News American diver Katrina Young and her grandmother, Elaine Young, have more than genes in common The younger Young's debut at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro marks 68 years since her paternal grandmother competed for Canada in track and field at London 1948 Their appearances on the world's biggest sporting stage are separated by more than half a centry and a generational shift in attitude towards women's sport and independence, said Young "For her, because she was a woman in a time when female empowerment and equality wasn't as relevant, it was a lot about just learning to stick up for herself and be resilient in times when other people didn't necessarily support her," Young said about her grandmother, who competed as Elaine Silburn and is now 90 years old "She really wanted it She wanted it so bad that she would give up a lot for it " Read more about more about diving at Rio 2016 During her competitive years, Elaine Young endured uncomfortable train rides to attend competitions and ignored unsupportive comments along the way She won a bronze medal in the women's relay at the Auckland 1950 Empire Games (now the Commonwealth Games) and qualified for the London 1948 Olympic Games in the high jump and long jump Young, a former Florida State University student-athlete, will compete in the women's 10m platform event at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre starting on 17 August   At London 1948, the Canadian cleared 1 40 metres to finish 19th in the high jump and 16th in the long jump with a showing of 5 22 metres Young said her grandmother talks about her competitive years, which extended well beyond the Olympics, and also recounted the hardships of her time as an athlete "She told me a lot of stories about her sports career but not specifically about the Olympic Games I think that's because it wasn't all of what she wanted to tell me about There's so much more to it " While the 24-year-old diver from Seattle has not had to overcome the extent of challenges facing a female athlete in the 1940s, Young credits her grandmother for motivating her to pursue her own Olympic dream "She's an inspiration to me She's still really driven and strong and has this vibration around her of strength and just being a really empowered person," Young said  "She would tell me about being resilient, going for what you want — no matter what " An powerful message from one Olympian to another