CHANDLER, Ariz. — A Chandler resident is working hard to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics!
While Alena Sharp will be on Team Canada, she has called the Valley home for almost 20 years.
Sharp showed us the ropes out at Seville Golf and Country Club in the East Valley. She's a two-time Olympian who has been playing golf her whole life, landing on the LPGA back in 2006.
Now she's giving us a glimpse at her golf journey here in the desert.
"I'm looking forward to playing these next three weeks, the ball is in my court. If I play well, I'll get in," Sharp said.
She qualified in 2016 in the Rio Games and again for the Tokyo 2020 Games. The athlete reps hard for Team Canada, where she's originally from but it's Chandler she calls home.
"Moving here was definitely a big change, moving to the southwest from the Mideast but I've loved it," Sharp said.
Sharp said it's easy to enjoy the links year-round here in the Valley, plus it allows for plenty of time spent with her wife Sara Bowman, who's been on the bag for her throughout her career.
"To walk by her side is an amazing sense of pride, no matter how the days goes, to see her representing her country that she loves dearly, it's just a magical moment," Bowman told 12News.
The couple has shared the Olympic experience together twice now and are hopeful to make it a third time come July.
"The sense of pride that I had when they announced her name on the starting tees, absolutely brought tears to my eyes," Bowman said.
The pro picked up a Bronze in the Pan Am games this past November and is now looking to make it and medal in Paris.
For all of our Olympic coverage in one place, click here.
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