In the summer of 2011, a 17-year-old heading into her senior year at an Illinois high school started thinking more seriously about her future, and she determinedly announced her plans via social media. "In 2016 I will be 22, graduated from a school I have not chosen yet, and going to the Olympics," Morolake Akinosun tweeted—a post that turned out to be more prophetic than she could have ever imagined. "At the time I tweeted that out, it was more of a dream and an aspiration," the now-22-year-old tells BuzzFeed, just a week before she hops on a plane to Rio to dash down the track for the 4x100-meter relay race in the 2016 Games (her first-round sprint will take place on Aug. 18, per NBC Sports).
After she left Waubonsie Valley High School, Akinosun spent some time studying at the University of Illinois before transferring to the University of Texas, which is where she'll accept her diploma from in December. She headed to the Olympic qualifying trials in Eugene, Ore., earlier this summer and shocked even herself with the success that's now sending her to Brazil. "When I crossed the finish line … it was sort of like disbelief … and then I realized I was really going to the Olympics and I started crying," she says. The funny thing is, Akinosun had completely forgotten about her tweet into the online ether until it popped up recently on her Timehop app. She tweeted a pinch on the arm to herself Saturday: "I tweeted that 5 years ago. It's 2016. I graduate from Texas in December. I'm going to the Olympics next week." (Who won't be competing: all of Russia's weightlifters.)
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