Maria Michta tweets support for rule change

Nesconset’s Maria Michta during the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic games Friday. (Photo Courtesy: MariaMichta.com)

Nesconset, NY (SmithtownRadio.com) – Nesconset’s own U.S. Olympic racewalker Maria Michta says she would support a rule change allowing athletes to be compensated.

“I am honored to be an Olympian, but #WeDemandChange #Rule40,” Michta tweeted Sunday during an online push by athletes looking for a change to Olympic rules restricting athlete sponsorship.

“If the general public really wants to watch athletes proudly represent their respective countries… then fine but just don’t ever expect to see another Olympic or World Record ever broken,” the 26-year-old explains on her blog. “To be a world class athlete it takes a lot of investment in both time and money.”

Before departuring for London last Wednesday, Michta appeared at a Nesconset community concert where the community donated funds to help send her family to watch her 20K Racewalk event August 11.

“To see the people. To see the check they presented me with,” Michta tells LINews’ James Brierton at the concert. “That’s me. That’s my hometown. It’s unbelievable.”

After the Olympics, Michta will return to her fifth year of graduate school at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan, where she is studying to get her PhD in biomedical sciences.

“I certainly have ‘Five Ring Fever’ and I don’t want to come down from it but we’ll see what happens for 2016,” Michta says of returning to regular life and her Olympic future.