Hometown Hero: Auroran Morolake Akinosun Is Member of Team USA
We’ve got another hometown hero competing in the Olympic Games in Rio.
The city of Aurora posted Friday that Morolake Akinosun, a 2012 graduate of Waubonsie Valley High School, has qualified as a member of the USA 4-by-100-meters team.
Among her many credits is a gold medal in the 4×100 meters at the 2015 Pan American Games and two NCAA championships in the same event. For a little more background, there are some terrific articles about her on BuzzFeed News and on CNN.
Back in 2011, when she was at Waubsonsie Valley, she tweeted that in five years, she would be 22 and competing in the 2016 Olympics. She tweeted just recently that her dreams have come true.
“So if you have a dream, I want to encourage girls to go ahead and go after it,” Akinosun told BuzzFeed. “No matter how big it is, no matter how many people think your dream is unachievable.”
The city of Aurora expressed the sentiments of people throughout the Chicago area.
“Congratulations and best wishes, Morolake!” the Aurora post said. “We are proud of you!”
At least two other athletes from Kane County qualified for the 2016 Olympics. Ben Kanute of Geneva and Evan Jager of Algonquin will also represent our part of the world in the Summer Games, which take place Aug. 5 through Aug. 21.
Here’s Akinosun’s biography, courtesy of the TeamUSA.org website:
Morolake Akinosun
Sport: Track and Field- Event(s): 4×100-meter
- Height: 5-4
- Weight: 133
- DOB: 5/17/1994
- Birthplace: LA
- Hometown: Aurora, Ill.
- High School: Waubonsie Valley High School (Aurora, Ill.) ‘12
- College: University of Texas ’16, Exercise Science
Olympic Experience:
- Rio 2016 Olympic Games, qualified
Other Career Highlight:
- 2015 Pan American Games, gold (4x100m)
- Daughter of Olawale and Foluke Akinosun.
- Has two sisters, Anjola and Moriyike.
- Competed in track and field at the University of Illinois before transferring to the University of Texas.
- Only the second woman in history to score in four events at an NCAA Outdoor Championships in consecutive seasons.
- Two-time NCAA champion (4×400-meter).
