PARIS, France — The Paris Olympic rowing events are underway.
Overall the Olympics are featuring 131 Californian athletes who qualified for and are heading to Paris. America's Olympic team, Team U.S.A., includes 10 athletes from the Greater Sacramento region. Rower Michelle Sechser from Folsom is one of them.
Here's how Sechser has done:
- July 28 - Lightweight Women's Double Sculls Heat 2: Finished second in Heat 2 with a time of 7:12:65. She qualified for the semifinal scheduled for July 31. She rowed with Molly Reckford.
- July 31 - Lightweight Women's Double Sculls Heat Semifinal: Finished third in heat 1 with a time of 7:05:03. Now headed to the finals on Friday.
All About Michelle
Sechser, 37, is competing in the lightweight women’s double sculls during the Olympics. She was an athlete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games where she won 5th in the same category she's competing in this year.
Sechser began rowing at 14 for Capital Crew in Sacramento County after seeing how much her older sister was enjoying crew after her first season, according to U.S. Rowing. She began pursuing the U.S. National Team rowing after attending graduate school at the University of Tulsa.
"I am so damn lucky that somehow I get to do this again," she said in an Instagram post. "That I get to race my guts out with (Molly Reckford) in the LW2X at the Olympics."
Career Highlights
- 2023 World Championship: Silver – Lightweight Double Sculls - Women
- 2022 World Championship: Silver – Lightweight Double Sculls - Women
- 2017 World Championship: Bronze – Lightweight Double Sculls - Women
The 2024 Olympic Games in Paris run from Friday, July 26, through Sunday, Aug. 11.
WATCH MORE: Michelle Sechser looks back at her path to Paris in this US Rowing feature: