An Orthodox Jewish teenage girl from West Hempstead, Long Island says she’s hoping to make the grade for the 2020 Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Estee Ackerman, 14, is Sabbath-observant, and missed out on going to the Olympics this time around. But she won double gold medals in last week’s Junior Olympics in table tennis competition in Houston, according to a post on The Jewish Week website.
Ackerman failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics, but won first place last week in the Amateur Athletic Union’s Junior Olympics instead. It’s not a bad prequel: The event attracts more than 15,000 athletes and coaches.
Ackerman won in two events: The under-16 girls singles division, and the under-16 girls doubles division, teaming with Amy Lu of Maryland.
The young competitor attends Yeshiva University High School for Girls.