Plymouth gearing up to cheer on local Olympian Morgan Uceny

PLYMOUTH, Ind. – Next week in London Morgan Uceny will begin her run to become the first American woman to win the gold medal in the 1,500-meter race and her hometown of Plymouth is gearing up to cheer her on.

On Friday afternoon Randolph Street, which runs in front of Plymouth High School, was renamed Morgan Uceny Run in honor of the town’s Olympian.

“I texted her a picture and her reply was ‘that's awesome,’” said Melissa Neidlinger, Uceny’s Aunt.  “I know she got to the Olympic village yesterday and said it's everything she thought it would be and more."

The 27-year-old Uceny is highly favored to win the gold at the final race on August 10.

“It’s her lifelong dream," explained Melissa Neidlinger.  “I think she was maybe in college the first time we heard her say, ‘hey I could be an Olympian someday,’ and here she is."

Across the city of Plymouth store fronts and signs are covered in phrases like “Run Morgan Run” or “Go Mo Go.”  Local kids spent the past week painting windows downtown to cheer on Uceny.

"How often does a city our size have a representative that is first class in the 1,500 meter," said Plymouth Mayor Mark Senter.  “It’s just amazing.”

The Plymouth community has rallied around Uceny and her family, last week a fundraiser helped pay for Uceny’s parents to travel to London to watch their daughter compete.  But, next week it won’t just be folks in Plymouth cheering her on.

“Now you got the whole nation behind you," explained Uceny’s Aunt Melissa Neidlinger.  “"It's just so hard to believe, you know, a small town girl.”

Preliminaries for the women’s 1,500-meter begin on Monday at 6:45 a.m. local time.  The final race will be held at 3:55 p.m. local time next Friday.