Alder graduate, Aziza Ayoub (Class of 2017) ran track for five years at The Ohio State University, but now you can find her running in Puerto Rico. As part of a series with Alder graduates who have continued their sports career into 2023, I asked Ayoub about her running career. Ayoub is currently training to make her way onto an Olympic qualifying team, and to represent Puerto Rico in the 2024 summer Olympics.

Q: How has your college career influenced your life and your goals today?

A: Oh my god that is such a loaded question. Sometimes things just happen in life that you never expected. For me, I never thought that I would move to Puerto Rico, but I think that kind of stemmed from my college career. I’m having success and wanting to take the next step after that to go pro and try to make an olympic team. I guess that’s one tangible way that it has influenced my life and my goals. I guess more generally I would say that there are so many lessons I’ve learned and skills that I’ve developed from that whole experience; I ran college track for five years. One being knowing delayed success, which I would define as; working a really really really long time for something that may or may not come at all, and if it does come it can be years down the line. Something my college coach taught me indirectly was to find a positive in every single situation because more times than not you won’t win, you won’t be completely successful, but not every loss is a loss. I think it’s also done a lot with changing my perspective on lots of things in life.

Q: So olympics are probably one of your top goals right now; do you have any other goals besides qualifying?

A: Yeah, so that is like the ultimate goal and that’s probably the hardest thing that I’m trying to accomplish. Besides that, this year I’d really like to break the national record for Puerto Rico which is 2:01.3. I’d also like to medal in the other championships we have this year which are CACs (Central American and Caribbean Games) and then the Pan American Games as well, and make the final in those. And also finally freaking learn how to speak Spanish fluently because if I’m there for a year and I still don’t speak it that’s pathetic, so that’s a

non track related goal I have.

Q: What would you say is your greatest accomplishment in your career?

A: That is also a really hard question because I know this might sound crazy but I don’t actually think I’ve been that successful. I think my greatest accomplishment or proudest moment would be the person I was able to be to my teammates in college. When I left for Puerto Rico and was saying my goodbyes to my athletic trainer, he told me that in my time there [at Ohio State] I showed a lot of the women on the team what it meant to be unapologetically yourself. I think that means more to me; being able to be a leader while I was at Ohio State and the teammate that I was able

to be to that group of men and women. I’m more proud of that than anything I’ve accomplished actually on the track. 

Q: What is your favorite memory of track in college?

A: I think my favorite memory is my sophomore year of college at Big Tens. First of all, that was the most fun year of track. I think that was my favorite group of teammates so that whole year was just so fun. Big Tens in particular we won as a team – the women won the championship as a team – and I had a huge upset in the 800. I finished second to the reigning national champion within a second of her and I wasn’t even ranked to make the finals. When I was a freshman, I was the first one out of the final so in one year to go from not making the final to getting second place behind a national champion, I think a lot of people were surprised by that and I really contributed a lot to the team win. I also medaled in the 4×400, I anchored the 4×400 and we got third as a team. Being able to contribute so many points to the first outdoor title that we won as a team when I was there was the most fun and that’s my favorite memory. 

Q: Do you still talk to your college teammates today?

A: Yeah, actually tomorrow me and some of my teammates are driving to UK in Lexington to go to Ohio State’s first indoor track meet of the year. So yeah, me and some of my college teammates are gonna go do that and yeah, I talk to them often. 

Q: On a scale of 1-10, one being the worst and ten being the best, how would you rate your college sports experience?

A: I’ll give it an eight because I feel like I’m pretty disappointed in my own performances actually on the track, but I feel like I had the best coach ever and I had some of the greatest teammates that will be my friends for the rest of my life. I’ve had other things that’ve been super super good. 

Q: On a scale of 1-10, one being the worst and ten being the best, how would you rate your college sports experience?

A: I’ll give it an eight because I feel like I’m pretty disappointed in my own performances actually on the track, but I feel like I had the best coach ever and I had some of the greatest teammates that will be my friends for the rest of my life. I’ve had other things that’ve been super super good.