With the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games in full swing, the Office of Community Engagement partnered with the Quinnipiac Recreation and Wellness Center to host its own winter Olympics, a series of four physical competitions for students to participate in, the latest being a push-up contest on Wednesday afternoon.
The competition saw half a dozen students, all vying for a first-place medal and online glory in the form of a shoutout from @qurecwell on Instagram.
The first event, wall sits, took place Feb. 10, with the victor, sophomore mathematics and financial technology major Dylan Welsh, sitting for nearly six minutes. His brother, Sean Welsh, a sophomore 4+3 physical therapy major, finished second by under a minute.
Sean was out for revenge in the third challenge, recording 64 push-ups and besting everyone else in his group, including Dylan, by a significant margin.
Sean credits his successes and competitive spirit to his brother.
“I found out my brother was doing it, and we always have a great sibling rivalry,” Sean said. “We did the wall sit challenge last week, so the push-up challenge had to happen.”
Mason Kleiner, a health, medicine and society major, lost the challenge with a respectable 33 push-ups. He, too, was motivated by friendly competition.
“I saw my friend, and I was like, ‘All right, sick, if I’m doing this, then he is too,’” Kleiner said.
An avid climber for nearly a decade, Kleiner believes he will have the most success in a future competition.
“I’m eyeing the planks for Thursday, I’m very excited for that one,” Kleiner said. “Considering my background in climbing, I have good core strength, and I think that’s where I’ll succeed most.”
The eventual winner of the competition was Aiden Rudy, who completed 76 push-ups.
RecWell hosts these competitions right outside the gym, nabbing contestants as they walk to and from the locker rooms.
“It’s been us engaging with students as they come by asking, ‘Do you want to participate?’” Grace Little, assistant director of recreation, said. “For our staff, it’s been important to engage with one another, and that’s what’s drawn people in to participate.”
Little views the event similarly to the competitors, nothing more than a low-stress competition amongst peers.
“You want to beat your brother, or beat your friend, so part of the fun has been seeing students push each other to keep going,” Little said.
For more information about future RecWell events, visit @qurecwell on Instagram.