Matt Baranoski isn't letting anything keep him from The Olympics. He overcame a shattered collarbone, he's not scared of Zika Virus and he is determined to make his mom's birthday wish of seeing him in the Opening Ceremony come true.
The Bucks County native has been cycling since he was little. In 2012, he shattered his collarbone after a crash. Twenty-one days later, he won a national competition in the high-speed sport of track cycling.
"It was just something I wanted to do," he said nonchalantly. "The motivation was to come back as soon as possible and win nationals."
Four years later, the Penn State student is headed to Rio for his first Olympics. When he gets to Rio, on his mom's birthday, the 23-year-old track cyclist will walk in the Opening Ceremony.
"That's all she wanted for her birthday, to see that," he said.
Back in Perkasie, Baranoski is doing everything he can to train, but with local competitions going on around his hometown, there’s limited training space. So, Baranoski and his dad got creative.
"He drives a motorcycle and I chase behind him on my bike," Baranoski explained. "We started with a scooter-thing, like a Vespa, but I got too fast so we had to upgrade."
Sports
In partnership with NBC Sports Philadelphia
To continue training, Baranoski will fly to Houston a few days before Opening Ceremony, train there, and then it’s off to Brazil for him. Baranoski competes on Tuesday, Aug. 16.
As for life after The Olympics? It’s back to Penn State for one more semester, then graduation in December. Here's to this Nittany Lion roaring in Rio.
