Bold strokes don’t describe the outgoing U.S. Olympic team sufficiently.
Queen Harrison, the youngest track and field member to head to the Olympics at 19, is now teammates with 40-year-old pole vaulter Jeff Hartwig. Four-time Olympian Amy Acuff will walk in the same opening ceremonies as Walter Dix, in his first Olympics. In between, there will be more than 100 track and field athletes representing the U.S. in Beijing in mid-August.
There, athletes’ uniforms will finally be, well, uniform. They’ll trade in their lightning yellow, teal, green or multicolored shirts and shorts for the same red, white and blue ones.
Whether they’ve been there before or not, every athlete says their goal is to make it to the Olympics.
For those whose dream is realized, it’s six short weeks of work before it’s off to Beijing.
For everyone else, the road to Eugene 2012 begins its countdown tomorrow.
See you in four years.