The Shaq of the bobsled track makes his Olympic debut for Canada

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — He was named after two basketball stars, with his father hoping he would end up following in their footsteps. In a way, he has.

Meet Shaquille Anfernee Murray-Lawrence, a Canadian bobsled push athlete at the Milan Cortina Games. He was born in 1993, and yes, was named after Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway, who were teammates with the Orlando Magic and teamed up to win Olympic gold for USA Basketball at the Atlanta Games in 1996.

Murray-Lawrence probably won't be winning gold at these games — he and pilot Taylor Austin were 15th after Monday's first two runs of the two-man event — but he can say that, just like his namesakes, he's now an Olympian.

“Today is very special for me, my country, my friends, family, my whole community," Murray-Lawrence said. "Just being able to give it my all and just represent Canada.”

Murray-Lawrence is not a 7-footer who could dominate the paint like O'Neal. Nor is he a 6-footer with the smooth handles and explosive playmaking of Hardaway. At somewhere around 5-foot-8, the Ontario high school grad decided to pursue football in the United States.

Loads of of letters to college coaches went largely unanswered. He ended up at a junior college in Texas — and then the school closed.

He went to another junior college, and then transferred to UNLV, where despite averaging 7 yards every time he touched the ball, he was apparently most notable for having the “longest name ever at the school,” deemed: “ the hardest fit in Rebel roster history."

The Canadian Football League came calling, however. All the while, Bobsled Canada took notice.

And his winding track through sport now requires a sleigh.

“My father was definitely a Shaq fan, and he hoped one day that I would grow to 7 feet tall and be dunking in basketball," Murray-Lawrence said. "That never happened, but I was blessed with tremendous speed, tremendous heart, tremendous pride, and that’s all I need.”

There have been other athletes named Shaquille in the Olympics before, including a swimmer from Zambia named Shaquille Moosa — who finished the 50-meter event at the 2020 Tokyo Games (held in 2021 because of the pandemic) ranked 56th out of 73 swimmers.

And Greece had a basketball player named Sofoklis Schortsanitis, who went by “Baby Shaq” because of his massive frame and massive personality. Schortsanitis played in the 2008 Beijing Games, scoring 15 points during the tournament with three of those points coming in a loss to the U.S.

Now there's Murray-Lawrence. He heard O'Neal might be coming to the Olympics. He'd love nothing more than to meet him at the bobsled track.

“It’s a powerful name, you know," Murray-Lawrence said. "The name has a great legacy to it and I’m glad I’m able to hold up my end of the bargain. I wasn’t in basketball but, you know, I’ve dominated two sports now — so I think I’m doing pretty good.”