Five-time UWW world champion American Wrestler is eyeing her first Olympic gold at the Tokyo 2020 this summer. The most-decorated wrestler in the US history, Adeline wants her parents to witness her quest for #2020gold in the Summer Olympics.
While some of the top Indian athletes in the past have created controversies over finding the ways – or not getting their ways through – to take their parents along, getting official accreditations and an accommodation in the games villages, the US champion athlete is raising funds for the same by selling T-Shirts.
Adeline has put on sale her signature T-Shirts – GrayToGold. The T-shirt on her personal website and link www.graytogold.com are being sold for $25 each. With the caption “BUY SHIRTS!! Help Adeline Gray family go to Olympics”….
“Go to www.graytogold.com and fill out the form; my mom will send you one for $25 per shirt. Profits go to helping fund my family to go to the Olympics to cheer me on on my quest for #2020gold,” Adeline requests. “Hey, everyone! My family is selling shirts to help get them to the 2020 Olympic to cheer me on. If you want your very own Gray to Gold shirt please check out my web page graytogold.com and fill out the order form,” she further states.
Caption on the website reads: “BUY SHIRTS!! Help Adeline Gray‘s family go to the Olympics to support her bid for GOLD. Shirts are $25.00 per shirt minimum donation.”
To put Adeline’s athletics credentials and achievements in perspective, the 28-year-old wrestler has won seven UWW World Championship medals since 2011, including five golds in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019.
Adeline’s move is sharp contrast to the controversies created in Indian sports over facilitating the trips of athletes’ families. The AITA had made Sania Mirza’s mother the manager of the team at the 2012 London Olympics. Saina Nehwal had registered protest when her father was left out of the Indian teams’ officials list for the Gold Coast Commonwealth. Shooter Heena Sidhu had let out her frustration on social media when the Sports Ministry had included her husband Ronak Pandit among 21 names omitted names from the Indian Olympic Association’s list of non-athletes for the 2018 Gold Coast Games contingent.
There has been a history of the ace athletes pressurising their national federations and the Indian Olympic Association to fund their parents’ or peers’ trips to accompany them on international events. The IOA was compelled to form a no-parents policy of the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.
These athletes can learn a lesson or two from Adeline Gray who in spite of her unparalleled achievements is finding her own ways to take the parents to the Olympics.
Outside of competition, Adeline has been wrestling the bigger issues of sexism, and promoting equal recognition and participation on the elite levels, including Olympic and collegiate level wrestling.
