The Olympics aren't exactly your average high school reunion, but for one-time high school rivals Aja Evans and Seun Adigun, it is.
Evans, a Morgan Park High graduate, and Adigun, of Homewood Flossmoor, competed against each other in high school track.
“We never even talked because we were always like… in this mode,” Adigun said.
Still, even after their high school battles came to an end, the two just can’t seem to be on the same team.
Evans, a bronze medalist in 2014, is representing the U.S. again for women's bobsled in Pyeongchang, but Adigun, who ran track for Nigeria in the 2012 summer Olympics, is making history with her Winter Olympics debut for the country.
“To see how far we’ve come and the waves we’re making now, it’s inspirational for sure,” Evans said.
Adigun remembers watching her one-time high school rival win an Olympic medal in the Sochi Games.
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“I was like, ‘Oh man I’ve got to cheer for my girl Aja’ and that was the one thing that drew me to the sport,” she said.
Soon after, Adigun realized she had a bigger calling.
“When I learned that the continent of Africa hadn’t been represented in the sport of bobsled I said, ‘Okay, this is obviously much larger than me,'” she said.
She went on to start an entire federation, and in Pyeongchang, she will be the first African driver of a bobsled.
Meanwhile, Evans is likely to contend for another medal.
“I’m so proud of her and myself,” she told NBC 5’s Katie Kim.
It would appear the one-time unfriendly rivalry has now transformed into an Olympic support system that transcends their hometowns and the countries they represent.
“I don’t care what anyone says or thinks... I am literally going to cheer for her,” Evans said.
