From childhood hobby to Olympic sport. 5 inspiring athlete stories

Performing at the Olympics is the most important moment in the career of many athletes. It’s no secret that they persistently pursue their goals for a long time and spend years preparing to perform well at the Games. Their path always starts somewhere – and each athlete’s path is different.

In this special Championships project, we tell the stories of five New Balance athletes: Sydney McLaughlin, Claudinho, Georgia Taylor-Brown, Femke Bol and Lorenzo Patta. Everyone’s journey – from their first steps in the sport to Olympic medals – is unique. Each of them has faced many challenges since childhood, but all of them have gone on to achieve their goals, no matter what. Now, with the support of spectators, fans and New Balance brand to achieve the best results became a little easier. Their time is now.

Sydney McLaughlin. Hurdles, relays

Age: 22 years old

The young woman has followed in the footsteps of her father – an Olympic track and field athlete – and started running with her brother and sister since she was a little girl.

“I remember watching Sanya (Richards. – Ed.) running on TV in 2008. I then turned to my mom and said: “I want to do that.” She said, “Okay, great.” And I remember those moments when I looked and saw myself in the same place. I saw what some of these amazing women have, and I just wanted to be able to at least try to do the same thing. And it’s so exciting to feel that little girl inside of you get that opportunity to get on the big stage.”

Back in 2015, the girl became the world junior champion in the 400-meter hurdles. Sydney has been competing in the Games since 2016, at the first one she stayed in the semifinal stage. But at the Olympic Games in Tokyo – 2020 McLaughlin won, breaking her own record. The girl ran her distance in a fantastic 51.46 seconds.

Today Sidney is an ambassador of New Balance and one of the heroes of the advertising campaign “Your Time is Now”. For her, the girl starred in a stylish video, which is on screens all over the world.

Lorenzo Patta. Sprint, relay race

Age: 21 years old

Surprisingly, but the athlete got into athletics “by accident”. Until 2016, Lorenzo played in the soccer club La Palma Monteurpinu. At the age of 16, after participating in races at school games, the guy realized that this is what he needs and what he is really good at. However, Patta decided not to give up soccer just yet. Already in 2017, he came second among the boys at the national indoor championships in the 60-meter dash.

As the competition began to gain momentum, there was less and less time for his first hobby. Soccer had to be pushed to the back burner. But even before the age of 20, Lorenzo represented Italy in the 4×100 meter relay at the 2018 World Championships, and in 2019 at the European Championships he and his team became silver medalists.

Soon, Lorenzo trained to the point where he broke personal records year after year and was invited to the Olympic Games – 2020 in Tokyo. Patta won a gold medal in the 4×100 meter relay.

A national record was also set there. In a team with Marcel Jacobs, Fausto Desalu and Filippo Torta, they ran the relay in 37.50 seconds. It was the first time Italy won in the discipline and also the first time in 73 years the country earned a medal.

Georgia Taylor-Brown. Triathlon

Age: 27

In this case, the passion for the sport was also destined from childhood. Taylor-Brown’s father is a runner and her mom was a swimmer. Apparently, this is how Georgia developed a love for triathlon. The girl started swimming from the age of five, and later the training program included running. So she decided to try her hand at triathlon and successfully tried out for the British Olympic team.

The girl was incredibly diligent and quickly achieved good results. After taking bronze in the 2018 and 2019 World Triathlon Series, Georgia also won a one-off sprint race in Hamburg. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 competition was truncated and the international federation announced that the winner of this race would be declared world champion. Thus the athlete became the fifth British woman to be crowned world champion.

“I’ve always wanted to go to the Olympics. When I was 10, I did school presentations and said I would do triathlons and I would definitely go to the Games. It’s nice to look back and realize that when I was 10, I dreamed the same dream I still dream 15 years later. And I fight for my dream every day,” Georgia said as she prepared for her first Olympics.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Georgia Taylor-Brown earned a silver medal.

Femke Bol. hurdles runner

Age: 21

This is a unique girl who has only recently come out of juniors, but has already managed to win a huge number of titles and trophies at such a young age.

Femke’s brother was a track and field athlete, but Femke’s first passion was judo. The reason for this was unusual – the girl broke her arm twice and decided to learn how to fall properly with the help of this sport. But, as Femke herself admits, she always liked running better. Already at the age of seven, she decided to follow in her brother’s footsteps.

In 2015, Bol determined for herself that she wanted to run 400 meters. And in 2019 she realized that what she really likes is running hurdles. And despite the fact that the girl had already participated in various competitions for several years, it was only in 2019 that Femke realized that she could do what she loved on a more professional level.

And further achievements go in a solid line. Femke Bol’s first major athletics event came at the World Championships in Qatar, where she reached the semi-finals in the 400 meters.

In July 2020, she set a national record in Arnhem in 54.47 seconds. And just two weeks later, she renewed her own result with a record of 53.79 seconds to become the fourth fastest U23 athlete of all time.

At the European Indoor Championships in 2021, Bol won the gold medal in the 400 meters with a time of 50.63 and won the relay as a member of the national team in 3:27.15 to become a two-time European champion.

Claudio Leonel (Claudinho). Soccer

Age: 24.

Claudinho used to be into indoor soccer and was a goalkeeper. However, fate pushed him out of the gate and led him to become an Olympic champion, Serie A’s best forward and Zenit midfielder – after many years on loan.

At Santos’ school, where the boy went to at the age of 6, Claudio was used in various positions in midfield – he wasn’t moved closer to the attack until he was 17. This led to excellent results: “Santos” won the championship of São Paulo under 17. Claudinho became the second top scorer with 19 goals.

However, in June 2015, he moved to Corinthians. And later began a series of rentals. “Bragantino”, “Santa Andre”, “Ponte Preta”, “Red Bull Brazil” and “Oeste”, “Red Bull Bragantino” and, finally, “Zenit”. It was a long way on which the player still managed to show himself as a true professional.

As the coaches assure, Claudinho is a versatile footballer. Indeed, most often he went on the field as an attacking midfielder, but if necessary, easily moved to the flanks as a right and left winger. Thanks to his talent and performance, Claudinho was recognized as the best player of the Brazilian championship – 2020.

Later, the guy was invited to the Olympic team. His agility and skill to read the game and anticipate the actions of opponents helped the Brazilian national team to get gold at the Olympics in Tokyo.