Tuesday, October 1, 2024 | General, Football, Chris Harry
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By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The list was 41 names long. No, not everyone was available to come back, but in the run-up to Saturday's game between Florida (2-2) and UCF (3-1) at "The Swamp" there will be an estimated 30 athletes or coaches who participated in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris two this summer. Josh Liendo
And they'll all be Gators.
"It takes so much to get there," said Jasmine Moore, a 14-time All-America jumper, seven-time NCAA champion and, most recently, two-time 2024 bronze medalist for Team USA. "We all respect the hard work we do to become an Olympian. It's so much fun to compete and thrive in our sports. It's something we all bond over."
Now comes more bonding. UF's 2024 Olympians were invited back to share in one, big honorary "Mr. Two Bits" capacity. Moore, who became the first American woman to make the US Olympic team in both the long jump and triple jump, will join forces with a pair of medaling swimmers in Josh Liendo and Emma Weyant in leading the traditional cheer. Liendo, a member of the Canadian team, won silver in the men's 100-meter butterfly, while Weyant, of Team USA, earned bronze in the 400 individual medley.
The trio was part of a UF representation that accounted for 11 total medals, including four gold, four silver and three bronze.
"Even now, I'm still in awe of the whole experience," Moore said.
Two-time bronze medalist Jasmine Moore
Two of the '24 medal winners — swimmer Caeleb Dressel and hurdler Grant Holloway — medaled in previous Games and had previous individual Two Bits turns, but this one will be a little different. It will mark only the third time since the Two Bits duties fell to celebrities in 2013 that a large group has done the cheer en mass.
The first such occasion was when Billy Donovan's 2006-07 back-to-back NCAA men's basketball championship teams returned to campus in 2017 for a 10-year anniversary celebration of their second crown. The next came in 2021 when the eight Gator medalists from the London Olympics teamed up. Emma Weyant
Moore, who jumped for the Gators during the 2022-23 seasons after transferring from Georgia, knows so many of her fellow Olympians — many of them future UF Hall of Famers (aka "Gator Greats") — could have been asked to wear the yellow shirt and khaki pants ensemble.
That makes her invite all the more special.
"Honestly, it's insane," she said. "From swimming to gymnastics to track and field, everybody is just so super-motivated, yet feel very normal in our success and achievements. With the standard that is held at Florida, across all sports, it's just what we're supposed to do."
As for the Two Bits stuff? Well, that's a perk for Moore to enjoy as she eyes Los Angeles in 2028.
