Photo: Instagram/Quanesha Burks
Each athlete at the Olympic games comes with a story of perseverance, determination and, in many cases, heartbreak. While we would love to highlight each of the more than 620 athletes competing on Team U.S.A., here are a few that we would like to celebrate.
Love to see it,
The Last Night’s Game Team
P.S. - There's so much more to these athletes' journeys but since we pride ourselves on short and sweet coverage, click the links to dive further into their stories.
1. Quanesha Burks is from a town of 14,000 people but had her sights set on college. When Burks wasn't training during high school, she worked at McDonald's to help her grandmother pay off her car insurance. Because of her hard work ethic and athletic ability, Burks received a scholarship to college, and while it was a bit of a broken road to get here, she is now a full-time professional long jumper. What did she eat to celebrate making the U.S. Olympic team? A McDonald's medium fries with no salt and a side of sweet and sour sauce. SET THE BAR HIGH
2. The Bruce Tramps can unite over something more than his summer concert series. Jessica, the daughter of the boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, will compete on the U.S. Olympic Equestrian team as part of the jumping squad. Springsteen began riding at the age of four and is now ranked third on the U.S. rider list. Tokyo will be her first Olympic appearance. (For the record, Springsteen fans are called Bruce Tramps as in "tramps like us.") BORN TO RUN
3. There are so many stellar women to watch, from Sue Bird (basketball) to Simone Biles (gymnastics) to Katie Ledecky (swimming). We couldn't be more excited to see these women and those of the U.S.W.N.T. (soccer) dominate in their sport while cheering each other along. Did you know that women have won more than 50% of Team U.S.A.'s medals at the last two Summer Olympics? Biles said, "I've been here for so long, so to be a mentor for them has meant everything to me, and to share these accomplishments and these goals." BETTER TOGETHER
4. Filling the giant flippers of Michael Phelps is Caeleb Dressel. Dressel became a household name in Rio, where he won two medals in the swimming relays. As the experienced veteran on the men's team, the swim team co-captain has a chance to become the fourth swimmer in history to win seven medals in a single Olympic Games. Dressel stayed sane during his time off in 2020 by hiking the Appalachian Trail with his wife. As he revealed on his podcast "The Ben and Caeleb Show," the trail taught him more about life than the Olympics. DEEP DIVE
5. Allyson Felix, the most decorated athlete in the world, teamed up with Athleta to help moms fund childcare when they're competing. Except for nursing infants, athlete's children cannot attend the games. Felix and Athleta gave out six- $10,000 grants to female Olympians to help with childcare while they're in Tokyo. It wasn't until late June that Tokyo Organizers decided to let athlete moms who are nursing bring their child to Tokyo after athletes from all over the world said not being able to do so was forcing them to choose between being a mother and an athlete. WOMEN SUPPORTING WOMEN
