Here are 7 Olympians city of Dover is honoring in 2023: Where are they now?

DOVER — When Dover native Jessica Parratto was honored by the city in 2021 after winning a silver medal in women’s 10-meter platform synchronized diving at the Tokyo Olympics, she purposely kept her remarks brief to keep from getting too emotional.

Although she moved away after her freshman year at Dover High School, she made an indelible mark on the program by winning the diving competition in record fashion while helping the Green Wave girls swimming and diving team capture the Division I state title in the city where her parents were swim coaching legends.

“I love this city so much,” she said in 2021. “It’s my home. I’m a Dover girl.”

City officials are making sure she’ll stay that way, along with six other Olympians with ties to Dover. They have been immortalized on a Faces of Dover historical marker at Henry Law Park bearing their names along with photos and vast accomplishments. It sits near the intersection of Henry Law Avenue and Washington Street.

Although the marker was installed last year, it’s expected to be formally dedicated with a ceremony this summer as part of Dover’s year-long 400th anniversary celebration, according to Recreation Director Gary Bannon, with a specific date yet to be determined.

Along with Parratto, a two-time Olympian, the list includes four-time Olympic swimmer and eight-time gold medal winner Dr. Jenny Thompson; two-time Olympians Cathy Schiro O’Brien (women’s distance running) and Barb Marois (women’s field hockey); Jennie Marshall (women’s rowing); the late Ted Vogel (men’s marathon) and Paralympian Eliza Corso (women’s distance running).

“I think it’s wonderful,” Marois said of the display. “I’m honored. It’s educational for me because some of the athletes that are on it I wasn’t aware of, so I got to learn a little bit about their stories. It was cool to take a look at.”

O’Brien, Marois and Marshall were all members of Team USA in 1988 when the Summer Games were held in Seoul, South Korea.

Here's a look at each of the seven:

Jessica Parratto: Women’s synchronized diving - 2021 Toyko, 2016 Rio de Janeiro

Mired in sixth place during one point in the 2021 competition, delayed a year because of the pandemic, Parratto and partner Delaney Schnell rallied to finish second and earn Team USA’s first-ever medal in 10-meter platform synchronized diving. Parratto made her Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where she finished seventh in synchronized diving and 10th in the individual competition.

Two years ago Parratto was considering dropping down to 3-meter diving to save wear and tear on her body, but was undecided. In January of this year, she announced in social media she had decided to train again for 10-meter synchronized diving in hopes of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

Parratto graduated from Indiana University, where she majored in sports media.

Dr. Jenny Thompson: Swimming -1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens

The most decorated female in U.S. Olympic history, Thompson moved with her family from Massachusetts to Dover when she was 12 to train with Seacoast Swimming Association and coach Mike Parratto, Jessica’s dad.

Thompson won 12 medals (eight gold, three silver, one bronze) over four Olympiads while specializing in the relays where she often swam the anchor leg. The four-time Olympian competed in 1992 (Barcelona, Spain), 1996 (Atlanta, Ga.), 2000 (Sydney, Australia) and 2004 (Athens, Greece).

Dover’s outdoor pool is named in Thompson’s honor. She is a Stanford University graduate and received her medical degree from Columbia in 2006. She is currently an anesthesiologist at the VA Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina.

Cathy Schiro O’Brien: Women’s distance running - Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992

A standout runner at Dover High where she won five straight class, state and New England cross country titles, O’Brien was the first American to cross the finish line in the marathon in Barcelona, Spain in 1992.

She also competed in Seoul, South Korea in 1988 and as a 16-year-old running prodigy competed in the first Olympic Trials marathon for women where she finished ninth and set a world junior record in the event.

O’Brien, who retired from competitive racing in 1996, resides in Durham and is an orchestra conductor at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine and a private strings conductor.

Barb Marois: Women's field hockey - Seoul 1998, Atlanta 1996

Marois captained the 1996 U.S. field hockey squad that finished fifth in Atlanta and is in the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame.

Marois, a Massachusetts native who has lived in Dover since 1986, also competed for Team USA in 1988 in Seoul, South Korea where the Americans took eighth place. She was inducted into the USA Field Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.

“It was a great opportunity to be part of a group and part of a team like that,” Marois said of her Olympic experience. “It was an opportunity to travel and see the world and meet other athletes.”

Marois, a former two-sport athlete at UNH, is the head coach of the York (Maine) High School field hockey team, amassing more than 250 wins and winning four Class B state titles. She has taught fifth and sixth grade wellness (a combination of physical education and health) in York for the past 25 years.

Jennie Marshall: Women’s rowing - Seoul 1988

Marshall, who has deep family roots in Dover, reached the final heats of the quadruple sculls in Seoul in 1988. She also won silver medals at the World Championships in 1982, the Goodwill Games in 1986 and the Pan Am Games in 1987.

Marshall went on to coach women’s rowing at Penn, Harvard and UNH. She has also been a member of the Olympic Rowing Committee and president of the inaugural National Collegiate Rowing Association. She settled in Dover in 1992 to raise a family.

Marshall also spent time as a reading specialist in a Dover elementary school. She coached swimming at the SSA and was on the board of directors of the Great Bay Rowing Club.

Liza Corso: Paralympics women’s distance running - Tokyo 2020

Corso, a graduate of Portsmouth Christian Academy in Dover, qualified for the women’s 1,500 finals in Tokyo Paralympics in 2020 and won a silver medal.

An all-state runner at Dover High in cross country, outdoor track and winter track, Corso is the most decorated runner in PCA history despite running without depth perception, making her accomplishments even more impressive. She was born with a genetic disorder called albinism and is considered legally blind.

Ted Vogel: Men’s marathon - London 1948

Vogel was the first American to cross the finish line in the men’s marathon in 1948 in London, England and finished 14th overall. That year he also took second at the Boston Marathon.

Starting at age 19 he ran Boston four times, finishing 15th, ninth, third and second. In 1947 he was ranked third in the world in the marathon and was one of three Americans to qualify for the London Games.

Vogel moved to Dover in 1982 and a year later opened a Hallmark store at the Fox Run Mall. He spent his final years at Langdon Place in Dover and died in 2019 at age 94.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Dover NH honoring Jenny Thompson, 7 Olympians in 2023