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Nov. 17, 2016

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Two-time Olympic Medalist and current Virginia swimmer Leah Smith will be honored on National Girls and Women in Sports Day when the Cavalier women’s basketball team hosts Duke on Feb. 5, 2017 at 1 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day brings attention to the achievements of female athletes and to issues facing girls and women in sport. The event is co-sponsored by the University of Virginia Athletics Department and the Maxine Platzer Lynn Women’s Center at UVA.

In the 2016 Rio Olympics, Smith (Pittsburgh, Pa.) won Olympic gold with the United States 4×200-meter freestyle relay and bronze in the 400m freestyle. She became the first female Cavalier swimmer to earn two Olympic medals and the second overall, joining Ed Moses in 2000 (gold with 4x100m medley relay, silver in 100m breaststroke).

Smith swam the second leg of the American relay, which also included Allison Schmitt leading off, Maya DiRado in the third leg and anchor Katie Ledecky. The U.S. won in a time of 7:43.03, followed by Australia (7:44.87) and Canada (7:45.39).

Smith won bronze in the 400m free in 4:01.92, behind American Katie Ledecky, who broke the world record in 3:56.46, and Jazz Carlin (4:01.23) of Great Britain.

For UVA, Smith has won four NCAA titles, winning the 500- and 1,650-yard freestyle events in 2015 and 2016.

In addition to a halftime ceremony honoring Smith, National Girls and Women in Sports Day will also feature a pregame sports festival held in the east end, upper-level concourse of John Paul Jones Arena.

Recent honorees at Virginia’s National Girls and Women in Sports Day celebration include Meghan O’Leary (2016 Olympian, former two-sport student-athlete and current member of USRowing Board of Directors), two-time volleyball MVP and philanthropist Amy (Mitchell) Griffin, Olympic-gold-medal swimmer Lauren Perdue, Paige Selenski and Michelle Vittese (members of the Cavalier field hockey team and gold-medal winners at the 2011 Pan Am games with USA Field Hockey), Natalie Randolph (former UVA track standout and varsity football coach at Calvin Coolidge High School in Washington, D.C.) and Lindsay Shoop (former UVA rower and Olympic gold medalist).

Single-game ticket prices for all home games for women’s basketball are $10 for Reserved seating, $8 for adult General Admission and $6 for youth (18 & under), senior (60 & over) and UVA faculty/staff General Admission. Fans may purchase home game tickets through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone and in person. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office is located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Telephone purchases can be made by calling 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821) or locally at 434-924-UVA1 (8821).

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