Anna Van Brummen’s life is returning to normal following her Olympic experience in Tokyo.
Van Brummen returned to work in Santa Barbara and has begun settling back into life in the city.
Following her quick Olympic journey, however, she is still spending time reflecting on her incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“It was intense, it was a lot of emotion, it was a little bit of training, mental preparation, and a lot of time spent with my teammates,” said Van Brummen.
Van Brummen can officially call herself an Olympian after competing in the most unique Olympics in recent memory.
“No matter the situation, it was awesome. I could eat, breathe, and sleep fencing. It was something I’ve been working for a very long time. From a young age I always thought of going to the Olympics, so I’ve checked that box,” said Van Brummen.
The epee fencer and her team had a week and a half to prepare for the competition.
Team USA was pre-ranked 5th overall and finished in 5th place during the competition.
Van Brummen said, “We had a pretty good season and had medals at three world cups, so we were really pushing for a medal. In the round of eight, we ended up losing to Korea. After losing to Korea, we beat out Hong Kong and Poland, who was the second-ranked team. It was a close bout and we had a lot of potential to keep going.”
It was an experience of highs and lows that Van Brummen says she will hold onto for the rest of her life.
“The bed was hard, not comfortable. Olympic village was awesome, it was a really cool experience even if we didn’t get to mingle much, just being around all these athletes was a unique feeling,” said Van Brummen.
