After Tokyo Olympics, 'motivated' Annie Kunz has sights on Paris in 2024

Key notes from Annie Kunz interview

• Tokyo feels like a lifetime ago now. I've gotten to decompress and feel like I'm in an Olympic hangover. It was different with no fans there, but it was pretty amazing to be out there when world records were being broken and all. We couldn't venture into Tokyo much, but they had a training facility. The Olympic village was amazing to be around the most athletic people in the world. I've never felt shorter in my entire life.
   
• I didn't have the meet I wanted to have, but I think it might have been the proudest meet I've ever had. I almost fell four seconds in during the hurdles, so to bounce back felt great.
   
• The main dining hall in the village is where you got to meet people. Everyone was so friendly, and I had to soak it all in. It was so surreal. It still feels like a dream.
   
• I don't think I would've made the team if it weren't for the pandemic. It was the first time I'd ever been without a coach. I was out there pushing myself for the first time and realized how bad I wanted that dream of mine. I attribute making the team to COVID for giving me the time to get better physically and mentally.
   
• In the heptathlon, you have to have amnesia because it has so many different events. Expecting the perfect heptathlon is setting yourself up for failure. Something is bound to go on. In years past, if I had fallen in the hurdles, I would've crumbled. I didn't fall, had a time and took a glass-half-full mentality. It's hard, but I work with a sports psychiatrist each week to prepare for those moments.
   
• The TexAgs and Texas A&M community are so rare and special. I'm so unbelievably grateful to be part of it. When you're an Aggie, you're an Aggie, and Aggies support Aggies. To have my seat upgraded for that flight made such a huge difference, and it was so expensive. I had been an unsponsored athlete for five years, so they made such a big difference. I shouldn't be surprised because they're Aggies, but I am.
   
• My dad has always been my role model with sports. He has a dry sense of humor and gives me a kick in the ass when I need it. He won a Super Bowl ring during his three years with the Raiders, so he has shared some cool stories with me. He understands what it takes to get to the highest level, so having that growing up makes me super grateful to have that.
   
• Kayce Smith and I had so much fun at TexAgs, and we still talk all of the time. She's so strong in her opinions, is hilarious and is having fun, so I love seeing her blow up. I'm so proud of her.
   
• Off of Tokyo, I thought I'd be burnt out, but I came away hungrier for the next Olympics. I finished sixth and had a below-average meet for myself. To see the girls with the medals and to be so close to that motivated me for Paris. It's only three years away, and we'll start November 1 with hard training. We'll have World Championships in Serbia in March, and I qualified for that because my world ranking is now No. 5.
   
• I proved to myself that I could do it. Everyone around me always told me I could, but I never believed in myself until the Olympic trials. It's like I had been training in the dark, but now the lights are on. I'm super excited for the future, and hopefully, I'll be blessed enough to make another team.