(ATR) Reigning two-time Olympic beach volleyball champion Kerri Walsh tells Around the Rings she has some extra inspiration this time around: her role as a mom.
Walsh, who will compete in London with longtime teammate Misty May-Treanor, has had two sons since winning gold at Beijing 2008.
From her new role, she says she's gained a better appreciation for everything her own mother sacrificed to raise her.
"My mom is my biggest and best role model," Walsh tells ATR. "I have a new understanding of everything she’s gone through for her kids."
She adds that she wants to win a third Olympic title this summer for her mom but also to show that she can compete and win as a mother.
"I want to win as a mom. I want to win because of my mom and I want to win for everyone who has helped us get to that point," she says.
Walsh, representing diaper brand Pampers, is among 28 U.S. Olympic hopefuls unveiled this week as brand ambassadors for Procter & Gamble, the newest TOP sponsor of the IOC.
Mothers represent a major part of P&G’s Olympic advertising strategy with its "Thank You Mom" campaign.
Walsh says she’s proud to be associated with the other 27 athletes and a company that is committed to the Olympic Movement.
"I feel like I’m surrounded by greatness, and as an athlete I aspire to surround myself by brands I believe in and companies I believe in," she tells ATR.
"They’re committed to athletes, moms and families and that’s exactly what’s important to me."
Withthe beach volleyball season starting in two weeks, Walsh says she and May-Treanor aimto be the top seed heading into the London Olympics.
"We know it will be unbelievably challenging, as it should be, and we’re going to do everything to prepare ourselves," she says. "We’re going to be better than we were four years ago. We have to be."
After spending years as one half of perhaps the best volleyball team in the world, Walsh says she and May-Treanor will travel to the Games with something to prove.
"When we get to London, it’s time to dominate and say ‘we’ve still got it.’"
Written by Ann Cantrell .
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
