Yahoo Sports Andrew Luck and wife Nicole Pechanec made sure The Tree was in Paris to support Stanford Olympians
Luck helped connect The Tree with a number of Stanford athletes competing in Paris
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Stanford University can boast that it has sent 59 current, former and future athletes to the 2024 Olympics in Paris — 38 of which are representing Team USA.
Joining those Olympians was the school band's mascot — the famous Tree. It was in Paris to support those members of the Cardinal family, including swimmer Katie Ledecky, who won two golds, one silver and one bronze in Paris and will be one of the two U.S. flag bearers at the Closing Ceremony.
The Tree was able to take in the sights and the performances, thanks to a pair of alumni — former NFL quarterback Andrew Luck and his wife, Nicole Pechanec, who was a gymnast at Stanford and has been part of NBC's Olympic production team.
The Tree 🤝 Trees in Paris#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/ojfFUisc14
— Stanford Cardinal 🌲🤓 (@GoStanford) August 6, 2024
“They are just obviously huge fans of band, huge alumni, big advocates for athletics and representation for supporting Stanford student-athletes,” this year's Tree, Ruby Coulson, told SFGATE's Alex Simon. “It was them that really were spearheading this and making it possible.”
Pechanec was the one who came up with the idea to send the Tree to Paris and the couple also paid for Coulson's trip.
It was just another example of how Luck and his wife have continued to support Stanford athletics. He visited with the men's volleyball team, was in the crowd for gymnastics and made sure to congratulate Ledecky for her accomplishments.
3 trees 🌲 in Paris @DaStanfordTree Thanks Andrew for bringing some good Luck 😏 to Paris pic.twitter.com/lkRr7YxCaU
— Katie Ledecky (@katieledecky) August 5, 2024
Luck also paid for the housing for five Stanford gymnasts on the men's U.S. team. Coulson added that the four-time NFL Pro Bowler helped the Tree meet up with 20 athletes from the school.
“For a couple 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 was like, ‘Whoa, that was a very well-loved and established Stanford alum, and he’s just as kind and generous as I think people say he is.’ It’s not an act, which is super great.”
Through Thursday, Stanford athletes have taken home a total of 27 medals — 9 gold, 12 silver and 6 bronze — with the potential for more in the final days of Paris 2024.
