The World Competes

My husband is an Olympian.

He really is. Even though he has a hereditary condition (sickle cell anemia) that has drained his ability to have a lot of endurance, and as a result has never really had much to do with sports, he can still call himself an Olympian… but not exactly in the way that most people think.

My husband is an Olympian in the same way that I can call myself a Trojan, or my husband can also call himself a Sun Devil. His high school mascot is an Olympian, and as an alum of the school, he is an Olympian.

He’s one of the few people that can call themselves Olympians due to where they graduated from high school, because his high school, Leuzinger High School in Lawndale, California, is the only high school that is allowed to use the Olympian as a mascot.

The Olympians of Leuzinger are able to call themselves that because in 1932, the Olympics were held in Los Angeles. The first graduating senior class at Leuzinger was graduating that year, and the school was allowed to use the Olympic rings and the Olympic name. In return, the Leuzinger Olympians allowed the actual Olympics to use their facilities to host some of the events.