Like most people, Turlock’s Ali Cox is enjoying watching television coverage of the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris.

But unlike most who can only imagine what it would be like to bask in Olympic glory, Cox knows firsthand the thrill of having a medal placed around her neck.

Twenty years ago in Athens, home of the first modern Olympiad in 1896, Cox and her USA teammates took home the silver medal in the women’s eight rowing competition, behind the gold-medalist Romanians and ahead of the bronze-clinching Dutch.

“I love the Olympics and I love rowing,” said Cox, founder and CEO of Noble West marketing agency. “I miss my teammates. I miss being in unbelievable shape. I miss being outside all day. It was a great chapter in my life.”

However, being a world-class athlete wasn’t without its drawbacks.

“I definitely do not miss the arduousness or the inflexibility of being on a national team,” said Cox. “Especially if you have aspirations outside of competing.”

The 1997 Turlock High graduate — she won 11 varsity letters playing tennis, softball, basketball, and soccer — attended college at the University of San Diego. Just before the start of her sophomore year, women’s coach Leeanne Crane saw her walking along the street during orientation day.

“She just said, ‘Hey, you’re really tall and you look really strong,’” said Cox, who stands 6-feet even. “’Have you ever thought about joining the crew team?’ I said, ‘No, but why don’t you tell me more.’”

Learning the technical aspects of the sport at an older age was challenging, but Cox learned quickly.

“It was about teamwork and about winning,” she said. “I always loved sports and I always loved competing. I thought, ‘OK, I’ll give it a shot.’ And I had a propensity for it. It was just a natural fit — athletically, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”

Six years later, she’d be competing on the world’s biggest stage. And in the run-up to Athens that year, she helped the U.S. women to gold medals in World Rowing Cup Regattas in Germany and Switzerland.

After the 2004 Olympics — during which the U.S. team set a world record (5 minutes, 56:55 seconds) over the 2,000-meter course in the semifinal heat — Cox retired from competition, only to stage a comeback six years later and help the U.S. women’s four take bronze at the 2010 World Championships in New Zealand.

Family and career occupy most of Cox’s time these days, and she’s not able to get on the water.

“No, but wish I could,” she said. “If I lived somewhere closer to water I would. The closest for me would be in Stockton.”

During her heyday, Cox was constantly training.

“We’d go seven days a week, with three on-water practices and one on-land training, with exceptions of Wednesday and Sunday afternoons,” Cox said. “And people always seemed to be surprised that it requires more lower-body strength than upper-body. It’s about 70 percent legs, 20 percent core, and 10 percent arms.”

Cox said people also are surprised that being an Olympian is not always a lucrative endeavor.

“Most people leave with debt,” said Cox. “There’s no money at all. Unless you’re in a sport that’s very media friendly, where you’ll get some endorsements and sponsors. But in our case, the sponsorships are so infrequent.”

Cox provided a few helpful tips for watching the rowing competition on TV.

“Look at how big the puddles are from their oars,” she said. “Whoever makes the bigger puddles is generating more power. Also, are their oars going into the water at the same time? And if you see that the boat is unset — rocking back and forth — then there’s too much drag and it’s not aerodynamic. That team’s probably not going to win. And look to see if their bodies are moving in unison. To the untrained eye, it’ll look like they’re not working hard. When you see Simone Biles fly through the air, it looks easy. When you see Katie Ledecky win by 10 seconds, it looks easy. Same thing in rowing. If it looks easy, like they’re not struggling to get it done, that’s probably an extraordinary crew.”