The crowd was cheering as the person ahead of her finished her routine.
She was good, but Marlene was better.
She had to be, after all, she's planning on breaking a record here. In the women's pole vault, the highest recorded before was a 5.06, and Marlene was planning on breaking that. She was going to make history today.
After years and years of training, she was finally here, the Olympics. She made it.
Her coach, Minerva McGonagall, tho she calls her Minnie, the woman pretends she hates it but she knows deep down she has a soft spot for her students nicknames, she used to be a gymnastics champion. People used to say she had the grace of a cat in her routines, she was flawless up until her retirement. Marlene doesn't know how she ended up coaching pole vault, but she wasn't complaining, and she wasn't about to ask either.
She calls her to get into position, she's next.
Marlene nervously checks her ponytail, making sure its secure, then she touches the space where her ring usually lays and looks towards the crowd, hoping to get a glimpse of her.
Dorcas Meadows has been her girlfriend for 6 years now. The ring is a promise ring, one day.
Marlene is hoping that it's going to be this day.
she's going to marry that woman, but first-
The whistle sounds, and she starts running, everything turning into a blur around her as she tunes out commenters and crowds. The only thing in her vision is the spot she needs to hit
in order to catapult herself nearly 6 meters in the air. She can feel herself soaring like she did a thousand times before, turning her body to avoid the bar.
she feels herself start to fall and she knows, she knows that she has done it.
Marlene McKinnon has set a new record in pole vaulting, she made history. It's only logical that
the second her body hits the mats, she springs up and runs to the stands, looking around like a maniac until she sees her.
Dorcas is at the front of the stands, she's cheering as Marlene runs to her. She barely had any time to process the win when she finds herself with arms full of her girlfriend, the woman
basically climbing the stands to get to her, she can feel her smile on her shoulder as she pants and she can feel her tears as they slide down her face. She knows that everyone can see them,
they're all focused on the woman she loves, and yet she only has eyes on her, not the judges who are surely announcing her points for the performance, not her coach who Dorcas is sure is
proud, Not the cameras that are suddenly surrounding them or the crowd screaming in the stands.
But her. She made history, and she came straight to her. God, she lives this girl.
Marlene is whispering in her ear and all she can do is hug her tighter and nod at the breathless ''marry me'' that comes out of her fiance.