WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES OCTOBER 14, 2021 21
Borough president honors Queens’
very own Olympic gold medalists
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
Queens Borough President
Donovan Richards presented
keys to Queens to two of its
beloved daughters, Olympian gold
medalists Dalilah Muhammad and
Tina Charles, on Friday, Oct. 1.
The gold medalists were surrounded
by elected officials and
student-athletes from Christ the
King High School in Middle Village,
Bayside’s Benjamin Cardozo High
School as well as the 2021 Junior
Olympians from the Metro Eagles
youth track and field team on the
steps of Queens Borough Hall.
Richards also presented proclamations
to the Olympic duo, declaring
Oct. 1 Dalilah Muhammad Day and
Tina Charles Day in the borough of
Queens.
Track and field star Dalilah
Muhammad, a native of Rochdale
Village, made history at the 2016
Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro,
when she became the first American
woman to win a gold medal in the
400-meter hurdles.
At the 2019 USA Outdoor Track
and Field Championship, Muhammad
broke the 16-year-old 400-meter
hurdles world record with a time of
52.20 seconds. Later that year, she
smashed her world record at the
2019 World Championship with 52.16
seconds.
At the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo,
Muhammad lived up to the anticipation
running her fastest time ever
with 51.50 seconds in the women’s
400-meter hurdles final, winning
the silver medal after Syndey
McLaughlin.
Alongside her teammates
McLaughlin, Athing Mu and Allyson
Felix, Muhammad won her second
Olympic career gold medal in the
4×400-meter relay.
Tina Charles, a native of East Elmhurst,
won Olympic gold three times
with the USA’s women’s basketball
team — 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio
and 2021 in Tokyo — helping her
team win seven straight Olympic
gold medals.
Charles, an eight-time WNBA
All-Star and the WNBA’s reigning
scoring champion, is one of the most
decorated professional basketball
players of her generation.
She was an All-American at Christ
the King High School and a two-time
NCAA champion at the University of
Connecticut. Charles won the WNBA
Rookie of the Year award in 2010 before
winning WNBA MVP honors
in 2012.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards presents Olympic gold medal winners Tina Charles and Dalilah
Muhammad with the key to Queens. Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
In 2018, Charles was recognized
for her charity work off the court
when she earned the Basketball
Hall of Fame’s Human Spirit Award
for her Hopey’s Heart Foundation,
which distributes automated external
defibrillators to schools, and
funded the construction of a 150-seat
school in the West African nation of
Mali.
Richards was thrilled to welcome
Charles and Muhammad, and said he
couldn’t think of two more worthy
recipients of the keys to Queens.
He described both athletes as “living
proof that with hard work and
dedication, there is nothing that kids
across Queens cannot achieve.”
“Dalilah Muhammad and Tina
Charles are more than just legendary
athletes and Olympic champions.
They are role models and inspirations
to the countless young people of
our borough — kids who now know
that with hard work and dedication,
there is no limit to what a child of
Queens can achieve,” Richards said.
“Dalilah and Tina represent the very
best of the ‘World’s Borough,’ and
these inspiring women are more
than deserving recipients of the key
to Queens.”
Councilwoman Adrienne Adams,
co-sponsor of the ceremony, was
bursting with pride since both
athletes and their families call her
district home.
Adams, who also presented City
Council proclamations recognizing
the sportswomen’s achievements,
couldn’t feel “but tremendous joy
and admiration” for the two young
women who grew up in southeast
Queens.
She recalled that she was beaming
with pride watching them compete
in the Tokyo Olympics and said that
both athletes were not only inspiration,
but also role models to young
girls across the country.
“Dalilah Muhammad and Tina
Charles are not just history making
athletes who have excelled in their
respective sports, they are also outstanding
role models for our young
people, thoughtful citizens and shining
ambassadors for Queens. They
have always conducted themselves
with humility, grace and tremendous
poise,” Adams said. “I am proud
to celebrate their well-deserved gold
medals in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
Games and all of their achievements
throughout their illustrious careers.
They have made southeast Queens,
New York City and the entire country
proud.”
Both, basketball great Charles
and track and field star Muhammad,
were honored to be recognized and
celebrated by their community.
Charles thanked her high school
coach Bob Mackey, athletic director
at Christ the King.
“Personally, I wouldn’t be here
without him,” Charles said.
Muhammad remembered growing
up as a little girl with a dream.
“I worked really hard to get there
with all of your support along the
way,” Muhammad said.
The young student-athletes were
excited to see their idols in real life
and were encouraged to work hard
to make it to the top.
Chase Cineus, a 14-year-old who
swims, plays basketball and runs
the 400- and 800-meter track, said
it was great to participate in these
sports and win awards.
“I see Olympians that live in my
neighborhood, and I feel like I’m able
to do that as well,” Cineus said.
link
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
