好 asian american
But when it came time to start college, the sisters decided it was time to set badminton aside. They enrolled in U.C. Berkeley — each studying accounting — and put the rackets down.
“In the end because we didn’t have enough time to continuously play badminton or train,” Kerry said. “We decided to focus on our academic careers first.”
The pandemic only added to their athletic isolation.
“During the pandemic we completely stopped for three to four years,” Annie said. “Not touched a single racket.”
Post-college, Annie and Kerry were working corporate accounting jobs when the badminton bug remerged. They picked up the rackets — a little at a time at first. It was difficult. There were new aches and pains as their bodies re-acclimated to athletic lives.
“When we first picked up a racket again coming back,” Annie said. “I was like super happy to be even playing.”
Now there was also a carrot beckoning them forward in the form of the coming Olympic Games. They set the target and took leave of absences from their jobs.
“We decided it would be best to put one-hundred-and-ten-percent of our effort and time onto like chasing this Olympic dream,” Kerry said.
The sisters qualified for the Olympic Games, competing in Santiago, Chile in the Pan American Games where they earned silver medals. They’re now unified in preparation for the games, practicing daily at the Bay Badminton Club which has been a second home the last fourteen years.
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/paris-2024-summer-olympics/olympics-badminton-kerry-annie-xu/3571471/?amp=1