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This Olympic Runner Predicted Going to the Olympics 5 Years Ago on Twitter
When Morolake Akinosun was 17, she tweeted out a list of goals which including going to the Olympics. Akinosun, now 22, is finally checking off that box and fulfilling her goal of competing in the Rio Olympics next week.
Akinosun sent the tweet out in 2011 after being inspired by the World Championships for Track and Field.
In 2016 I will be 22, graduated from a school I have not chosen yet, and going to the olympics (:
— Morolake Akinosun™ (@MsFastTwitch) July 28, 2011
I tweeted that 5 years ago.
It's 2016.
I graduate from Texas in December.
I'm going to the Olympics next week. https://t.co/vusyh5G5Y3— Morolake Akinosun™ (@MsFastTwitch) July 30, 2016
“Watching it may have inspired me to tweet that,” Akinosun shared with BuzzFeed News.
Akinosun, who was busy with the recruiting process in 2011, didn’t really think the dream would become a reality.
“At the time I tweeted that out, it was more of a dream and an aspiration. A goal has to be somewhat realistic,” she said, sharing that in 2011, “I wasn’t on the level yet and I didn’t know for sure that I would ever get there, but I for sure wanted to get there.”
Now her dream is really coming true.
“When I crossed the finish line in Eugene a few weeks ago,” Akinosun shared after the Olympic Trials, “it was sort of like disbelief… and then I realized I was really going to the Olympics and I started crying.”
The Olympic runner admits that she forgot about that tweet until it came up on her Timehop app.
“A few days ago on Timehop, the tweet came up,” Akinosun explained. “And I just thought to myself, ‘This is crazy.’”
She shared the tweet and it was quick to go viral. The tweet has already been shared over 181,000 times (as of time of publication).
Reflecting on the craziness of the situation Akinosun said that “it wasn’t always easy.”
“In 2011, I truly believed this was a goal of mine, and I dreamed big, and I was able to achieve my dream,” she explained. “It wasn’t always easy and no one knows the work that I put in the 5 years in between the two tweets. I put in a lot, a lot, a lot of hard work over the course of the 5 years and I went after my dream.”
She continued, “So if you have a dream, I want to encourage girls to go ahead and go after it, no matter how big it is, no matter how many people think your dream is unachievable. It’s yours — go for it.”