O’Gorman’s Ruth Pardy is off to Junior Nationals in Germany
Pardy taking her talent world-wide
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) -In any race, Ruth Pardy gets her motivation from competition.
“It kind of just makes you practice faster and then race faster.” Ruth says.
Though she runs cross country and track at O’Gorman, that attitude best serves her in triathlon, a sport which incorporates swimming, biking and running.
“I’ll send the training program and she’ll email or text me and say hey, what am I supposed to with this? Or what’s the best way to do this? I mean she’s always questioning and she wants to learn and get better.” USA Triathlon Coach Kathy Grady says.
Ruth’s real world performance earned her a unique opportunity in the virtual one.
“Well I get a phone call from USA Triathlon and the gal who heads that said ‘hey, we want Ruth to come race in Singapore for E-Sport’. And I’m like, what the heck is that? My son does E-Sport down at USD? It’s computer games!” Grady says.
“I was kind of confused but figured I’d just give it a go and it ended up being a lot cooler than I thought it would be!” Pardy says.
The Olympic E-Sports duathlon in Singapore last month featured a pair of 800 meter runs and a 6K bike race, all on treadmills and indoor bikes, with the unique twist of having a virtual avatar on screen and the ability to set the event and terrain anywhere in the world.
“It’s really fun to be able to just like kind of be in place and watching your competitors on the screen while they’re also next to you.” Ruth says.
Pardy took to it and, amongst an international field, was the top female competitor, finishing in 16 minutes and six seconds, to help the United States team finish with a bronze medal.
“Win for the women’s division, get interviewed on a world stage, that is just really big for her.” Grady says.
As she returns to traditional triathlon this week at the World Juniors in Hamburg, Germany, followed by nationals next month in Milwaukee,the reality is that Ruth seems to have a bright future in the sport....
“Hopefully just keep placing better and then maybe go to college for triathlon or eventually go pro or something. E-Sports way of racing to eventually be invited to a Super League race. I mean, if I keep working hard, I think it is possible!” Pardy says.
...in any reality!
Zach Borg, Dakota News Now Sports.
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