Georgia sophomore Aaliyah Butler killed two birds with one stone.

Since she was a little girl, she's always wanted to go to the Olympics. She's also long wanted to go to Paris. By the grace of the gods, she gets to do both in one trip at the end of July.

Butler punched her ticket to the 2024 Summer Olympics at trials Sunday night in Eugene, Ore., when she finished second in the 400-meter race. She clocked a school-record and personal best of 49.71, beating third-place runner Alexis Holmes by milliseconds to complete Team USA's 400m squad.

"I knew I was top-three when I crossed the finish line," Butler said. "I just went out there and gave it my all the last 100. When I turned around and looked at the billboard and I saw my name in second place I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is really happening.' I was really excited, I started hugging everybody."

She said she'd deleted Instagram before the race, so when she redownloaded it after qualifying, her phone went haywire with notifications. Still, her phone hasn't stopped ringing with calls of congratulations and support for the road ahead.

Butler realized she was good — genuinely, truly fast — as a freshman in high school when she broke the state record and ran the length of the track in 52 seconds.

What the 2024 Olympics mean to UGA track member Aaliyah Butler

Coming to Georgia, her reputation preceded her. Butler was a three-time Florida state champion and three-time All-American. She won the national championship in the 400m when she was a junior at Miami Northwestern.

One reason she's here basking in the light of success today is her mom.

"She just threw me in track (one day), and I started winning meets," Butler said with a laugh. "After that, I just kept running and running and running, and she never took me out."

She's headed back to Florida to be with her family shortly, which will likely bring along a big celebration after they stayed up late to watch her on television. She'll return to Athens around July 8 to train and work on building her confidence and perfecting her start.

After that, she's Europe-bound.

It hasn't quite sunk in, that she's going to be fulfilling lifelong dreams at once in just a few weeks. She said she's looking forward to the opening ceremony and wearing the uniform that represents her country, as well as the shopping, the historic site-seeing and the French cuisine.

And of course, she'll be up against some of the fastest people in the world, but she knows that. Her sights are set on that glorious medal stand.

"I know I can do it," Butler said. "I never put a limit on myself, and I always tell myself, if you work hard, you can get what you want."

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Aaliyah Butler on fulfilling childhood dreams, punching Olympic ticket