Latest news, weather and high school sports for Albany and Southwest Georgia

ALBANY, GA -- A two-time Olympic medalist stopped by Monroe High School, showing off his bling and also giving the three-time state champ girl’s track team some bling of their own.

The MCHS girl’s track team received championship rings on Tuesday and Olympic track winner Angelo Taylor was there to help pass them out.

“It feels great. All that hard work… it feels good to get recognized,” says Alezendria Alexander, a junior with the girls track team.

Born in Albany, Taylor, a two-time Olympic medalist, played three sports in high school.

“Track and field was the best one,” Taylor says. “I got a scholarship to go to Georgia Tech. The reason I chose the scholarship at Georgia Tech was because the coach at the time, he was the coach of an Olympic champion.”

Taylor didn’t qualify first time at the 1996 Olympics trials. But the experience made him all the more determined.

“That's when I set my goal to make that Olympic game and four years later I’m walking in the stadium and it was just an unbelievable feeling,” says Taylor.

It's the message he spread to students on Tuesday.

“Hard work, perseverance, dedication: that's what it takes to be a champion. At life, period,” he says. “Sports is an extension of the classroom so it teaches discipline, it teaches you hard work ethic and it keeps you out of trouble.”

Coach LaToyia Johnson says she hopes her team carries with them not only their ring but what Taylor told them.