Dallas County

Carrollton Athlete Prepares for Second Olympics

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A delayed Olympics means delayed dreams for so many athletes hoping to represent their country at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

For Carrollton native and Olympic gold medalist Courtney Okolo, it was all about taking the news and subsequent training in stride.

“Once we got the news, we just tried to continue to train the best we could to stay in shape. The thing is, we really weren’t preparing for anything because we didn’t know if it [Olympics] would even happen,” Okolo said. “The motivation became different. It pushed back to the next year.”

Through the uncertainty, there was some good news, though. The training wasn’t much different.

“The good thing about track and field is that you can pretty much train anywhere. We didn’t have to have a gym if it was closed during quarantine and the lockdown,” Okolo said.

The Newman Smith High School alum won Olympic gold in the 4x400m at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games. She’s hoping for the same in Tokyo, but she must make the team first.

“They say the trials are harder than the actual Olympics for the U.S. athletes. There is just so much competition. For us, June is really what we are all thinking about,” Okolo said.

She is now training in Atlanta ahead of the trials.

U.S. Olympic team track and field trials are scheduled for June 18-27 in Eugene, Oregon.

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