YANQING, China — The full measure of her accomplishments sometimes hits the bobsledder Aja Evans during visits to Chicago elementary schools, where eager students with inquisitive eyes pummel her with questions:
“Do you wear a seatbelt?” “How fast do you go?” “Have you crashed?”
“You know you should really wear a seatbelt, don’t you?”
Evans is a Black woman and an Olympic medalist in a sport unfamiliar to many of the children she meets. But in their questions, Evans senses the same delightful curiosity she once had, a beckoning to venture beyond the norm or the expectations associated with one’s environment.