Eight 2020 Olympians, current and former Florida Gators alike, will lead the famous “Mr. Two Bits” cheer before the football team takes on the Vanderbilt Commodores this weekend, the team announced Tuesday.
Caeleb Dressel, Kieran Smith, Bobby Finke, Natalie Hinds, Grant Holloway, Taylor Manson, Mark Kolozsvary and Aubree Munro will take to the 50-yard line of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium dressed in a yellow shirt and an orange blue tie.
“It's one of the biggest honors I could imagine," Finke said. "It seems like all the others who have done it have accomplished so much and impacted so many people, so, yeah, I'm definitely excited about the opportunity,”
The Americans combined for 13 total medals in the Tokyo Olympics. Most notably, Dressel picked up five gold medals in the pool, including the 50-meter free, 100 free and 100 fly as well as appearing on two relay teams.
An additional 19 Olympians look to be honored Saturday, including 10-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky. A seven-time gold medal winner, Ledecky joined Florida’s swim staff as a volunteer assistant coach Sept. 22 after taking home four medals this summer in Tokyo. The Stanford alumna stares down the Paris 2024 Olympics, training in Gainesville with UF head coach Anthony Nesty.
"Just to be out there and to do it with all those people — so many great athletes — it's going to be exciting,” Finke said. “I'll be grateful just to be a part of it.”
Kick off between the Gators and the Commodores is scheduled for noon and can be streamed on SEC Network, with the chant taking place shortly before game time.
Contact Karina Wilson at kwilson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @kk_rinaa.
Karina Wilson is a second-year student at the University of Florida within the College of Journalism and Communications with a specialization in sports and media. She aims to produce engaging, accurate and current content for all types of sports fans. Currently, Karina is The Alligator's lacrosse beat writer.
