Olmsted Falls-native Katie Nageotte will be among the athletes from Northeast Ohio competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which are taking place this summer and begin July 23.
The pole vaulter set a record at the recent Olympic Trials with a leap of 16 feet 2 3/4 inches. That jump was also the best leap in the world so far this season.
Nageotte fell short of qualifying for Team USA in the 2016 Olympics, finishing fifth on trial day. This time around, she says she feels ready to take on tougher international competition.
“I’m going in with the mentality of, ‘Let’s go to win,’ and I definitely want a medal. I definitely want to bring home the gold medal for the U.S. But I know that anything can happen so I’ve just got to keep my head down and keep training hard for the next month,” she said.
Nageotte graduated from Olmsted Falls High School in 2009. She says that she still feels her hometown’s support as she prepares for the Tokyo Games, which begin July 23.
