RIO OLYMPICS
KEY PLAYER: Foluke Akinradewo was almost unstoppable in Rio, but an injury forced her to miss much of the semifinal match against Serbia (Photo: FIVB)
Fighting through the pain
FOLUKE AKINRADEWO’S SMILE, high fives and shouts of encouragement were all at full strength after a leg injury forced her to the sidelines of the U.S. Women’s Olympic semifinal match against Serbia. But inside, she was hurting. “I felt a lot of guilt that I couldn’t be
out there with them,” says the 29-year- old U.S. middle, a two-time Olympian. “It was nerve-racking. But I have a lot of faith in my team. I never doubted that we could pull it out. Unfortunately, a few plays here and there didn’t go our way.” The final result – a 20-25, 25-17, 25-21, 16-25, 15-13 Serbia victory – was a huge disappointment for a team that had its sights set on being Team USA’s first-ever women’s indoor Olympic gold medalist. And it’s hard not to wonder what
might have been if the team had been a little luckier with their health. In January, the U.S.’s other starting middle, Tori Dixon, was lost for the season to an ACL tear.
Akinradewo’s injury came late in a set one win in which she made big contribu- tions – six points, including three blocks.
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“I landed weird on one leg coming down from a block, and I felt a shift [in my leg],” she says. “I tried playing in the second set, but there was no way I could continue without medical help.” Two days later, after spending “a lot of time with our trainer,” the injury was “good enough” for her to play – and play well – in the bronze-medal match. She scored 16 points in the 25-23, 25-27, 25-22, 25-19 victory over Netherlands – a nice finish, if not exactly the finish she and her teammates were seeking. “Regardless of the outcome, we knew
that all the hard work we’ve put in and all the support we’ve had for one another for all these years is what’s most important,” she says. “And I think it really showed in the bronze medal match. There was just a lot of fight, and it was for the other per- son. It was, ‘I’m doing this for my team- mates and blocking for my teammates and covering for my teammates.’ That made it that much more special. Winning the bronze medal with this group meant so much. It meant even more than the silver medal I won in London.”
— Don Patterson
Selfishly, I wanted that gold medal to prove that the culture we built and the foundation that we built was the right way to do it. And then I had a moment shortly after that match (the loss) where I thought, ‘Medals don’t define this team and will never define this team.’ And that was the point of what I shared. You can’t put value to relation- ships, the work that the entire team and the coaching staff put in. You can’t put value on that, certainly not with a medal. So I think our identity as a team will not be in a medal. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the world or what other people think. I think what matters are the relationships that we built and the culture that we built that will hopefully will be a foundation that continues to build upon itself year after year.
48 | VOLLEYBALLUSA • Digital Issue at
usavolleyball.org/mag — Christa Dietzen on the culture of the U.S. Women’s program ”
BRONZE-MEDAL SMILES: The U.S. Women were dominant most of the Olympic Tourna- ment, winning seven of eight matches. (Photo: FIVB)
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