Tamyra Mensah-Stock’s Olympic victory is about more than just herself.
The Team USA athlete become the first Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in wrestling for America earlier this week, defeating Team Nigeria’s Blessing Oborududu 4-1. “Everybody is now seeing the greatness that I felt was inside of me and that my family and friends felt like was inside of me,” she tells PEOPLE of the history-making moment.
“She’s always doing back-breaking work and … I’ve just seen her struggling ever since my dad died and I don’t like seeing it,” Mensah-Stock, 28, says.
Tamyra Mensah-Stock and her mother.Tamyra Mensah-Stock/Instagram
Her father was tragically killed in a car accident while Mensah-Stock was in high school. He had been driving home from one of her matches,Yahoo! Sports reported.
Which is just how her mother feels.
“I made a promise to her and she loves cooking,” Mensah-Stock explains of the food truck plans. “It’s just one of her passions. Growing up, we’d be like, ‘Ooh, mommy, you put your back into this food. Like you literally put your foot in it.’ "
She reveals that her mom had a portable grill she’d make and sell food off of, which — though Mensah-Stock acknowledges her passion — she admits “is not exactly the best legal method.”
Tamyra Mensah-Stock.Tom Pennington/Getty
The athlete recounts saying, “So how about I buy you a food truck and you can be anywhere you want to be?” And, she says, “[My mom] was ecstatic. She’s like, ‘Yes, I would love that.’ This is five years ago. And I just keep telling her, ‘Just hold off, mommy, please just hold off.’ "
Now, that five-year wait must certainly seem worth it, and Mensah-Stock is ready to help her “dream come true.” And, the pair already has a name in mind: “The Lady Bug.”
“It is going to be pleasant. It’s going to be legal. It’s going to be fun,” she says.
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Tokyo Olympics now on NBC.
source: people.com
