Coming back from summer, most people worry about college applications, summer classes, and keeping up with friends; but only a select few have to worry about packing an Olympic medal into suitcases. Different sports have different age limits but that doesn’t stop an elite few from going on to win a gold medal before they can even drive.
Quincy Wilson who is 16 and Kaelyn Brown who is at the end of her teenage years went on to win 2 Olympic medals. They worked on a team with other Olympians to win gold and silver for their respective relays. Wilson ran men’s track & field to win the gold medal for the 4×400 where four runners will run one full lap, Brown also won gold for her event and got silver for the mixed relay 4×400. The mixed relay is 2 male and 2 female runners take the baton for a full lap.
However, relays are not limited to track & field: they appear in swimming events as well. At the age of 17, Alex Shackell competed and won a gold medal for the 4×100 relay medley, while also winning silver for the 4×200. The amazing thing about these Olympians isn’t the fact they achieved something that only the top 1% will only ever do, but the fact that they did it all while being in high school and having less experience. Though it seems there are so many youths at these games it should not be discounted how difficult it is to get an education while training to be one of the greatest athletes in the world. Not only to be a great athlete but to compete and beat out every other athlete to make one of the best teams in the world
Everyone knows that American women have been dominating gymnastics for years because of world class athletes like Simone Biles and Suni Lee; furthermore, the newest and youngest ever member of the team is Henzly Rivera. Although her contributions were minimal to the success of the team, she is still a 16 year-old gold medalist with experience under her belt, and has many Olympic and other opportunities waiting for her.
The challenge of being a kid and figuring out where you belong, your body is changing and growing, despite all of those challenges these athletes have still managed to master their respective sport to achieve their dream- sometimes before they even go college. In all of these cases these kids have beat out their more experienced counterparts. These teenagers are getting an education which entails even more time away from their training and yet they still continue being top athletes.
