Olympic Athlete With No Sponsors Saved For Three Years To Compete
The Olympics have come to a close, but it's important to highlight one athlete's dedication to her sport. Australian Olympian sprinter Riley Day went viral on social media for making it to the 2020 Olympics without a SINGLE sponsor.
Going to the Olympics is no cheap day trip, and Riley saved her money working at a grocery store for over three years to be able to compete. She's a star on and off the track, and was even shouted out by her company on social media!
The Olympics Are Expensive
According to Vox: "In 2013, when it bid for the 2020 Summer Games, Tokyo thought it would be spending $7.3 billion. By summer 2020, an Oxford economist told the Associated Press that Tokyo's costs had already more than doubled to $15.84 billion."
And athletes are often sponsored by the government or other companies to compete as an athlete in the Olympics.
Meet Riley Day
Australian Olympian sprinter Riley Day (pictured) has caught the attention of a lot of people this year.
Riley worked for three years and saved all of her money so that she could fund the trip to the Tokyo Games as an athlete without a sponsor to help cover the costs.
She's A 200-Meter Sprinter
Riley, 21, recently competed in the 200-meter women's event in Tokyo.
And even though she didn't win a medal or progress to the finals, she ran a personal best of 22.56 seconds.
She Placed 12th
Riley posted this picture on Instagram with the caption:
"Realised I never posted my actual results! Women's 200m, 22.56 +0.3, 12th in the world." Scoring 12th in the world, her score is also an 8th personal best for Australia in the event.
And Made It To The Olympics With No Sponsors
And because the athlete didn't have anyone to sponsor her, she made sure to mention her Instagram in multiple interviews.
She did this so that everyone watching back home could support her.
Riley Has Grown So Much On Social Media
Riley had 20.6k followers before she raced. She ended with a whopping 106k followers by the end of the 2020 Tokyo games.
And brands like to pick up athletes who have a solid social media following, so the cards might be in her favor...
She Has Lots Of Supporters
Overall, Riley has received a lot of support on social media. People are very proud of her for representing Australia.
And now she has her new fan base to help get her to the next Olympics!
She's A Superstar Athlete And A Superstar Woolworths Worker
She works at an Australian supermarket, Woolworths, in the produce section.
The store was very proud of their employee, sharing a post on Linkedin prior to the event saying: "Proud to see one of our team members represent Australia on the world's stage."
Riley Goes Above And Beyond
The post continued: "Riley is an adored team member of our Beaudesert store in regional Queensland and is known for going the extra mile for our customers."
"For the past 18 months, she's helped 90-year-old local John (pictured with Riley), who is visually impaired, with his weekly shop. She's even memorized his grocery list and calls him on Sundays if he doesn't turn up for his weekly shop."
Lost And Found Reached Out To Her
Perhaps there are some sponsors in Riley's future?
Even though this business acknowledges that they are smaller, they were inspired by Riley's story and perseverance.
