Andrew Luck and his wife Nicole Pechanec made sure The Tree was in Paris to support the Stanford Olympians
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Stanford University is proud to have sent 59 current, former and future athletes to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris – 38 of whom will represent Team USA.
The Olympians were also joined by the school band’s mascot – the famous tree. It was in Paris to support members of the Cardinal family, including swimmer Katie Ledecky, who won two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in Paris and will be one of the two US flag bearers at the closing ceremony.
Thanks to two alumni — former NFL quarterback Andrew Luck and his wife, Nicole Pechanec, who was a gymnast at Stanford and part of NBC’s Olympic production team — The Tree was able to enjoy the sights and performances.
“They’re obviously huge fans of the band, huge alumni, huge supporters of the sport and representatives of supporting Stanford student-athletes,” Ruby Coulson, this year’s Tree, told SFGATE’s Alex Simon. “They were the ones who really pushed this forward and made it possible.”
Pechanec was the one who had the idea of sending the tree to Paris, and the couple also paid for Coulson’s trip.
It was just another example of how Luck and his wife continue to support Stanford sports. He visited the men’s volleyball team, was in the audience at gymnastics and congratulated Ledecky on her accomplishments.
Luck also paid for housing for five Stanford gymnasts from the U.S. men’s team. Coulson added that the four-time NFL Pro Bowler helped the Tree meet with 20 athletes from the school.
“For a couple of days it was like, ‘Oh, Andrew is going to help us with this, Andrew is going to help us with that,'” Coulson said. “And then, I think at the end, I thought, ‘Wow, this was a very well-liked and established Stanford graduate, and he is every bit as kind and generous as I think people describe him.’ It’s not an act, which is great.”
As of Thursday, Stanford athletes have taken home a total of 27 medals – 9 gold, 12 silver and 6 bronze – with the opportunity to win even more in the final days of Paris 2024.
