It’s refreshing to see that sometimes, people take genuine pride in representing more than themselves. In the case of beach volleyball player and Olympian Kerri Walsh Jennings, she knows full well she’s not just representing a random flag, she’s representing a people and the hope of a nation as she competes to show U.S. supremacy and pure awesomeness at the Olympics.

Volleyball: FIVB Long Beach Grand Slam
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In a recent interview with FOX News, Jennings, who is the most decorated beach volleyball player in Olympics history, made it very clear that this is a rare moment that few people get to live in— representing their country abroad in the Olympic Games.

At her first Olympic Games in Athens in 2004, Kerri Walsh Jennings immediately felt the profound sense of competing for something greater than herself, a sentiment shared by many Olympians past and present. Although not competing in Paris this year, Walsh Jennings observed strong patriotism among the athletes she encountered, expressing to Fox News Digital that it was “something special” to witness the pride of representing the United States, as seen in athletes like Scottie Scheffler and Team USA basketball.

“I did. It’s just something special,” Jennings said in her interview with FOX. “You see Scottie Scheffler when he won, and watching Team USA basketball, and they’re celebrities of the game. They’re so touched to be representing USA.”

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Walsh Jennings observed that even Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, was visibly emotional after winning the gold medal in men’s singles. Reflecting on her own career, where she secured three golds and a bronze, she emphasized that representing the United States and bringing home medals for the Stars and Stripes holds a unique and profound significance for athletes.

“I think in the Olympic movement, Team USA is a shining light, and we are something to reach for, I think, in all the world,” she explained. “America is a shining light, and I think that’s a responsibility that I don’t take lightly, and I don’t take for granted.”

Throughout her three-peat in women’s beach volleyball with partner Misty May-Treanor, Jennings embraced the spotlight and the responsibility that came with their Olympic stardom. While bringing home the gold was a personal goal, Walsh Jennings emphasized that every time she wore “USA” on her suit, she was motivated by more than just individual achievement—she was representing her country and its values on the world stage.

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“For me, something that just reinforced my spirit and my resiliency was the fact that I was honored to have the chance to represent our country,” she said. “Every time I took the court in the Olympics, I would invite in my spirit and heart, my country to be with me. All the service members who represent us, my whole family, my ancestors. Everyone who just helped me get there, and I brought them with me in my heart, and that’s a big deal. 

“To be able to represent my country and put my hand on my heart and hear our anthem three times with Misty, and be able to fight for bronze with April [Ross], that was amazing.”

While it’s common to see athletes criticize and even bash their home nation, especially during election years such as the one we’re in, it is so refreshing to see someone who genuinely cares for the country which gives us the opportunity to shoot for gold, in life and even in athletic endeavors.

“The Olympic spirit, to me, is what I’m made of. And the American spirit,” she said. True words, very true words indeed.

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