Earning a place on the United States Olympic team is tough at the best of times — but booking your ticket to a third, fourth or even fifth games during a pandemic is an enormous challenge.
For those bidding to get another outing with Team USA, after navigating unprecedented challenges in the COVID-19 era and lingering uncertainty over whether the games would even go ahead, the experience that comes with age is invaluable.
"Whether it's a wreck on the road that makes you delayed getting to a game, whether it's rain causing you to have to stop in the third inning, things are out of your control," twice Olympic softball player Cat Osterman said. "You learn how to adapt."