School. Wagner served as President of the Logan County Historical Society and as a volunteer and docent. He was involved with many special projects, especially the planning and construction of the Transportation Museum.
Ed Ratleff was born in Bellefontaine and attended Western Elementary School until he moved to Columbus, Ohio where he attended Columbus East High School. Ratleff led their basketball team to two straight state championships in 1968 and 1969 and was named the UPI Player of the Year in Ohio for the 1968 – 69 season. He then played basketball at Cal State Long Beach for legendary coach Jerry Tarkanian. At Long Beach, Ratleff was a two-time first-team All-American.
In 1972, Ratleff made the U.S. Olympic basketball team and was named co-captain. The U.S. Basketball team “lost” to the Soviet Union in the gold-medal game, which remains one of the most controversial games in the history of sports. The end of the game was played and replayed three times due to the Soviet team’s claim of clock and timeout issues. The U.S. seemingly won the first two plays but then lost on the third attempt to end the game. Out of protest, the U.S. players refused their silver medals.
Ratleff was chosen with the sixth pick in the 1973 NBA draft by the Houston Rockets. He played five seasons for the Rockets. In 1991, Long Beach State University retired Ratleff’s number “42” and in 2015, Ed Ratleff was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
In June 1980, the Olympic cycling trials billed as the “Buckeye Race for Gold” were held in Allen and Logan Counties. On June 3, 1980, more than 300 cyclists raced for spots on the U.S. Olympic team, including Greg LeMond who went on to win the Tour de France three times and the World Road Race Championship twice.
Although the U.S. did not participate in the Moscow Summer Olympics, enthusiasm among the participants and spectators was high. The 177-kilometer, 16-lap road race started in Zanesfield and went east on County Road 10 up Bristle Ridge Hill. There were two separate courses that each took over four hours to run. The trials were divided into eight different categories. An estimated 900 spectators gathered in Zanesfield and at different points around the courses.
On June 8, 1996, 91-year-old Donald E. Geist carried the Olympic torch as part of the Olympic Torch Relay leading up to the start of the Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Geist taught Biology at Bellefontaine High School for 36 years and was active in the Boy Scouts for over 50 years, holding one of the highest awards possible as a Scoutmaster. Geist was also very involved with community organizations and was a charter member of the Logan County Historical Society.
Bellefontaine native Louie Vito fulfilled his dream of becoming an Olympian when he made the 2010 U.S. Snowboarding team and participated in the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He finished in 5th place in his first Olympic competition.
Vito enjoyed his most successful year as a professional snowboarder in the winter and spring of 2011. He won several different events including winning the gold medal in the SuperPipe at the Winter X Games Europe on March 18th in Tignes, France. He finished third at the Winter X Games 15 in Aspen, Colorado, and won the Grand Prix Overall Title and the Dew Tour Overall Cup in 2011. Louie continued an even more successful season in 2012 and once again won the overall title.
In 2022, Vito decided to make one more run at the Olympics. However, this time instead of trying out for the U.S Olympic team, Louie decided to represent Italy in honor of his Italian-born grandparents who emigrated to the United States. Louie applied for dual citizenship with Italy and made the country’s snowboard team for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. During the qualification round in Beijing Vito placed 13th. Unfortunately, only the top twelve moved on to the finals. Louie Vito has the distinction of being the first Logan Countian to participate in two Olympics.
In 2009, Zanesfield native Nicole Fawcett joined the U.S. National Volleyball Team. While a student at Benjamin Logan High School and Penn State University, Fawcett won numerous awards and set new school records in Volleyball. She was an alternate on the U.S. National Volleyball Team at the 2012 Olympics in London. Fawcett’s team won the 2013 Pan-American Cup, and she was named the Most Valuable Player and Best Server. She was part of the US national team that won the gold medal in the 2014 World Championship, defeating China 3-1 in the final match. They won the 2015 Pan American volleyball championship, defeating Brazil 3-0, and she won the competition’s Best Opposite individual award. In 2016, Fawcett was an alternate at the Olympic games in Brazil. During her professional career, she was part of numerous championship teams and set a world record for points scored in a single match (55) while playing in Korea during the 2012-13 season. She has played in various countries, including Puerto Rico, Russia, Brazil, China, Italy, Korea and Turkey.
In February 2020, Fawcett was named Ohio State University’s women’s volleyball volunteer assistant coach and was promoted to full-time assistant coach in January 2022. That year, Fawcett helped the Buckeyes to the NCAA Elite Eight for the fourth time in program history and the first time since the 2004 season, finishing with a 22-10 overall record. For the first time in program history, Ohio State was ranked in the AVCA top 10 for the entire season, outdoing its previous record set in 2021. The Buckeyes also won three consecutive matches against top-10 opponents for the first time in program history.
Bellefontaine High School graduate Amy Fulmer participated in the Olympic swimming trials in 2021 and in June 2024. Although she did not qualify for the Olympics, she won numerous swimming competitions while attending Ohio State University. Fulmer was the two-time Big Ten Champion in the 100 freestyle and won titles in the 400-medley relay, 200, 400, and 800 freestyle relay. She was a four-time first-team All-American in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays and a two-time first-team All-American in the 100 and 800 freestyle and 200 and 400 medley relays. She holds several school records at Ohio State University in various swimming competitions. Along with her accomplishments at OSU, she also won three medals at the 2023 Pan American Games.
Visit the Logan County History Center at 521 E. Columbus Ave., Bellefontaine, Ohio 43311, to learn more interesting aspects of Logan County History. The History Center is open for tours Wednesday – Sunday from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm.
