Man, the Olympics have got me feeling giddy. I am in absolute awe of the talented, driven, hot athletes getting up on the world stage after years of discipline and training. While we’re seeing the absolute crème de la crème of athletes, even getting close to qualifying to represent your country is a huge honour — and it turns out that there are a bunch of celebrities who did just that and almost made it to the Olympics.
So, without further ado, let’s see which celebrities we could’ve seen in some sort of spandex in an alternate timeline.
Celebrities who almost made it to the Olympics
Jason Statham
On-screen actionman Jason Statham was a competitive diver before he made a name for himself as an actor.
In 2008, he told the BBC that he first became fascinated with the sport when he was on holiday in Florida with his family as a kid.
“There was a guy who used to do a high dive at noon every day from one of the hotels we stayed in. And I say ‘when we get home, I am going to do that,” he said.
“I joined the club then, I was like 11 or 12 years old. Within a year, I was part of the British team and it gained momentum and I spent the next 10 years doing that.”
In 1990, he represented England in three different events at the Commonwealth Games in Auckland, New Zealand — the one-metre springboard, the three-metre springboard and the 10-metre platform.
He attempted to make the Olympic Games twice, participating in the Olympic trials for the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and the 1992 Barcelona Games. Sadly, he didn’t make the cut but looking back, he thinks it helped him with his acting pursuits.
“I think what I didn’t achieve (in sports) has probably helped me focus more and take my acting career more seriously,” he told the BBC.
Bella Hadid
So her name… her name is Bella Hadid and not only is she a gorgeous model but she was an equestrian pro who grew up with dreams of making it to the Olympics for the sport.
Back in 2015, Bella revealed that she had plans to compete in the 2016 Olympics. However, in 2016, her mother Yolanda Hadid revealed on her blog that Bella had to give up her Olympic dreams due to Lyme Disease.
“Bella had to give up her lifelong dream of having a professional riding career and a shot at the Olympics due to her severe symptoms and inability to ride,” Yolanda wrote in 2016.
“This was the biggest heartbreak of her life and an extremely sensitive subject for her. She is resilient and focused on a new direction — she’s made a name for herself in the modelling industry while she struggles with symptoms of chronic Lyme every day.”
Geena Davis
I know what you’re thinking —no, Geena Davis did not become an almost Olympic baseball player despite being so good in A League Of Their Own.
Geena became fascinated with archery after watching the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
“They had a lot of coverage of archery because America was winning all the gold medals, and I was like ‘Wow!'” she told PEOPLE in 2020.
“It’s very dramatic and beautiful and I just thought casually, ‘I wonder if I’d be good at that?’”
Well, after finding a coach and becoming “utterly obsessed” she became pretty damn good at the sport. In fact, she says it “became her life for a couple of years” as she practised for five to six hours each day.
After two years, she was so bloody good at archery that she competed in the qualifying event for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. But after coming in 24th place (out of 300, by the way) she fell short. However, she did qualify for a wild card spot at the 1999 Sydney International Golden Arrow competition — not too shabby!
Vera Wang
Before fashion designer Vera Wang was known for her beautiful designs, she had dreams of becoming an Olympic figure skater. She started skating at eight years old and as she got older, had a particular talent in the pairs skating event.
In 1968, she competed in the US National Championships in Philadelphia with her partner James Stuart.
“I was completely dedicated to it,” she revealed to South China Morning Post.
Sadly, James and Vera didn’t make the cut.
“I was devastated when I did not qualify for the Olympic team,” she said.
While the blow ended her athletic career, she soon found her footing as a designer and eventually designed outfits for some of the world’s best figure skaters such as Nancy Kerrigan, Michelle Kwan and Nathan Chen. After all, she knew exactly what the athletes needed from their performance clothing.
“If one strap were to break, or if the beading on the sleeve gets caught when they turn, their whole Olympics is over. That is how serious it is,” Vera told PEOPLE in 2018.
Cody Simpson
I have to add our Aussie sweet pea Cody Simpson to the list because what he achieved in the swimming world is sooooo impressive!
Growing up, Cody was a talented swimmer. But, he was also a gifted musician, and when it looked like he could turn his passion for tunes into a career, he jumped on it and swimming took a back seat. But in 2019, Cody decided to put his music career on hold to put all his energy into training for the Olympics.
While it sounded like a pretty huge dream, he trained hard with some of the best coaches around and in 2020, he made the cut for the Australian Swimming Trials for the Tokyo Olympics. Sadly, despite landing a personal best time for the 100m butterfly finals, he didn’t make it through to the Aussie team.
Determined, he put all his effort into training for the 2024 Paris Olympics. He even made the Aussie squad for the Commonwealth Games in 2022 and claimed a silver medal for 100m Butterfly at the 2023 Swimming World Cup in Athens, and a gold in Budapest for the 4x100m relay event.
But when it came time for the Olympic qualifiers for 2024, Cody just missed out — and I mean just. He came fifth in the 100m Butterfly, losing out to winner Matthew Temple by half a second.
“I did what I could do, and that’s all you can do. I’ve come a lot further in the last four years than perhaps I could have bargained for,” Cody said after the event.
“Starting from zero and trying to see how far I could get in half or a third of the time that everybody else has been training, just to do right by that kid in me that gave it up to go and pursue something else, which I had an incredible journey.”
Pretty damn impressive, if you ask me.
Despite missing out, I think it’s clear that all of these celebs are incredibly talented so kudos to them!
The post Talented And Sporty?! Check Out The Celebs Who *Almost* Made It To The Olympics appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
