Olympian and professional track athlete speaks on sportsmanship 

MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Nov. 4, 2019) – To celebrate Champions of Character, Abbey Cooper (formerly D'Agostino) visited Milligan College Monday night to share her experience of competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. 

Cooper spoke to the female athletes at Milligan College and helped share her journey of competing at the highest level of competition. She spoke on hope and character and how all of those attributes lead to God. "We develop character so that we can point to the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, and who God really is," Cooper explained to the crowd.

Cooper discussed her story of sportsmanship displayed at the Olympics when she suffered a devastating injury during the race. Cooper stumbled over New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin who had tripped on the track causing Cooper to twist her leg in the fall and tear her ACL. 

As soon as Cooper fell she immediately got back up and helped Hamblin up as well so they could both continue the race. "In that moment, that was not me. That was God working through me," Cooper expressed, "God has, is and will use whatever suffering you go through to refine and help form you into the person that you are meant to be," she added.

Milligan is dedicated to the NAIA's Champion of Character program and the five core character values the NAIA embraces with sportsmanship being one of the values. Cooper, through her actions and her story, demonstrated what an act of sportsmanship can look like.