veryasian.co 🇯🇵🇺🇸🏳️🌈 Japanese American Erica Sullivan won 🥈 silver in the inaugural women’s 1500m freestyle! She’s also quickly earning a reputation for charming reporters, both in English and Japanese.
Speaking to reporters after her victory, she said “I feel like I am the epitome of the American person whereas I’m multicultural. I’m queer. I’m a lot of minorities in that sense. That’s what America is. To me, America is not being a majority. It’s having your own start. The American dream is coming to a country to be able to establish what you want to do with your life.”
She also talked about her Asian American background and experience, saying “My mom isn’t even an American citizen. She is still a full Japanese citizen, and she’s in America on a green card. I grew up predominantly in an Asian home. I don’t wear shoes in the house. My mom speaks to me in Japanese. I respond in Japanese. I spoke English with a thick Asian accent until I was around five.” Her maternal grandfather, who passed in 2018, was an architect and actually designed some of the buildings that are hosting the Olympics.
“Being able to get on the podium in Japan as an Asian American woman, and getting to take silver in a historical women’s event, as someone who likes women and identifies as gay, is so cool. It’s awesome,” Sullivan said.
😅 She ended her interview by saying, “Also, I would like to use this shot to say that if the women’s soccer team, specifically Tobin Heath and Christen Press, would like to reach out, that would mean the world.”
Photo: Odd Andersen / AFP via Getty Images
Reporting: Today and The Washington Post
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