It was a long road to the Winter Olympics for U.S. speedskater Sarah Warren, but she basked in every moment after her debut Sunday.
Warren competed in the 500-meter speedskating event on Sunday, and though she didn’t threaten to reach the podium with her time of 39.19, she said she cherishes the meaning of her achievement in simply reaching the starting line at the Olympics.
“It means everything. You get to the line and you are officially an Olympian. You hear your name being called and you hear everyone cheering and I have to think I had 40 people in the stands,” she said.
Warren hails from suburban Willowbrook, and after starring as a college soccer player at the University of Illinois, she transitioned to speedskating and had to go through her fair share of adversity just to make the Olympic team.
That adversity included a staggering eight knee operations, but after her second-place finish at the U.S. speedskating trials in Wisconsin, she found herself named to Team USA.
Of course, she says the support of her friends and family was the push she needed to succeed.
“That’s the village that got me here,” she said. “They never wavered. They never left, and they pulled me out when I thought I couldn’t do it.”
Warren said that while her Olympic dream came true this week, she said she’ll never be able to fully express her gratitude to her loved ones.
“Thank you is never enough, but I got to live out my dream today and it was all because of them,” she said.
