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An Olympic gold medalist from North Carolina was honored by his hometown this week in a special ceremony.
Randolph Ross is an athlete from Garner who competed earlier this summer in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, WRAL reports. The Garner Magnet High School graduate was part of the gold-medal winning men's 4x400 relay team for Team USA.
On Tuesday (September 7), Garner Mayor Ken Marshburn honored the hometown hero during a town council meeting with the key to the city and a day named in his honor.
"[The town of Garner] this evening honored its homegrown Olympic gold medalist, Randolph Ross, by proclaiming [September 7, 2021] Randolph Ross Day and presenting him with the key to the town," Garner's official Twitter account wrote, sharing several photos from the event.
Mayor Marshburn hopes that Ross could serve as an inspiration to children in the area
"It will hopefully show our young people that, you know, you can accomplish a lot in life and work hard," he said.
Ross, who currently attends North Carolina A&T State University, hopes to return to the Olympic games in the future.
"Knowing that this likely won't be the last one, it's great to be able to come home with gold, but it kind of makes you look forward to see what else you've got in store," he said, adding, "it's just great to be able to go out there and represent."