Jessica Steffens knows what it's like to be a part of the Olympic games.
The Danville resident, alongside her sister, Maggie, helped the United States earn a gold medal in water polo during the 2012 London Olympics.
A day after London won the bid to host the 2012 summer games, terrorists bombed a few London underground trains and a double-decker bus. The London games responded with a massive security presence.
Steffens says they were able to focus on competing because they were surrounded by safety officers at all times.
"There's always going to be outside distractions as an athlete," she said. "And of course safety is a huge concern."
Protecting the athletes will be even more on the radar after two terrorist attacks in the city of Volgograd, Russia caused panic and concern just six weeks before the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
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"It's unfortunate when outside influences try to take that away from these athletes cause we are there to compete," Steffens says. "We have trained our entire lives to get to this position."
Steffens says athletes can only control what they can control: The physical and mental preparation needed to do well in the games.
