Stuffed one to a sock and tucked carefully inside a drawer in Gretchen Walsh’s Charlottesville, Virginia, apartment are four pieces of metal that weigh a combined 6.428 pounds.
The 6.428 pounds of metal comprise the four medals — two gold and two silver — the Nashville native won at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The 6.428 pounds of metal are a big reason why Walsh, a Harpeth Hall graduate and University of Virginia senior, is the 2024 Tennessean Sportsperson of the Year.
The 6.428 pounds of metal aren’t the best travel companions.
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“I didn’t want to bring them home with me because they’re really heavy, and they also always get me stopped by TSA because they look very suspicious on the X-ray machine,” said Walsh, who won gold in the 400 medley relay and 400 mixed medley relay, and silver in the 100 butterfly and 400 freestyle relay. “It’s this big black circle and it’s not warm and friendly looking, let’s say just that.”
Walsh broke the world record in the 100 butterfly in June during the U.S. Olympic Trials in Indianapolis and in the 400 medley and mixed medley relays in Paris.
Walsh added seven more golds at the world short course championships earlier this month in Budapest, where she broke world records 11 more times, including nine in individual events.
That’s 14 times she broke world records.
Fourteen.
Not to mention, she — along with her older sister, Alex — helped Virginia to its fourth consecutive NCAA team championship in March. Gretchen won seven events there.
“I don’t wear them that often,” Walsh said of her Olympic medals. “Every so often I take them out of the sock. I like to try to remind myself, ‘Oh, my gosh. That really happened, and that was me who did that.’ “
‘How is this happening right now?’
Gretchen Walsh was, of all things, mid-backstroke during a warmdown between her 50 free semifinal and the 100 mixed medley relay final on Aug. 3 when the most heartbreaking moment flashed before her eyes.
She had just watched Alex win the bronze medal in the 200 individual medley.
She couldn’t wait to “go give her a big hug.”
That big hug for her sister, who led halfway through the race and entered with the fastest qualifying time, turned out to be more for comfort than celebration.
“I saw this, like, red square pop up on the screen, and it was next to Alex’s name,” Gretchen said. “It was the disqualification symbol. That was really heartbreaking. First, I was in shock, like, ‘How is this happening right now?’ “
GRETCHEN WALSH: Olympics swimming record holder in Paris 2024 with sister Alex what to know
Alex, who won silver in the event at the 2022 Tokyo Games, had made an illegal transition from backstroke to breaststroke.
Gretchen “didn’t know what to do.”
What she did was show her mettle in helping the mixed relay win gold, setting a world record in the process.
“She’s definitely thought a lot about it,” Gretchen said of her sister. “I think she has come to terms with it, but it will always be there, so it’s sad. The relay I was on, I wanted to swim it for her and do it in honor of Alex. I wanted to make her proud.”
‘Seeing them just brought all kinds of emotions’
Gretchen Walsh’s most precious memory of the Paris Games is rooted not to a gold medal or world record, but to the aftermath of an agonizing defeat.
Walsh was the favorite heading into the 100 butterfly final, fresh off an Olympic record time in the semifinal. She finished second, .04 seconds behind U.S. teammate Torri Huske.
.04 seconds.
“I wasn’t super happy that I had gotten second,” Gretchen said. “I was the world favorite to get first.”
After taking a victory lap with Huske and standing next to her on the podium, Walsh spotted her parents, Glynis and Robert, in the stands.
“Once I saw them, I just totally broke down and I realized there’s no reason for me to ever be upset about this,” she said. “It was the greatest moment of my swimming career and seeing them just brought all kinds of emotions.
“I really walked away from that victory lap, that medal ceremony being proud of myself and feeling grateful that I had the opportunity to represent my country and show myself that I’m capable of achieving my biggest dream ever.”
‘No one really cares what you did over the summer’
Eight years ago, when she was 13, Gretchen Walsh was the youngest competitor at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Three years ago, she just missed going to Tokyo. This year she’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
She’s also not done.
Walsh said she plans to swim in the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, should she qualify.
For now, though, she’s trying to be as “normal” a college student-athlete as she can. Trying, with her sister, to help Virginia win another national championship.
“I feel like going back to school was super humbling,” Walsh said. “Like, in the classroom, no one really cares what you did over the summer. In a lot of ways, I’m treated normally at school.”
Outside the classroom can be different.
“It’s weird, because people definitely do acknowledge that I’m maybe a little bit of a celebrity on campus, which is so crazy,” Walsh said.
BREAKOUT (NOT SURE HOW TO FORMAT THESE FOR WEB AND/OR PRINT)
A year to remember
Gretchen Walsh’s victories in 2024
Olympic Games
400 medley relay (gold); mixed 400 medley relay (gold); 100 butterfly (silver; broke world record during U.S. Olympic Trials), 400 freestyle relay (silver)
World short course
50 free (2 world records); 100 free; 50 butterfly (2 WR); 100 butterfly (3 WR); 100 individual medley (2 WR); 400 free relay (1 WR); 400 medley relay (1 WR).
NCAA championships
50 free; 100 free; 100 butterfly; 200 free relay; 400 free relay; 200 medley relay; 400 medley relay; team title.
Paul Skrbina is a sports enterprise reporter covering the Predators, Titans, Nashville SC, local colleges and local sports for The Tennessean. Reach him at pskrbina@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @paulskrbina. Follow his work here.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Why Gretchen Walsh is 2024 Tennessean Sportsperson of the Year
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