In all, there are 17 former Badgers competing in Paris and I’ll be rooting for each and every one. That includes Phoebe Bacon (women’s swimming, USA); Lauren Carlini (women’s volleyball, USA); Jaden Eikermann Gregorchuk (diving, Germany), Aleem Ford (men’s basketball, Puerto Rico), Grace Joyce (women’s rowing, USA); Alev Kelter (women’s rugby, USA); Rose Lavelle (women’s soccer, USA); Lauren O’Connor (women’s rowing, USA); Dana Rettke, (women’s volleyball, USA); Taiko Torepe-Ormsby (men’s swimming), New Zealand); Maddie Wanamaker (women’s rowing, USA); Sophia Vitas (women’s rowing, USA); and Zach Ziemek, men’s track and field, USA).
I haven’t been to Paris before, but I’ve heard great things about it. There’s good food – I love croissants – good culture, good history and lots of art. It’s a place where, from July 26 to Aug. 11, the world will get a chance to see something amazing every day.
I’ve had quite a while to think about this opportunity. I qualified for the Olympics back in April, but nothing official was announced until last week. Now it’s a matter of me taking full advantage of this opportunity.
The race that I ran to win the Australian Athletics National meet felt very much like all the races that I’ve done in college. All the opportunities experience I’ve had here in college, it really helped me prepare for that race.
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