PARIS — For athletes at the Olympics, their participation is a fulfillment of a dream. But is not just the athletes thriving at what they do best.
Angel Adams, of West Palm Beach, is in Paris as a photographer for ZUMA Press. Her job is to photograph Team Finland.
“It's actually one of those butterfly moments,” Adams said. “I was a professional photographer for 15 years. I did all sorts of sports. I covered NFL, I covered MLB, and I get to go to the Olympics.”
Adams first covered the Olympics in Tokyo. She was asked last minute by a longtime friend to cover Team Finland.
“I went to Tokyo, and Tokyo was great, but it was a bubble. There was no spectators," Adams said. “Now getting to be here and feel the energy of the fans, I went to fencing yesterday, and when France was up, they were just screaming and pounding their feet, and it was just so much fun to watch.”
Adams said, so far, she has enjoyed photographing beach volleyball and gymnastics, but is excited for a sport that allows her to feel at home.
“Being from West Palm Beach and getting to go to the Honda Classic and the Cognizant Classic, I’m like, 'yay,'” said Adams. “I'm just going to spend two days out at the golf course and just relax and enjoy it and follow the golfers, because I'm a big golf fan.”
When Adams isn't behind the lens, she is helping students in her work with the Education Foundation of Palm Beach County. She thanked her coworkers who are in the final stretch before school starts in just over a week.
“I helped as much as I could before I left, but you do have a little bit of guilt knowing that the main brunt of what they're doing is all this week," Adams said. "So, it was very sweet of my teammates to let me go to the Olympics. It's a once in a lifetime event.”