Olympians share their journeys with Poly students
By Shalini H. '17
Polytechnic School’s Student Athletic Leadership Council (SALC) recently hosted three Olympians on the Poly campus for an assembly. With students from the fifth through twelfth grades in attendance, the three Olympians spoke about their journeys to becoming Olympic athletes, as well as their experiences competing at the highest level in their respective sports.
Courtney Mathewson, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the U.S. women’s water polo team, started off the assembly by telling the students what it takes to become a high-caliber athlete. She explained that it requires more than skill and dedication; it takes a genuine love for the sport. Mathewson started playing water polo at a very young age, and all the Poly’s students jaws dropped when Mathewson spoke about her grueling six-hour daily practice regimen. After she spoke, Mathewson took a picture with Poly’s own CIF champion girls water polo team.
Rudy Garcia-Tolson then took the floor. Garcia-Tolson, a Paralympic swimmer and track and field athlete, had both legs amputated at age 5. He won gold in the 200-meter IM at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. He is also the world’s first bilateral above-knee amputee to complete an Ironman triathlon. Even more than his tremendous athletic accomplishments, the most inspiring part of Garcia-Tolson speech was his perspective on having a disability. He spoke about how his physical disability didn’t hinder his progress toward his goals because his mental attitude was always so positive. Garcia-Tolson exemplifies the idea that with a positive attitude, anything is possible.
Gao Jun, who represented Team USA for table tennis at three Olympic Games (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008), closed out the assembly. Jun, who was born in China, impressively won every U.S. national title for table tennis in women’s singles and doubles from 1996-2002. Rather than speak to the students, Jun decided to demonstrate her skills to the crowd with a live demonstration. As she expertly rallied against our very own Poly students, who unsurprisingly could not keep up, everyone in the Poly bleachers was mesmerized. One Poly student who had the chance to play against Jun said, “It was so cool to be able to play against a professional player — I don’t think I’ll ever have the opportunity to do so again. And in addition to being immensely talented, Ms. Jun was so humble!”
Poly students were very fortunate to be able to hear from these three inspiring Olympic athletes, all of whom spoke with such passion for their sports, inspiring all Poly students in attendance to chase their goals, both on the field and in the classroom.
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Polytechnic School’s Student Athletic Leadership Council (SALC) recently hosted three Olympians on the Poly campus for an assembly. With students from the fifth through twelfth grades in attendance, the three Olympians spoke about their journeys to becoming Olympic athletes, as well as their experiences competing at the highest level in their respective sports.
Courtney Mathewson, a two-time Olympic gold medalist for the U.S. women’s water polo team, started off the assembly by telling the students what it takes to become a high-caliber athlete. She explained that it requires more than skill and dedication; it takes a genuine love for the sport. Mathewson started playing water polo at a very young age, and all the Poly’s students jaws dropped when Mathewson spoke about her grueling six-hour daily practice regimen. After she spoke, Mathewson took a picture with Poly’s own CIF champion girls water polo team.
Rudy Garcia-Tolson then took the floor. Garcia-Tolson, a Paralympic swimmer and track and field athlete, had both legs amputated at age 5. He won gold in the 200-meter IM at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games. He is also the world’s first bilateral above-knee amputee to complete an Ironman triathlon. Even more than his tremendous athletic accomplishments, the most inspiring part of Garcia-Tolson speech was his perspective on having a disability. He spoke about how his physical disability didn’t hinder his progress toward his goals because his mental attitude was always so positive. Garcia-Tolson exemplifies the idea that with a positive attitude, anything is possible.
Gao Jun, who represented Team USA for table tennis at three Olympic Games (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008), closed out the assembly. Jun, who was born in China, impressively won every U.S. national title for table tennis in women’s singles and doubles from 1996-2002. Rather than speak to the students, Jun decided to demonstrate her skills to the crowd with a live demonstration. As she expertly rallied against our very own Poly students, who unsurprisingly could not keep up, everyone in the Poly bleachers was mesmerized. One Poly student who had the chance to play against Jun said, “It was so cool to be able to play against a professional player — I don’t think I’ll ever have the opportunity to do so again. And in addition to being immensely talented, Ms. Jun was so humble!”
Poly students were very fortunate to be able to hear from these three inspiring Olympic athletes, all of whom spoke with such passion for their sports, inspiring all Poly students in attendance to chase their goals, both on the field and in the classroom.
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