There’s something special about seeing other people’s dreams come true.
It’s part of what makes sports so special, and we saw it time and time again on Sunday in the 2021 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials: Athletes from all over the country, with all different types of backgrounds, realized their dreams of competing in the Olympic Games.
Let’s start with the showstopper herself, Sha’Carri Richardson. After winning the final on Sunday and qualifying for her first Olympic Games, Richardson put the world on notice. She ran up to the stands, hugged her family, and then gave one of the most emotional interviews of the day.
In the post-race interview, Richardson revealed that her biological mother, who abandoned her as a child, passed away earlier this month.
Richardson is the star that this country needs in the Olympic Games. She’s bold, she’s engaging, and she’s unapologetically herself. The world will get a great look at one of our country’s most special talents in Tokyo.
The emotion didn’t stop there. Christina Clemons is finally getting an opportunity to compete in the Games after trying to qualify for the US Olympic team in 2012 and 2016. She’ll be running the 100m hurdles in Tokyo.
This Olympic Games will also have multiple HBCU participants taking their talents across the globe. North Carolina A&T State University, the largest HBCU in the country, will have two athletes competing for the U.S. Randolph Ross will compete in the 400m, and Trevor Stewart has the chance to compete in the 4x400m relay. Quanera Hayes of Livingstone College, an HBCU in Salisbury, North Carolina, finished first in the women’s 400m, defeating the great Allyson Felix to qualify for the Games.
Felix also qualified for the U.S. by finishing in the top three during the final. It will be Felix’s fifth Olympic Games, which is absolutely incredible and rarely seen in track-and-field competition.
Both Felix and Hayes shared a beautiful moment following their 400m race when both of their children embraced each other.
The U.S. Olympic track and field team will be stacked this year, and filled with athletes whose stories will make you root for them. Let’s watch them put the world on notice in Tokyo this summer.