EMU volunteer track coach Tori Franklin finished 25th in the triple jump at the Tokyo Games. | Eastern Michigan University Athletics
EMU volunteer track coach Tori Franklin finished 25th in the triple jump at the Tokyo Games. | Eastern Michigan University Athletics
For former Michigan State track star Tori Franklin, the Tokyo Olympics aren’t all about the destination but the journey.
Franklin would be the first to tell anyone that her 25th-place finish in the qualifying round of the women's triple jump didn’t dampen her spirits.
Just representing Team U.S.A. in the Land of the Rising Sun is in of itself is a victory: a victory over self-doubt.
The Olympic rings grace a Tokyo bay during the 2020 Olympics.
| Unsplash
Lansing State Journal reported that a young Franklin, who was raised in suburban Chicago, was hesitant to give the triple jump a shot after a high school coach suggested it to her.
"It’s really funny to me that I was so against triple jump because I wanted to be a pole vaulter, which I would be awful at," Franklin told the publication. "My high school coach, she saw something in me. It just warms my heart to know that she did."
The risk was worth it as Franklin went on to garner accolades at the prep and college levels, the biggest of them all landing a spot on Team U.S.A. for the previously canceled 2020 Games after two unsuccessful attempts at making the cut.
And it was the same person who encouraged her to take up the sport more than a decade ago who convinced her the Olympics was worth pursuing, Lansing State Journal reported.
A volunteer track coach for the Eastern Michigan University track and field program, Franklin registered a leap of 13.68m, which was her best jump of the day after an initial leap of 13.23m, EMU reported.
EMU men’s track and field associate head coach Sterling Roberts said on the school’s athletics program’s site that though 25th place was not what he and Franklin had in mind, there’s still room for pride.
"It wasn't what we trained for, and it wasn't indicative of what Tori is capable of,” Roberts said. “But unfortunately, sometimes, things just don't go your way, even on the biggest stage. I'm very proud of what she's accomplished, and she should be proud, too. And I know she will use this as motivation to continue to strive for her goals."
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