ATHENS, Ga. — Aaliyah Butler's love-hate relationship with the 400m has been mostly hate, in her telling, but now she's starting to love it. It helps that it's the event she'll be running at the Paris Olympics to represent the U.S.
The 400m is arguably the hardest event to run, being quite a long sprint.
"You're always in pain," Butler said. "You stop the race and you're still in pain."
Despite the challenge, Butler has continually set personal records this season.
Butler has been running since she was nine, when her mom brought her to a track practice. Her initial disdain for the 400m started early too.
"Over time, when I got into high school, I started to like it more 'cause I like to win and I was winning and running fast time," Butler said.
Eventually, she came to the SEC - specifically UGA - because she was attracted by the competitive nature of the conference.
"It's very competitive," Butler said. "There's no day that we can lack; even on our day off we have to go to the training room."
The school's competitive culture has bred a myriad of Olympic athletes, of which Butler is one of the latest. Now, as she prepares to head to Paris, she feels that all of her hard work has paid off. She says that the mental game is a big part of getting this far.
"If you have your mental down, you'll be able to do anything," Butler said. "Going out there every day, working hard is hard to keep up."
Butler also is grateful for the support of her family to get to where she is today.
"Going to the Olympics would be the biggest accomplishment for me and them," Butler said.
Watch Butler's full interview below: