Olympic Gold Medalist DeeDee Trotter visits EF Academy New York
On Friday Nov. 11th, students at EF Academy New York had the chance to take their workouts to an Olympic level when three-time Olympian DeeDee Trotter visited the school for the day.
The inspiring track star won the 400m race in the NCAA collegiate national competition in 2004 when she was a student at the University of Tennessee. From there she competed in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games representing the USA and racing the 4x400m relay (2004 and 2012) and the 400m race (2012), winning two golds and a bronze respectively. She retired as a competitive athlete this summer and now travels the world as EF’s Olympics Ambassador.
During her visit, students had the opportunity to hear her tell her story and describe what it took for her to accomplish all that she has. If that wasn’t motivating enough, DeeDee worked out with the students and played basketball with them before racing Dr. Mahoney, the school’s own Headteacher.
“Meeting and interviewing DeeDee Trotter was an incredible experience,” says Maya Nylund, a Student Ambassador who was selected to interview the guest for a video project. “DeeDee is a remarkably down-to-earth, warm person and her evident resilience is beyond impressive. Her story is moving and she has truly motivated me and many others who heard her presentation about dreaming without abandon.”
Maya’s classmate, Denis Mamaqi, echoed her thoughts, saying, “she is an amazing person with a lovely character and her background is a true life inspiration.”
As an EF Olympics Ambassador, DeeDee travels the worlds and shares her motivational message – “I can, I must, I will” – with audiences at schools, universities and offices around the world, and supports EF’s role as an official sponsor of the Olympic Games in PyeongChang 2018 and Tokyo 2020. As she wows people of all ages, she reminds individuals that believing is the key to truly achieve greatness and encourages them to unleash their inner champions.