Inspiration on Day Three of the Olympics
We’re only three days into the Games, and already, stories are unfolding that sparked this blog series. After writing about Margot Chevrier’s powerful comeback, it’s time to turn to another young athlete whose journey I’ve followed for some time.
A Surprise Flight to Paris
In April, Jackl Vivien — at just 15 — learned she would be going to Paris.
With the grown-ups.
At an age where most teens are just figuring out their place in the group, she was headed to the Olympic pool.
When Performance Outweighs Age
The Olympics wasn’t originally designed for kids. Most competitors have adult-level physicality, experience, and mental strength.
But the issue isn’t that young athletes are competing in adult fields — not if their performance justifies it. Why shouldn’t a teenager win an Olympic event? It’s happened before — in aesthetic sports like figure skating and gymnastics, and more recently, in street sports that have become Olympic events. Many under-15 athletes have taken home bronze, silver, and gold. In Hungary, perhaps the most memorable is Krisztina Egerszegi, who became an Olympic swimming champion at just 14.
Teen Reality Check vs. Olympic Reality
Today, Jackl Vivien told reporters:
“I just wanted to swim as if it were a European Championship.”
So, a European Championship gives her a pleasant kind of excitement. A comfort zone.
At fifteen.
It’s surreal if we stop to think about the average teenager today — someone who rarely looks beyond their phone screen, spending more time on TikTok than in school.
But there she is: the 14th best swimmer in the world.
At the beginning of the year, she hadn’t even imagined this possibility. She thought she’d be watching the Paris swimming events from home, on TV.
Then came April — after a brilliant race, the world around her sped up. She earned an Olympic quota. And with that came pressure. Today, she said it was “a lot.”
But she accepted it. She did everything she could.
The “Whoa” Feeling of an Olympic Debut
Naturally, she wasn’t happy with her morning heat — she knows she can do better.
But imagine: what if she’d been preparing for this competition for years?
What if she’d had time to absorb it, process it, train for it — not just physically, but mentally too? To thoroughly learn and rehearse those techniques, both in the pool and in the mind?
Wasn’t Los Angeles her original Olympic target? Yes.
And there’s still plenty of time until then.
Now she knows what that “whoa-feeling” is like:
What it’s like to swim at the Olympics.
To face an 8,000-strong crowd, eyes and cameras watching from every angle, world-record-holding rivals, the Olympic pool, the village, the “can”s and “can’t”s — and those things you couldn’t even imagine unless you were there.
This is a dress rehearsal, even if that sounds strange in the context of the Olympics.
Maybe Vivien doesn’t see it that way just yet — it’s all still too fresh.
But I’m sure, together with her coach or sports psychologist, she’ll grow from her experience in Paris.
Lessons Beyond the Medal Table
As I wrote yesterday:
An Olympic goal (whether literal or metaphorical) can take us to truly unimaginable places.
For Vivien, it took her to the Olympics four years ahead of schedule — just so she could feel that “whoa.”
I trust that once she’s processed the disappointment about her result (which is completely natural), she’ll see it this way too.
Because if your mindset at fifteen is to treat the Olympics like just another European Championship, then you’ve got your head screwed on pretty well.
Oh — and she’s got the 1500m freestyle tomorrow.
Go girl — I hope it’s a great experience!
