Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Eight days before the U.S. softball team is scheduled to play Italy in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics next month, Michelle Moultrie will turn 31.

Moultrie's long and winding road to the Olympics is finally close to reaching the top for the former UF softball star. Moultrie has played on the U.S. National Team since departing Florida in 2012 and with softball not part of the London Olympics (2012) or Rio de Janeiro Games (2016), she has waited for the Tokyo Games to arrive.

And then waited an extra year due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

"I think it's going to be emotional, with everything that's leading up to this through the years,'' Moultrie recently told the Florida Times-Union. "I think it's going to feel like a great experience, to feel it all come together."

As far as belated birthday gifts go, Moultrie can't ask for much more.
 

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AT A GLANCE
 

SPORT: Softball

POSITION: Outfielder

HOW SHE QUALIFIED: Team selection

TOKYO SCHEDULE: Opening round for softball starts July 21; gold-medal game is July 27 at the Yokohama Baseball Stadium

UF CAREER: Named SEC Player of Year as a senior in 2012 and was a three-time member of All-SEC Team during her career from 2009-12

NEED TO KNOW: Moultrie is from Jacksonville and played at Mandarin High. However, after high school, she received little interest on the recruiting trail. She enrolled at Florida and joined the softball team as a walk-on. The rest is history as they say.

QUOTE OF NOTE: "It's been good to me. I've had great friends, great experiences, traveling the world with my teammates." Moultrie to the Florida Times-Union on her extended career in the sport




Previously: "Gators in the Olympics" Series
June 26: Cory McGee