GAINESVILLE, Fla. — As he stood waiting for his turn in front of the camera last week, Joseph Fahnbulleh had a Liberian flag draped across his shoulders.
Fahnballeh was at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium with other members of the UF track contingent headed to the Tokyo Games for a photo shoot. It was another moment during Fahnbulleh’s summer that he won’t forget.
“First time going overseas, too,” he said. “That’s going to be really cool. And I’ve always wanted to go to Japan. I like the culture over there, I like the style.”
Fahnbulleh’s parents are from Liberia, a country on the West Coast of Africa. They immigrated to the Minneapolis area, where Fahbulleh became a track standout at Hopkins High School. While he grew up in Minnesota, he is competing for Liberia in the Olympics, one of five members of the country’s Olympic track team.
Fahnbulleh wonders how his life might be different…
