SMU engineering student plans to kick her way to a gold medal at Rio Olympics

Engineering major Jackie Galloway will compete for a gold medal in taekwondo at the Summer Olympics in Rio in August.

Jackie Galloway

DALLAS (SMU) – To Jackie Galloway’s classmates, she’s just a self-described nerd in the Lyle school of engineering, frantically creating computer models and cramming for the next exam.

Jackie Galloway
Jackie Galloway practices for the Olympics.

To those who know her well, she’s kind of a superhero. A mild-mannered student in the classroom, and a world-class taekwondo expert in the ring, Galloway is better than a superhero – she’s real.

This summer, she’ll represent Team USA at the Olympic Games.

“Out of the ring, I’m nice and sweet, so when I tell people I do taekwondo and show them videos of me in the ring, they say ‘That’s you?’ and they don’t believe it,” says Galloway, who goes by the not-so-subtle handle @ikick_urface on Twitter.

“I’m a bit of a nerd, but I always compare Taekwondo to a game of chess because it’s very strategic,” Galloway adds. “You get points for body kicks, points for face kicks and if you add a spin, it’s additional points, but my strategy has to adjust to who I’m fighting based on how tall or big they are. Success comes down to having a killer instinct and a mind for strategy.”

Twenty-year-old Galloway, a sophomore, is one of five current or former SMU students who will compete at the Rio games.

This isn’t Galloway’s first brush with the Olympics. Four years ago, the Texas-born dual citizen was an alternate on Mexico’s Olympic team, narrowly missing her chance to compete in the London games. This time around, she’s representing the red, white and blue and dreaming of gold, gold, gold.

“Winning the Olympics is not just my desire, it’s my plan,” says Galloway, who has trained with her father since childhood.

“When I was 7, I went home from training and told my mom I wanted to be world champion and an Olympian.  And when I started having success at the adult level at age 14, it became apparent to everyone else that I wouldn’t be told I couldn’t do this,” Galloway adds.

If Galloway places, she’ll be the 27th Mustang to earn an Olympic medal.

Olympics Logo SMU’s Other Olympic Qualifiers

  • Nina Rangelova – Bulgaria – Swimming (2011-14) – 200 free
  • Rachel Nicol – Canada – Swimming (2012-15) – 100 breast
  • Matea Samardzic – Croatia – Swimming (Transfer beginning 2016) – 200 back
  • Julian Fletcher – Bermuda – Swimming (2011-14) – 100 breast

**Qualified events as of June 27

More about the Summer 2016 Olympics.

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SMU is a nationally ranked private university in Dallas founded 100 years ago. Today, SMU enrolls approximately 11,000 students who benefit from the academic opportunities and international reach of seven degree-granting schools.

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