In sharp contrast to woke athletes like Megan Rapinoe who refused to honor the flag and anthem when competing abroad, Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky says that the opportunity she has to represent the United States in the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris is a “true honor.” She added that she isn’t taking the opportunity for granted.
Such is what Ledecky, considered one of the best women’s swimmers in the world due to her being a seven-time Olympic gold medal winner and three-time silver medal winner, said when speaking about the Olympic swimming team and the trials that come in June of 2024. She spoke on the matter in an interview with Fox News.
Speaking about the opportunity she has to represent the United States and indicating that she treats it with due respect and honor, Ledecky told Fox News Digital, “Something I don’t take for granted is getting that opportunity, and I’m excited to hopefully have the chance in a couple of months.”
Continuing, she explained the process for making it to the Olympics, saying, “We have our Olympic trials in June first, so I have to get through that. Swimming in the United States is super competitive, so even just qualifying for a U.S. team is a huge honor. And then, once you’re named to that team, the expectations are high. And we all want to bring home some medals.”
Then, she explained how the Team USA swimmers all are very proud to be the ones who get to represent the United States in their sport, saying, “We take a lot of pride representing Team USA. I have a good feeling about how Team USA is going to [do] this summer, both in swimming and in all the other sports as well. I think it’ll be a great summer.”
Ledecky also noted that the sport is increasingly competitive with swimmers from all over the world taking a shot at the gold medal. She said, “I think the world of swimming is super competitive right now. It’s not just the United States and Australia. There are amazing swimmers from all over the world. Certainly, the U.S. and Australia have been top nations for many, many years.”
She added, on that topic, “There’s some really competitive relay competitions between the two countries. But really, I don’t think we can count out anyone at this point from around the world. I certainly have my eyes on lots of different swimmers from around the world. I’m mainly focused on my own performance and what I can do to help Team USA.”
Ledecky is also a faithful Christian. Speaking to the National Catholic Register after the 2016 Rio games, Ledecky said that her Christian faith “is a big part of who I am and how I’ve made it here.” She continued, “I’ve counted on my faith to give me strength through both training and competition — but also in school, with my family and everyday life. So, while my goals in the pool have changed, my faith remains something that’s consistent and something I can always rely on.”
Featured image credit: By Mledecky – Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=145198106
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