By Frank Gogola | @FrankGogola
Sports Capital Journalism Program
RIO DE JANEIRO – Adam Krikorian gathered his women’s water polo team Thursday morning in the Olympic Village. He shared with the team the news he had learned the previous night: Blake Krikorian, one of his two older brothers, had died unexpectedly at the age of 48.
Saturday, members of the women’s water polo team shared their thoughts on what the talk told them about Adam, what they remember about Blake and how they’ll be ready to defend their gold medal when Adam returns.
“When Adam shared that with us, immediately, what can we do, how can we be there for you, how can we support you?” three-time Olympian Kami Craig said. “Going home to take care of his family, that’s exactly what he needed to do. We spend more time together as a team than we do with our actual families. We’ve become a family. If anyone in our family is in a position of hurt, we hurt for them. We carry a bit of that weight for them.”
The two-time Olympic coach told his team he’d be leaving Rio to be with his family. He’s expected to be back before competition starts to coach Team USA. The plan is for Krikorian to return before the team faces Spain in its first match on Aug. 9. The schedule has matches every other day through Aug. 19 should Team USA advance to the finals.
Team captain Maggie Steffens and others described the pre-practice meeting as emotional.
“To know that that was happening to somebody that we love, obviously, it affected us in a way,” Steffens said. “Adam is our fearless leader. He is our coach. He is the ultimate captain. We all have known him for a while now, whether it is two years or 10 years. He is somebody that we look up to and admire as a friend, as a coach, as a mentor.”
It was how Krikorian handled the situation and what he told the team that spoke to Steffens.
“As a player looking up to a coach, you know they’re strong, and we’ve seen that in Adam every time we play games or practice,” Steffens said. “He’s a passionate person. He’s got a great heart. That was a moment that I really realized he’s one of the strongest people I know.
“One thing that he told us was to go out there and enjoy the moment. I think that’s something that’s very telling of his character is that something that’s so challenging in his own life – obviously, we’re here for him and have his back in full support, we’re a family – but to know that he wants us to just enjoy this, enjoy the Olympics, enjoy the Opening Ceremony even though he couldn’t be there with us and to have fun and just be how we are every day, I think that is just telling in how strong of a person he is and how strong he is for this team.”
Most players on the team knew Blake and his family. Some have visited Blake’s northern California home. Others, like first-time Olympian Ashleigh Johnson, met him when he watched Team USA beat Russia, 16-7, on July 27 at Palo Alto, Calif.
“He and his wife and his children have been instrumental in supporting our journey since Adam’s been the head coach in 2009,” said Courtney Mathewson, who has known Krikorian since she started playing for him in 2004 when both were at UCLA.
Added Craig: “Just the Krikorian family in general is just an amazing, giving and caring family. Adam’s brothers and parents have all contributed and supported and loved on our team since Adam was the coach. I feel for their family.”
Women’s water polo won a gold medal under Krikorian in his first Olympics in 2012. They had won silver in 2000 and 2008 and bronze in 2004.
“Adam does an incredible job of creating teams that have ownership for themselves,” Craig said. “In his absence it doesn’t feel like we lost a leader or a huge presence or a huge gap. We’re already built. We’re already strong. This is only going to give us more strength. We’re awaiting his arrival so he can just pick up where he left off and we can get going on those games.”
Added Steffens: “We’re definitely looking forward to having him back and just flowing right into the next day, flowing right into the next practice. We’re a family. We’re a team. That’s the most important part of this whole situation.”
