KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Former Olympian Nada Meawad hoped to compete in her second Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The 2016 Olympics in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, was the first Olympic women's beach volleyball appearance for Egypt, as well as the first for Meawad.
Representing her country, Meawad competed for her spot following her volleyball season at Park University where she attended on scholarship.
"After we lost in 2016 in the tryout for the indoor team, I had got the opportunity to try out with the beach team, and that's how I actually qualified," Meawad said.
Becoming an Olympian was a dream Meawad always had since attacking the sport from the age of six.
"Whenever someone tells me to just put it into words how I would describe my experience, it's just something that you just literally cannot describe because it was lots of emotions," Meawad said.
Volleyball was the Meawad family sport. Everyone learned to play and her uncle even played professionally. Growing up, Meawad had a built-in teammate in her twin sister Noura, who also played for Park University.
"Volleyball is just something that runs in the family and something that we all do and something that we all discuss in the family," Meawad said.
As she planned to try out for the Egypt National Team once again, Meawad was unable to. She had been nursing a foot injury that kept her out of the NAIA National Tournament in April. That same injury kept her from National Team tryouts and the chance to compete in Tokyo.
