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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Madeline Coleman

Lions Hold Watch Party as Melissa Gonzalez Qualified for Olympic Semifinals

Melissa Gonzalez may be competing for Colombia, but the Olympian had one of the biggest American crowds supporting her as she qualified for the women's 400m hurdles semifinal on Saturday. 

Her husband, David Blough, is the backup quarterback for the Lions, and the franchise held a watch party in Detroit, where the squad started training camp just a few days ago. 

“That was pretty cool, man,” Lions’ head coach Dan Campbell said. “It was a moment."

Gonzalez bested her own Colombian national record (55.68) when she finished second with a time of 55.32 in Tokyo. Prior to the event, the Lions put together a good luck video for her. Different players walked in the frame to send her encouragement while some, like Jared Goff, cracked a few jokes. 

Blough closed out the video, walking up and high-fiving the camera. 

"Love you, honey!"

The women's 400 hurdles final is set to take place Wednesday, Aug. 4.

Sign up for our free daily Olympics newsletter: Very Olympic Today. You'll catch up on the top stories, smaller events, things you may have missed while you were sleeping and links to the best writing from SI’s reporters on the ground in Tokyo.

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