GREENSBORO, N.C. — Around 15,000 young athletes have made their way to Greensboro to compete in the 58th Amateur Athletic Union Junior Olympic Games.
What You Need To Know
- The AAU Junior Olympic Games got underway today in Greensboro
- This is the third year of the competition in Tournament Town, which also played host in 2019 and 2022
- It is estimated to bring around $67 million to the local economy
- Some 15,000 young athletes will compete in the games through Aug. 3
While 30 North Carolinians will be hitting the global games, thousands of young hopefuls are in Tournament Town hoping to win a medal in the largest multisport youth tournament in the United States.
The AAU Junior Olympics allows athletes from around age of 4 through 18 to compete in 13 events, including swimming, cup stacking, wrestling, basketball and gymnastics.
The thousands of competitors from at least 40 states and U.S. territories are part of an estimated $67 million brought to the local economy, but the games also provide a platform for young athletes to perfect their sport.
“I started swimming when I was 3 and I fell in love with it and I kept on doing it,” said 11-year-old Cordelia Atherton, a three-time competitor in the Junior Olympics.
She said she started the sport to be like her older brother and sister, but it quickly grew into a lifestyle.
The New Yorker competes in multiple strokes and relays but said the challenge of butterfly makes it her favorite.
“You have to have a lot of stamina. So that gives me a goal, to work up to be good at fly and to do distance, fly up, to have a lot of strength," Atherton said. "And then I go to a lot of training, which I like a hard challenge.”
The young athlete doesn’t want her competitors to just eat her bubbles when she jumps off the block, she wants to be a role model just like her favorite U.S. Olympic swimmers Gretchen Walsh and Katie Ledecky.
“I've been watching the Olympics for a while now, and I really want to go because I admire all the people who, after their races, get first and top, they get interviewed and they're just so kind. And it would be really amazing to get to that level," Atherton said. "And someday, I hope my siblings go too."
While she one day hopes to take the podium with her siblings, getting to come to the Junior Olympics gets her one step closer to achieving her dream.
“I hope that everyone at the Olympics does a really good job. I love being at the Junior Olympics," she said. "I hope all the swimmers who are watching this keep trying. Never give up."
The Olympic Games in Paris are about to get underway, with the opening ceremony taking place at 1:30 p.m. Friday, July 25.
The Junior Olympics will take place in Greensboro from July 24 through Aug. 3. The event will return in 2029 and 2033.