RIO 2016

So imagine sitting in a room with a group of staff for a meeting, and in the process of making small talk you find out somebody just got back from the Olympics. Yes, the Summer Games in Rio! And even cooler she was there to cheer on her sister who was competing!

Angie Miller, Youth Home and Level 5, was in Rio with members of her family to watch her older sister – Heather Miller-Koch – compete in the Heptathlon.    The Heptathlon is a two-day competition covering 7 different track and field events.  On the first day athletes compete in the following events and order: 100 meter hurdles, high jump, shot put and 200 meters. On the second day of competition they will compete in: long jump, javelin and the final event, the 800 meters.

The Miller family is from Columbus, WI, a small town of about 800 near Madison, and track and field skills are second nature for the two sisters. Heather attended St. Cloud State in Minnesota on a scholarship, and our own Angie attended Winona State on a scholarship. Angie is quite the athlete herself, winning the state championship in the triple jump right outside our back door at UWL! Heather, however, really pursued competition, and following her college career she trained relentlessly. This included a track club in New York City for 3 years, then to the Twin Cities before ultimately heading to the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, California in the fall of 2015 so she could train full time.

Heather finished 18^th overall out of 32 competitors, and won her 800-meter event with a time that put her at 6^th all-time in Olympic competition! An interesting side note is that Heather reported being so fatigued from participating in the opening ceremony that she was not able to train the following day. What we don’t get to appreciate is the athletes end up being on their feet for 12 hours by the time the whole thing is over and that those who are scheduled to compete the next day are often not able to participate.

Angie says she never expected to get to see the Olympics Games so the experience was quite memorable. She got to spend a week in Rio which allowed her to catch some tourist stuff in addition to the games.  She reports having never seen a mosquito while she was there, but her mom made sure they were all equipped with plenty of bug spray just in case. She also says the people were extremely friendly and despite the news reports to the contrary, the conditions in the Olympic Village were quite nice.

It’s probably safe to say Angie probably had the coolest August of any of us!