Growing up, her sport was soccer and her idols were members of the U.S. Women's National Team, but in seventh grade, her school didn't have a soccer option for fall sports, so she chose field hockey after her mother reassured her that her favorite pastime was field hockey.
Lindsay, her sister, remembers her brother's days on the field: “My sister was very competitive, always trying to win everything. I wasn't like that,” she says with a laugh. “It was so much fun to watch.”
Lindsay will also be in Paris to watch the games from the sidelines, and has already requested time off from her banking job in New York City, assuming her sister is selected for the team. She won't be the only Bing attendee.
Many of my friends and family are planning to go to Paris this summer.
“It's heartwarming because honestly, it takes a whole village to do this. I didn't do this alone. I had so much support,” said the 26-year-old. “I'm glad they were there because they are part of this process and they should be celebrated.”
She's excited for her kids to participate, but she has one hesitation: “My dad humiliated me enough as a kid,” she says. As an athlete her whole life, she's given him plenty of opportunities to hone his skills. Though she doesn't want to challenge him, “I don't know how he could humiliate me any more.”
She graduated from high school as a two-time state champion in field hockey and went on to play at Stanford University.
“I think what's great about Stanford is the greatness of the sports and the greatness of the teaching that the university produces. To me, both are very important,” Bing said.
She continues to maintain that balance today, juggling her full-time professional sports career with her 30-hour-a-week job as a software engineer in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she lives full-time.
“I'm really lucky to have a company that's willing to support me on my journey to the Olympics, because not every company is like that,” she said of Xwing, an autonomous technology startup.
Her goal in this job is to “grow my mind and improve myself as a person,” because, as she says, “I want to be a professional athlete for the rest of my life, but I don't think my body is cut out for it.”
Lisa Costantini has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than a decade, including a stint with the International Olympic Committee. She's a freelance writer and has been a contributor to TeamUSA.com since 2011.
