Dawn Stanton was in Iceland Monday night, on her way home to Hamden from Paris. She was deliriously tired, she said, but also deliriously happy after watching her daughter Alexis Holmes win an Olympic gold medal as the anchor of the 4×400-meter relay in Paris Saturday.
Holmes, who grew up in Hamden and went to Cheshire Academy, finished sixth in the 400 meters with a personal best of 49.77 seconds Friday, then won the 4×400 with her teammates, Shamier Little, 400-meter hurdle gold medalist Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and 200-meter gold medalist Gabby Thomas, in an American record time of 3:15.27.
Holmes was one of three Connecticut natives to win gold medals, and another won a silver. Liam Corrigan of Old Lyme (rowing) and Alyssa Naeher of Stratford (soccer) both took home gold while Ridgefield’s Kieran Smith , a bronze medalist in Tokyo, won a silver in swimming.
It was Holmes’ first Olympics.
“Oh my gosh, it was insane,” said Stanton, a former All-American track athlete at Southern Connecticut State, who lives in Hamden. “It was insane times 1,000. The energy in the arena – everyone standing, screaming. It was something you have to be there in person to take in. I don’t know how to describe it.”
Stanton was also screaming as she watched McLaughlin-Levrone take a huge lead, then as Thomas handed off the baton to her daughter.
“Oh yes, at the top of my lungs,” she said. “As loud as I could, even though I knew she couldn’t hear me. I’m still on a high. It was exhilarating. I have to get home to process that my child did what she did.
“I thought it was amazing they trusted Alexis with the anchor, and she validated their decision.”
Holmes, 24, is in her second year as a professional runner with Nike. She stayed for the Closing Ceremony Sunday; her mom started her trek home.
After the 4×400, Stanton tried to get to see her daughter in the media area but couldn’t get close. So she ran over to the medal ceremony.
“I was trying to push through the crowd, I was like, ‘Can I please get through, my daughter’s on the podium, please, please?’” she said. “I got there but couldn’t get a good angle. I asked a stranger, so he took my phone and recorded it for me. Then I ran back to the media (area) but couldn’t get close to her.”
Mother and daughter finally saw each other Sunday. Holmes lives and trains in Arkansas; the two hadn’t seen each other in nine months,
“We just had the longest embrace when we got to see each other,” Stanton said.
And more gold medals for CT athletes
After finishing fourth in the eight boat at the Tokyo Games, Corrigan , along with his teammates Michael Grady, Justin Best and Nick Mead, won gold in the four boat on Aug. 1, the men’s first gold medal in the men’s four since 1960.
The four was full of experienced rowers and had done well in international competition leading up to the Games so expectations were high and the rowers delivered.
Earlier in the Games, in swimming, Smith did not make the finals of the 400 free after winning the bronze in the event in 2021, but he did help the 4×200 meter relay to a silver medal this time around. Smith, the anchor leg, had the fastest time of the American team (1:44.80).
On Saturday morning, Naeher helped make women’s soccer history. At age 36, the oldest player on U.S. women’s soccer team, Naeher helped lead the team to its first gold medal since 2012.
Naeher, who was the backup goalie for the U.S. Olympic team in 2016 and the starter in goal in Tokyo, made several key saves – including a one-handed save in stoppage time – in the 1-0 win over Brazil in the gold medal game.
UConn alums Diana Taurasi, Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart helped the U.S. women’s basketball team win its eighth straight gold medal (along with Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun) and Taurasi won her sixth straight i n her final Olympic appearance. UConn’s Gabby Williams played for France, which got the silver medal after losing to the U.S. 67-66 in the final.
Ilona Maher , the Quinnipiac rugby player who became a social media star at the Tokyo Games, helped the U.S. rugby sevens team win a bronze medal, helped raise awareness of the sport and celebrated her birthday at the Closing Ceremony Sunday.
Yale had two U.S. Olympians win medals – Nick Rusher (rowing) helped the eight boat win the bronze and sailor Ian Barrows won the bronze in the men’s skiff.
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