The Paris Olympics are in full flow as crowds packed the arenas to witness excellence. And they certainly saw one in Torri Huske who stunningly won the 100m butterfly. She defeated her compatriot Gretchen Walsh to take home the victory in 55.59 seconds at the Paris La Defense Arena. “I first saw the light by the block. Seeing that was very surreal. I didn’t know how to process it,” mentioned a jubilant Huske whose toils at the beginning of her career paid dividends. Mostly, her parents supported her through the journey, especially her mother.

Her mother, Ying Weng Huske, was born in Guangzhou in the People’s Republic of China and later decided to move to the United States of America. Seeing her untapped potential at a young age, Ying traveled to the West to keep her swimming hopes up. Crediting her mother for her development, she once, stated, “I feel like she is a really big inspiration to me. Yeah, I’m just lucky to have her. I feel like I’m living out my American Dream,” according to Olympics.com.

The story of the 21-year-old swimmer who is now an Olympic gold medalist starts there. So, let’s take a plunge into what influenced Torri to pursue her swimming career.

Meet Torri Huske’s mother who became an inspiration for the gold medalist

According to Heavy, Huske’s mother grew up in a labor camp in China. After China’s late President Mao Tse-tung passed away, the country closed its colleges for a long time, giving no importance to education, commented Huske. Later, they opened up the colleges and when her mother took the test, she was 30. Naturally, younger generations became competitive and her mother finally landed in a college to get an architecture degree.

Huske mentioned to USA Swimming, “She studied architecture in China but she absolutely hated it, so later she studied engineering at Virginia Tech, and she didn’t like engineering that much either, and then she became like an IT person.”

Arriving in the USA, in 1991, architecture didn’t interest Ying. Therefore, arriving in the USA with big dreams, Ying mentioned how the government took control of most expenses. She mentioned to NBC Sports, “The government paid for our tuition, and they basically owned us. I came [to the U.S.] for a better life, better opportunities and a better life for my future family.”

After studying urban planning and transportation, she switched to IT to pursue her passions. Yet, swimming remained a customary thing in the Huske household. After Torri was born, her parents put her in multiple activities like art, ice skating, ballet, etc. But when Ying swam with Torri, she noticed that by 8, Torri matched her mother’s pace. They had a wonderkid on their hands!

Her mother mentioned her determination to succeed at all costs. She pointed out, “She’s a hard-working girl. Sometimes I have to say: ‘Hey Tori, relax! You don’t have to be so serious.” Her parents put her in swimming classes, and Ying and her daughter finally achieved their dream. She became a gold medalist after years of struggles in the early part of her mother’s life.

The American swimmer finished fourth in the same event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As a result, achieving a monumental victory involves going three steps beyond and securing the gold medal. “It’s just very overwhelming when you’ve been training for this moment for so long,” said Huske after the race.

After her success in the 100m butterfly, Huske will now compete in the 100m freestyle and we could see a rematch between Walsh and Huske if they reach the finals. Are you excited about the race?