Olds throwing athlete Rachel Andres has qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
The discus thrower made that announcement in an email to the Albertan.
"After Nationals, my world ranking rose to No. 32 with three per country counted, making me officially Olympic eligible," she wrote. "I just need to hold this position and improve upon it."
Her performance during a meet in Edmonton on Aug. 2 gave her even more confidence.
During that meet, Andres threw the discus 58.20 metres (m) "my second best throw of the year."
"(I'm) pretty happy with that considering it is my down week of training, meaning all the distances tend to go down while I recover from Nationals," Andres wrote. "My Friday result should pull me up to No. 30 in the world rankings list."
Andres says in order to keep her ranking and perhaps improve on it, she'll need to compete in meets in Europe.
However, that won't be cheap. To help cover those costs, Andres has started a fundraising website https://makeachamp.com/rachelandres and is also applying for any grants she can.
"(I'm) not counting on those though as the blue chip people who are already funded and athletes aged 18-24 are prioritized," she wrote.
"My event doesn’t tend to peak out until much later than most other Olympic events, with Olympic gold medallists being as old as 44, but most people in charge of funding don’t understand that. I am stronger and faster than I ever was in my 20s with each year getting better than the previous."
In the meantime, Andres plans to attend a meet in Kamloops on Aug. 17 hoping to improve her world ranking "and possibly qualify for the world championship team if I throw 61.20," although again, she admits funds to do so will be tight.
