Dream Of Making The Olympics Began In The Pool, But Bella and Juliette Whittaker Will Travel To Paris As Members Of U.S. Track Team After Stellar Collegiate Seasons

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

Images courtesy of Juliette Whittaker

Sisters Bella and Juliette Whittaker were asked recently how similar they are. 

Bella pondered the question and deferred to her younger sister.  

“People in our family think we are, but I don’t know the answer to that question,” Bella said. “Juliette, do you think we are similar?”

A ready response:

“I think as we’ve gotten older and really gotten to find ourselves, I think we’ve become a little more different,” Juliette said. “I think we complement each other well, like the opposites attract thing.” 

Added Bella: “I think that’s a good way to put it. Complementary but not the same.”

The curiosity of the two sisters from Laurel, Maryland, Bella 22, and Juliette 20, has peaked as both qualified for the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris for track and field.

It is an historic and unique moment – two sisters in the same sport competing together in their first Olympics. They will participate in different events, Juliette the women’s 800 meters and Bella in the women’s relay pool. (She will play the waiting game if her name is called to run in either of the 4x400 relays in any of the rounds for Team USA.)

Juliette, the third youngest athlete entered in the women's 800, will run her opening heat Aug. 2 at 7:45 p.m. (1:45 p.m. ET).

Different events, but sharing this momentous moment together. 

“I think it's going to help tremendously having Bella there, and really feel like it’s going to change the experience,” Juliette said. “The little things, like getting ready in our room together, sitting on the bus and going to the track together, all those little moments I’d probably be doing alone. All of this stuff is new, but Bella will be there, the one constant I’ve had my whole life, and she is this is one thing that isn’t different.”

An Olympic Dream was born in the lanes of the pool not the track. Growing up in the Whittaker household, movement was a constant. Starting in soccer, the two shifted to swimming when Bella was 8, and Juliette 6. By ages 12 and 10, they swam year-round, producing collegiate times. Juliette said she remembers watching Olympic swimmers Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel on TV. 

“Honestly, I started dreaming in swimming first,” Juliette said. “I knew I wanted to swim as long as I could with hopes of swimming at the Olympics.”

Those dreams shifted to running when they entered high school at Mount de Sales Academy — an all-girls school.

Ingrained in their family history was success in track and field. Their parents both ran at Georgetown. An older brother, Alex, competed for the Yale track and field team.

The sisters found their niche and passion, Bella excelling in the 200, 400 and relays, and Juliette in the 800 and mile. 

“We did relays together in track, the 4x800 and Distance Medley Relay (DMR),” Bella said. “One time we dropped the baton in the 4x800, super embarrassing, and who drops the baton in the 4x8? We do! That was a moment for both of us.”

The first big stage together was in February of 2020 when they both ran at the Millrose Games in New York. Bella, a senior, took second place in the 300 (37.76), while Juliette, a sophomore, was second in the mile (4:43.89). 

“I remember we got to meet a lot of people we had been following in track,” Bella said. “I remember Allyson Felix, Nikki Hiltz, Emma Coburn, it definitely for us was the closest we had been to these big athletes we had seen on TV; it kind of keeps you dreaming of the potential in this sport. Millrose was a good entry point into realizing our own potentials and how far we wanted to go in this sport.”

Both decided they wanted to go far. Bella ended up in the Ivy League at the University of Pennsylvania, where she’s become the school record holder in the 200 (23.18), 400 (50.17), 4x100 (43.74), 4x400 (3:29.29) and SMR (3:42.32). Her 400 time is also an Ivy League record and she finished fourth at the NCAA Division 1 Championships and sixth in the U.S. Olympic Trials final. 

Juliette carved out a name for herself at the national level as one of the best prep middle distance runners of all-time, breaking 2 minutes in the 800 multiple times and becoming the high school national record holder in the 800 with 1:59.04. She headed across the country to Stanford where she’s captured two national titles in the 800 during her first two years.

Despite the distance and hectic schedules, the two have stayed connected. 

“The older we’ve gotten, the closer we’ve gotten,” Bella said “I think obviously when you're growing up, we were definitely ”two peas in a pod” we did a lot of things together but with sisterhood, comes bickering, comes a lot of things that are part of the territory but as the older, we’ve gotten, more like we’ve been able to connect, which I think is great.“

The two have leaned on one another throughout the peaks and valleys of life and running.

“In terms of the nature of our relationship we are able to come as our realest selves, the most genuine versions of ourselves every time we interact, which I think, you can't ask for anything better,” Bella said. “Juliette is obviously a well-known person in the track world and generally, she opens herself up to a lot of people and people value her. But I think it's really special that I get to see the parts that a lot of people don't get to see, and the realest version without the outside factors.”

Most recently for Bella when she faced a major setback in college due to an injury, it was Juliette’s words of affirmation that propelled her forward. 

“I had this one moment before I raced where I was like, where I felt like I needed to believe in the me that everyone else believed in, specifically, Juliette, specifically, my mom, specifically the closest family members,” she said. “So in that moment, I just remember thinking I need to believe in the Bella that Juliette believes in. And then I ended up having a breakthrough performance.”

Juliette, who describes Bella as very extroverted, very crazy and always wanting to chat, said finally having a wider audience get a glimpse of Bella’s track talents and success on a national level this year has been amazing.

Bella, who graduated from Penn this past spring, still has one more collegiate year due to COVID-19, and signed with sprinting powerhouse and reigning NCAA Division 1 indoor and outdoor champion Arkansas.  

“It’s really cool to witness what I've seen over the years and now other people are seeing it, and it just makes me really happy,” Juliette said. “And I love that everyone knows we are sisters."

Heading into the Olympic Trials last month in Eugene, Juliette was more confident about her sister punching a ticket to Paris than herself. 

“Honestly, I thought about it more for Bella, like, ‘Oh yeah, she's going to the Olympics’,” Juliette said. “For me, my main goal for the year was honestly just making it to the final of the Olympic Trials. And then the closer and closer to the (final) race, it was, maybe let’s shoot a little higher, let’s aim for the team now.”

Juliette’s Olympic berth was chaotic to say the least. With top seed Athing Mu falling early in the race, the whole vibe of the race shifted. Juliette was able to stay on track (literally) and run her race, powering down the straightaway and securing third place in a personal-best 1:58.45. 

“When Juliette made the team, that was a huge high,” Bella said. “That was amazing and my family was walking on clouds for days.”

For Bella, she met her personal goal of making the 400 final, finishing in an impressive sixth place (50.68). Her Olympic moment was delayed as she had to wait almost a week to find out whether or not she was selected for the U.S. relay pool. Juliette said all week she knew her sister was going to be selected.

“I had faith, maybe too much faith, but I felt like she was going to get the call and they were going to let her come,” Juliette said. “In my mind, we were already going together.” 

That moment finally came in the Portland, Oregon airport moments after her mom and sister dropped her off. In line checking her bag at the front desk of the airline, her coach, Chené Townsend, called. Bella said she declined the call at first, but her coach just called right back. 

“I answered and she was like, ‘You're an Olympian.’ I was just in shock,” Bella said. “I checked my bag, kept walking, and then immediately called (FaceTimed) my mom and Juliette. They were so excited. Their reaction was more exciting than the reaction I had. I think my mom was crying, Juliette was cheesing super hard.”

Now, the two are headed to Paris together. They selected one another as their first choice for roommates, of course. They left Wednesday and nearly 20 family members are following to watch as they participate Friday in the Opening Ceremony.

Juliette and Bella said they are excited for all Paris has to offer (the food, chocolate croissants, in particular) and witness the other Olympic events. 

“I would die if I got to see Simone Biles. That would be so cool,” Juliette said. 

Added Bella: “I have a friend swimming for Team USA that goes to Penn, and I’m really excited to watch him. And just excited to watch swimming in general and see Katie Ledecky swim in person.”

Both acknowledged the seriousness and what they both want to accomplish in their respective events in Paris.

The (800) prelim is going to be way faster than any prelim I’ve ever been a part of I’m sure,” Juliette said. “People are not going to be messing around on this kind of big stage. 

These people are so fast but it's reminding myself I do belong here and I earned my spot here and it’s time to see what I can do and show other people what I can do.”

And while the moment is one of the biggest to date, the Whittaker sisters have one thing others don’t – each other. 

“We look up to a lot of people in the sport and are inspired by a lot of people,” Juliette said. “But I feel like it’s really different when it’s your sister that is inspiring you and really pushing you to new levels.”