The Extraordinary Ashleigh Johnson

You do realize that you're seeing something completely extraordinary when you watch Ashleigh Johnson play, right? 

A water polo goal is three feet high and nearly 10 feet wide. The idea that anyone can tread water and then launch fully extended and reach the corners of that goal? Yeah, it's extraordinary.

Now imagine doing it 11 times on the 15 shots that are on goal in a game. Again, extraordinary. And if that game happens to be in the Olympic final? 

That's even more extraordinary. 

And now you have some understanding of what it is that Ashleigh Johnson can do that others simply cannot. 

The United States defeated Spain 14-5 Saturday afternoon in Tokyo to win its third-straight Olympic gold. Johnson has been the goalie on the most recent two of those teams, and she was dominant again in these games. She led the tournament in save percentage and goals-against, and she saved her best for last, with an 11-save performance against the Spanish.

There's something about being a goalie in any sport that has always fascinated TigerBlog. He always loves when fans or commentators exalt "great save," since he thinks any save is a great save. No matter the sport, the goalie has to put himself or herself in front of a ball that is traveling at presumably a high rate of speed with nobody else who can bail them out at that point. When a goal is allowed, everyone looks at the goalie, even when there was nothing that could be done about it.

The very best goalies make bad teams good and good teams great. They make enough saves here and there that swing results of games and ultimately championships. They demoralize the opponent. They pick up their team. They are as valuable as anything in sports. 

Ashleigh Johnson is all that and more.

TigerBlog doesn't know all that much about the history of international women's water polo, though he does know it only dates back to 2000 in the Olympics. He has to believe that Johnson is at least vaulting herself into the conversation among the best ever.

He does know a lot about the history of Princeton women's athletics and Princeton athletes in general. If you want to call Johnson Princeton's greatest female athlete ever, you can certainly make a strong case for that.

With the gold medal Saturday – by the way, TB has to find out which of his colleagues was the one who updated Twitter around 4 am or so when the game ended – she joins rower Caroline Lind as the only two Princeton women athletes ever to win two gold medals. Beyond that, only rower Anne Marden has also won multiple medals (silvers in 1984 and 1988) among Princeton women.

If you add in the men, here's the list of two-time gold medalists: Nelson Diebel (100 breaststroke and the medley relay in 1992), Herman Whilton (gold in the six-meter pistol in 1928 and 1932), Karl Frederick (gold in the 50 meter free pistol and 50 meter team free pistol in 1920) and Robert Garrett Jr. (gold in discus and shot put in 1896). 

Johnson was the leader of the U.S. team in Tokyo. She's grown into that role, from someone who was reluctant to get involved with the national team program when she first had that chance. She told TB about that when he spoke with her for the women's history book, which will be available soon.

Of course, he has to do a bit of updating before the final version is printed, now that Johnson is a double gold-medalist.

When he spoke to Johnson for the book, she was very candid about her background in the sport, what her experience at Princeton was, what the first trip to the Olympics was like. She talked about being the first Black U.S. Olympic women's water polo player, and she's addressed that subject repeatedly during these Games. She's a role model, and it's something that she has clearly embraced.

Wherever she has gone, she's been the perfect representative of Princeton University and Princeton Athletics. She seems to always be smiling, in picture after picture, with fans and teammates, with anyone really – other than in the pictures of her where she is about to make yet another save. Then she's laser-focused on the task at hand.

And it just happens to be a task that she can do better than anyone in the world. The result was a second gold medal, accomplished in dominating fashion Saturday in Tokyo, when her incredible talent was again on display for the world to see.

Yes, she was definitely extraordinary.