USD President Shelia Gestring, Athletic Director David Herbster and Associate Director of Track and Field Derek Miles, who also serves as Nilsen's coach, all took turns addressing the crowd gathered inside before Nilsen took center stage.
"The support right now we see is kind of indicative to how not only Coyote Nation, but the nation felt behind you at Tokyo," Herbster said. "The competition came down to Mondo and Chris which happened in high school, college and now the world's biggest stage. That was really fun to see you two go at it."
Many Coyote fans found their way to the Muenster University Center Friday afternoon to watch Nilsen speak, congratulate him and to get their photo taken with an Olympian. There were cupcakes and a special Olympic cake from Cakes by Monica available for people to eat.
It takes a village. Sometimes it's an Olympic village, sometimes it's the community around you. 👏 👏 Thank you Monica for pulling an all-nighter to help us welcome home 🎂 @ChrisNilsen2 🥈 #GoYotes #WeAreSouthDakota pic.twitter.com/SukeDX8uoK
— David Herbster (@dmherbster) August 6, 2021
Coyote Nation lined Cherry St. from Pine St. to University St. to cheer on Nilsen's arrival. That was something that Nilsen said was what made USD so special.
WECOLME BACK @ChrisNilsen2 🥈 pic.twitter.com/cWky0iQXa4
— South Dakota Coyotes (@SDCoyotes) August 6, 2021
"What a crowd, what a support team USD has," Nilsen said. "I couldn't have done this without you guys. I'm shaking up here in front of a lot of people that I care for from my teammates, friends, parents and my coach."
Nilsen captured an Olympic silver medal in the pole vault, clearing a new personal best of 19 feet, 7 inches this past Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics. He finished just behind Armand Duplantis from Sweden, who competed collegiately at LSU.
U S A! U S A! U S A! 🇺🇸
A Yote is an Olympic silver medalist! All decked out and ready for Chris Nilsen's welcome home party today!#OlympiansMadeHere x #GoYotes 🐾 pic.twitter.com/6Vj6UVBzC9
— South Dakota Women's Basketball (@SDCoyotesWBB) August 6, 2021
Miles has continued to coach Nilsen after graduation and was able to make the trip to Tokyo to coach him.
"It was a pretty special moment to coach him at the Olympics," Miles said. "I have been on both sides of the rail now. As a coach, you want the best out of your athlete and it was a special moment to see him respond to adversity when he missed 19 feet on the first attempt."
After podium speeches, Herbster, Miles and Nilsen were open for 1-on-1 interviews with the media and then Nilsen took photos and signed autographs with a large group of Coyote fans.
It was awesome to see @ChrisNilsen2 at the MUC today! 🥈#GoYotes x #WeAreSouthDakota pic.twitter.com/SiwluP0bU0
— South Dakota Soccer ⚽ (@SDCoyotesSoccer) August 6, 2021
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Nilsen honored in front of Coyote Fans - University of South Dakota Athletics
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