Amy Rodriguez Hints At Possibly Joining USWNT For 2021 Olympics On Podcast With Georges Niang
Apr 17, 2020, 4:44 PM
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Georges Niang, otherwise known by his teammates and fans as the Minivan, interviewed Utah Royals FC and US Women’s National Team soccer star Amy Rodriguez on his latest podcast titled Georges Drive and Dish.
The respect I have for Amy is tremendous! No matter what comes her way she pushes through and finds a way to the top of that mountain! Such a fun episode! https://t.co/CewcTFCAPk
— Georges Niang (@GeorgesNiang20) April 17, 2020
The two discussed a number of conversations, including how they are both making the quarantine time useful, injuries, life of a pregnant professional athlete and will Rodriguez play in another Olympic Games following the postponement of Tokyo 2020.
“I do think that this is a unique time where a lot of us can kind of grow outside our comfort zones and do things that we normally wouldn’t,” Rodriguez said speaking on how the coronavirus pandemic has altered everyone’s plans. “Like you (Niang) said, picking up a book and reading and having that time is not always a luxury of ours but right now I am doing a lot of bike rides with my kids, we play in the back yard…and we can still do that safely while in quarantine.”
As mentioned above, the 2020 Tokyo Summer games were recently postponed due to the coronavirus crisis, it has since been announced that the games will take place during 2021.
Amy Rodriguez, 33, is entering the tail end of her professional career, she has already competed in two Olympics while notching 132 caps for the National Team.
Rodriguez has won two gold medals from both the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London games. In January of 2016, months prior to the start of the 2016 Olympics, Rodriguez announced that she is expecting the birth of her second child and would ultimately have to sit out of the games.
“It was devastating to hear because I know how hard those athletes were training,” Rodriguez said when talking about the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo games.
“It is an incredible honor to wear red, white, and blue,” she added. “I have been thankful to do it twice and I hope that maybe I would be able to squeeze in a third, but we will see what happens,” Rodriguez said with a massive smile on her face.
The 2021 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony has been rescheduled for Friday, July 23, 2021, and will conclude on August 8.
Tom Hackett is a Utah and Real Salt Lake Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the It’s Utah’s World Podcast (Utah Football themed) and The Lion’s Den Podcast (Real Salt Lake themed). Follow him on Twitter: @TomCantHackett.