JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Garrett Scantling's family and friends gathered Sunday evening to send the track star off and wish him well in Tokyo.
His Olympic story is a comeback story of a lifetime.
Scantling, a graduate of Episcopal in Jacksonville, tried to make the Olympic team five years ago to compete in Rio. He missed the opportunity.
"He doesn't like the 1500," Sandy Roberts told First Coast News as she spoke about her grandson. "And that was his undoing at the Olympic trials."
But Scantling didn't give up. In 2019 he reportedly left his financial services job in Jacksonville and went to Georgia in order to concentrate on decathlon again. His hard work paid off.
He got the invite to Tokyo.
"I am so proud of him. I am so happy for him," Roberts said.
Fans were banned from the pandemic-postponed Tokyo Olympics which will open in less than two weeks.
The ban was announced by the International Olympic Committee and Japanese organizers, reducing the games to a made-for-TV event.