Crowd Funding the Olympic Dream

BRADENTON -- Palmetto native Alexis Love hopes to compete in the next Olympic Games. After qualifying for the Olympic Trials and then the semi-finals in 2012, Love missed the cut for the London games by only fractions of a second. The world class sprinter is determined to ensure that she makes it to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for 2016 and has started a fundraiser through the athlete crowd funding platform Dreamfuel to raise money for her Olympic-sized goals.

“Missing the trip to London impacted me greatly; it made me hungrier for success,” says 23-year-old Love. “Knowing that I was a junior in college competing at the Olympic Trials gave me that extra push to follow my dream of becoming a member of Team USA.”

Love first discovered her interest in running during her first year of middle school. She attended an Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) practice with a friend when she was 12. By the end of high school, she was competing at district, regional and state levels for Palmetto High.

Love was named All Area Female Track Athlete of the Year in 2009 and earned a full athletic scholarship to Murray State University, where she was named Athlete of the Year in 2012. She also broke the Ohio Valley Conference outdoor record for the 20-meter dash in 2012 and the stadium record in the 100-meter dash in addition to numerous school records.

While at Murray State, Love earned a degree in Criminal Justice. She currently lives in Fort Worth, Texas and trains with New Era Spring Club. A typical day of training consists of a warm-up, agility practice, sprints and technique, followed by a trip to the gym. Through all of her training and competitions, Love hopes to become one of the fastest female sprinters in the world, in addition to gaining an Olympic title.

Conceptual image Courtesy of Rio 2016 Olympic Committee

“Above all else,” she says, “I would like to inspire young female athletes by being an example of how hard work pays off and that it doesn’t matter where you’re from or what kind of environment you were raised in. You can make something out of nothing. I want them to say ‘I can do it because Alexis Love did it.'”

The campaign platform Dreamfuel aims to help professional and elite athletes raise money through crowd funding. They take into consideration that not all Olympians and Olympic hopefuls have official sponsors. Love’s campaign will run for about two months. She plans to use the funds for pre-season training this summer for equipment such as training shoes, spandex and tights.

To contribute to Love's campaign and help a local athlete on her journey to sport's grandest stage, visit her Dreamfuel page.