Tamyra Mensah-Stock made history in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, however, a gold medal wasn’t the only prize she had her eye on.
On Tuesday (Aug. 3), she became the first Black woman ever to win a gold medal in wrestling for the United States and now she says she’s spending her $37,000 in prize money on a food truck for her mother.
"I wanted to give my mom $30,000 to get a food truck. It's her dream," Mensah-Stock said after her victory, according to WLS-TV. "I told her five years ago, 'I'll get you your food truck, but you gotta be responsible.' She's like 'Thank you, baby'...so my mom's getting her food truck! She can cook, really really well."
The Katy, Tex., native says her mom’s truck will serve barbeque, even if she doesn’t eat it due to her pescatarian diet.
In her victory, Mensah-Stock became the second American woman to win a wrestling gold medal in the 68kg freestyle category on Tuesday (August 3). She appeared to sustain a leg injury 40 seconds into the six-minute match but recovered to win 4-1 on points, spinning her opponent over and scoring points from a pair of takedowns and solidly defending as time ticked away.
After her victory, Mensah-Stock formed a heart sign with her hands and then dissolved into tears.
Mensah-Stock reached the Olympic final with a victory over Ukraine’s Alla Cherkasova in the semi-final a day earlier. She detailed during the post-match press conference the emotions she was going through before the bout.
“I tried to sleep last night and the people above me were extremely loud so that didn’t really happen,†she said. “And then in the morning, made weight, I watched two episodes of The Walking Dead, my coach, Izzy [Vladislav Izboinikov], he made sure I got food in me because I did not feel like sleeping. I was nervous. Man, I was so nervous.â€
SOURCE: BET