The road to the Paris Olympics is long and arduous. If you're the family of an Olympian, it's expensive.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — The road to the Paris Olympics is long and arduous. If you're the family of an Olympian, it's expensive.
"A lot of people don't get to call themselves Olympians, especially get to share the moment with their families," said Vernon Turner, a high jumper from OU.
Turner, 25, answered News 4's questions between flights on his way to a meet in Memphis.
"I think as a kid, I never really expected to be an Olympian. I always dreamed of being like a doctor or an astronaut or something crazy like that," said Turner.
Turner has tried to qualify twice before. The third time was the charm.
"The last one, I finally made it happen," said Turner.
His mother, Melonie Carpenter, wasn't shocked.
"It's not a surprise because he's very talented," said Carpenter. "He started out playing basketball at Yukon, and his basketball coach talked him into doing the high jump and his freshman year, he started doing the high jump and he won state."
"When he high jumped when he was in high school, it just stuck with him," said Dajhane Turner, his sister. "I don't know how he gets off the ground like that. Honestly, I don't know where the bunny hops come from."
All of this is quickly happening for Turner and his family.
"This was last minute. Like we found out Sunday. That's, what, three days ago?" said Carpenter.
She said Turner performs best when family is there.
"He does great whenever we're around," said Carpenter. "It's so expensive to go."
That's when her friend, Carrie Blackstock, surprised her with a GoFundMe to support the hopeful trip.
"When I tagged her in it on Facebook, she was made aware," said Blackstock. "It's about $1,400-$1,500 for a flight. And if you multiply that by three, you know, you're at 4,500 plus hotels, food."
Turner said, it'd make his dreams all the more surreal if his family could join him.
"Finals is August 10th and that's my mother's birthday. So what better of a birthday present to have my mother out there at the Olympics watching this son chase his dreams and hopefully bring gold back home to Oklahoma?" said Turner.
Blackstone is also making shirts to raise money for the family. You can find that information here.
