Link to Article on The Red & Black
By Olivia Sayer
Georgia freshman Aaliyah Butler competes in an event on April 7, 2023. The University of Georgia track team competes in the Spec Towns & Torrin Lawrence Invitational in Athens, Georgia. (Photo/Laney Martin; @laneymartinphotography)
When Aaliyah Butler stepped into Georgia’s new track and field locker room, she noticed all of the Bulldogs’ Olympians on the wall. From the minute she saw it, her goal became clear. One day, Butler was going to join them.
“I was like, ‘I want to be there one day,’” Butler said. “To see them kind of gave me motivation every day to be better.”
Two years later, Butler saw her dream become a reality. The sophomore sprinter secured her spot on Team USA with a 49.71 in the 400-meter dash. The time beat her previous school record set at the Southern Conference Championships.
“When I turned around and looked at the billboard, and I saw my name in second place, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this really happened,’” Butler said.
Butler, who began in lane five, surged forward with almost 100 meters remaining in the race. With professional Alexis Holmes and Arkansas’ Kaylyn Brown on her tail, Butler used all her strength to finish strong.
The effort earned her a chance to live out a childhood dream.
“I dreamed of it as a little kid,” Butler said. “Going to the Olympics has always been a big deal.”
Although Butler is ecstatic for the opportunity to compete on arguably the world’s biggest stage, the 20-year-old is equally excited to go to Paris. Butler said she is most looking forward to experiencing the food, touring the stores and seeing the historic buildings the city has to offer.
Butler had a successful sophomore campaign with the Bulldogs. She ran the second leg on a 4x400m relay team that broke Georgia’s school record and clocked the No. 30 time in collegiate history.
Individually, Butler posted the No. 4 time in school history for the 200m at the Tiger Paw Invite, while becoming the No. 15 all-time collegiate performer in the 300m at the Clemson Invite. Butler also earned First Team All-America honors in the 400m, the event she qualified for the Olympics in.
However, Butler’s performance in the NCAA’s was not up to her standards. The showing motivated her to come to the Olympic Trials with a different mindset.
“I just had to tell myself the past is the past,” Butler said. “And that I’m in the present, and I have to keep working hard.”
Butler said speaking with her coaches, including Georgia head coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, helped flip her demeanor.
“I have definitely grown more confidence,” Butler said. “[My coach] made us stay here in Oregon and train. So seeing that track every single day built my confidence. I just told myself [that] this is my track and that I want to win on it.”
Butler now has a small break prior to returning to Athens to train for the Olympics. She plans to use the time to visit her family in Florida. Her family was unable to attend the Trials in Oregon, so Butler said this will be her first time seeing them since the race.
Afterwards, it’s off to Paris for Butler, who will be living out the scenario she pictured when seeing the Georgia Olympians throughout the locker room walls.
“I knew I could do it,” Butler said. “I always dreamed that far. I never put a limit on myself. And I always tell myself [if] you work very hard, you can always get what you want.”