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For Kerri Walsh Jennings, probably the most embellished seaside volleyball Olympian of all-time, there is not any questioning the non-public drive she’s had all through her illustrious profession to return away with such accomplishments.
But like many Olympians earlier than her, and people competing on the 2024 Paris Games now, the conclusion that you just’re competing for one thing greater than your self was felt instantly for Walsh Jennings at her first Games in Athens in 2004.
And although she wasn’t competing in Paris this 12 months, Walsh Jennings felt sturdy patriotism from these athletes she did encounter and watch throughout her time abroad.
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Kerri Walsh Jennings attends the Parity Paris Show at Opera Garnier on July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (Julien M. Hekimian/Getty Images)
“I did. It’s just something special,” Walsh Jennings informed Fox News Digital when requested whether or not she felt the satisfaction for the United States in Paris. “You see Scottie Scheffler when he won, and watching Team USA basketball, and they’re celebrities of the game. They’re so touched to be representing USA.”
Walsh Jennings even famous that Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam title winner in tennis, was overcome by feelings after profitable the gold medal in males’s singles.
It means a lot for each athlete to carry residence the valuable medals for his or her nation, however after securing three golds and a bronze for her profession, Walsh Jennings believes it is that a lot completely different to signify the Stars and Stripes.
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“I think in the Olympic movement, Team USA is a shining light, and we are something to reach for, I think, in all the world,” she defined. “America is a shining light, and I think that’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly, and I don’t take for granted.”
Walsh Jennings was spotlighted all through her three-peat in ladies’s seaside volleyball alongside her accomplice, Misty May-Treanor. The dynamic duo have been stars within the Olympics, and Walsh Jennings understood the accountability of elevated media protection and celeb – she wished to carry residence the gold.
Of course, any athlete will need to notch that achievement on their private bucket listing. But Walsh Jennings mentioned she wasn’t simply fascinated about herself all these occasions she wore “USA” throughout her go well with on the courtroom.
Gold medallists Misty May-Treanor (L) and Kerri Walsh Jennings have a good time on the rostrum throughout the medal ceremony for the Women’s Beach Volleyball on Day 12 of the London 2012 Olympic Games on the Horse Guard’s Parade on August 8, 2012, in London, England. (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
“For me, something that just reinforced my spirit and my resiliency was the fact that I was honored to have the chance to represent our country,” she mentioned. “Every time I took the court in the Olympics, I would invite in my spirit and heart, my country to be with me. All the service members who represent us, my whole family, my ancestors. Everyone who just helped me get there, and I brought them with me in my heart, and that’s a big deal.
“To be capable to signify my nation and put my hand on my coronary heart and listen to our anthem 3 times with Misty, and be capable to battle for bronze with April [Ross], that was superb.”
Walsh Jennings also believes the Olympics reminds those in the United States, no matter whether you’re an athlete at the Games or cheering on those who represent you, that American pride is never something to let go of.
“It’s OK to be happy with the place you’re from,” she said. “No nation is ideal. Embrace the nice, and once I take a look at that [American] flag, our nation will not be our politics – it’s our individuals and our spirit. I feel that’s on show within the Olympics.
Olympians Kerri Walsh Jennings and Summer Sanders communicate onstage on the USA House at Paris 2024 on July 27, 2024, in Paris, France. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOPC.)
“Team USA always comes out with a lot of medals, and more than that, there’s just so many displays of courage and resiliency and everything America is made up of. The players and the athletes seem to know that, and that makes me very proud.”
The satisfaction of taking residence Olympic medals can be even larger in 2028, when the Summer Games return to Los Angeles.
“Santa Monica was it,” Walsh Jennings, who partnered with Santa Monica Travel & Tourism forward of the boys’s and girls’s seaside finals in Paris, mentioned. “The sand is deep, it’s very clean, and it’s just where you want to be, because all the great ones played there, trained there and cut their teeth there. For me, as a young athlete coming up, Santa Monica was a big part of journey for becoming excellent. Looking ahead to 2028, I know we’re going to have four amazing teams representing our country.”
Walsh Jennings will hope these women and men can stand on the rostrum, place their hand over their coronary heart, and bask within the nationwide anthem taking part in with gold round their necks like she did. It’s uncooked feelings in these moments, figuring out you have made your self and your nation proud.
Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States celebrates profitable bronze throughout the Beach Volleyball Women’s Bronze medal match towards Larissa Franca Maestrini and Talita Rocha of Brazil on day 12 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on the Beach Volleyball Arena on August 17, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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She is probably not competing, however Walsh Jennings is happy with the place she comes from, and can all the time be rooting for these representing her flag.
“The Olympic spirit, to me, is what I’m made of. And the American spirit,” she mentioned.
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