Team USA volleyball star Jordan Larson just started her Olympic journey off on a high point. Larson, 37, shared a picture of herself wearing black leggings and a “USA” shirt, beaming as she posed next to Snoop Dogg, who was dressed in head-to-toe white Olympic gear. “Snoop!! šŗšøš¤” she captioned the post. Larson is a veteran volleyball player and coach and shows no signs of slowing down. Here’s what her approach to the game looks like.
Larson sees working out and gym sessions as part of her work. “It’s interesting this power of will and determination,” she told Volleyball Mag. “I know what we do in our gym is hard at any age. For me, it’s knowing that being in the gym every day brings out the best in me. It’s leaning into this and willing myself to do things I don’t want to do some days. That’s what makes it more beautiful on the other end.”
Larson welcomes the changes to training and competing. “Everything can’t stay the same because you’re evolving, the game’s evolving, people around you are evolving,” she told Volleyball Mag. “We’re getting more technology as far as jump counts and player load and all these things. There’s just more to know. I feel like if I were to stay the same that would not be a good thing.”
If Larson were to move to any of the places she has visited, she says it would be Italy for the sense of community. “I get why people want to go there,” she told Lincoln Journal Star. “Just the way of life and how slow it is and how they do things. They really enjoy life. When they go out to dinners it feels like a family and there is a lot of community there, which was a cool experience to have. But also I think Turkey was very special as well.”
Larson is coaching as well as playing. “I’m coaching in Nebraska, which has been really fun to kind of go back and just see now what they have access to and where it’s come, which is really cool,” she told NBC Olympics. “I think for me, the sport has given me so much. And when I think, the most impactful people in my life has been coaches. And now I can share everything that’s been shared with meā¦And now how can I help [the athlete] achieve that, just being a small part of that process is huge.”
Larson is glad female athletes have more opportunities to make money these days. “I think a lot has changed,” she told Lincoln Journal Star. “I think the athletes are fantastic. I think our (college) system, as far as the ability to get an education and be an athlete at the same time, is great. And now I think with NIL (name, image, likeness) there are just a lot of other opportunities that are available for females.”