KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Have you ever wondered what it takes to be an Olympian or how heavy an Olympic medal is?
Several groups of students at Pleasant Lea Elementary School in Lee’s Summit learned the answer to those questions and more when two-time Olympic softball silver medalist Monica Abbott visited the school Wednesday morning.
Abbott, who won silver medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, brought both medals along with some of her world championship medals for the kids to see.
“I was pretty surprised,” said third-grader Lucy Appelbaum, who wanted to know how heavy the Tokyo Games medal was. “It wasn’t like the heaviest thing ever, but it was not expected for a medal.”
That medal impressed fellow third-grader Sadie Peterson for a different reason: “The one that was made out of recycled computers and phones. I thought that was really interesting how they did that for the Tokyo one.”
Pleasant Lea students have been learning about the Olympics this year with the 2024 Summer Games set to begin in about two months in Paris. But it was a treat to meet a former Olympian.
“It was pretty interesting and cool to actually see an Olympian actually in person,” Appelbaum said.
Three of Abbott's nephews attend the Lee’s Summit elementary school.
“I remember Alex telling us in first grade that his aunt was an Olympian,” Peterson said. “I was surprised that she was going to come back and tell all about herself.”
RELATED | Now settled in Kansas City, Abbott hopes to inspire future Olympians
Speaking to kids about her Olympic experience, the sport of softball and the values sports can impart is nothing new for Abbott, who visits schools a couple times each semester.
She relayed messages about handling failure, combatting fear and never giving up Wednesday to Pleasant Lea students.
“You just have to leave everything on the field and have no regrets,” Abbott said at one point.
She tailors her message differently for high school students, but the lively reactions from elementary-school kids never fail to delight.
“The kids’ reactions in elementary school are so fun,” Abbott said. “Their faces light up — the oohs, the ahs. It’s very exciting for them to not only meet an Olympian, but for someone to come in and talk to them about sports.”
It was quite a day at Pleasant Lea.
“I thought it was really awesome that we could have an Olympian, a former Olympian, come and she was really successful, which is very interesting,” Peterson said.
Softball and baseball won’t be played in Paris, the third time the sports have been left out in the last four Summer Olympics, but they are expected to return in 2028 when the Olympic Games shift to Los Angeles.
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