Watch: Tuesday Testimonial with Maor Tyouri

Maor Tiyouri's route to being a professional runner started without organized sports in her native Israel. Tiyouri instead had to find an inner drive to succeed in sport, and after finding out that she could win races, that drive took her to San Francisco's track and cross country program where she could learn and grow, and compete at the highest levels of collegiate sports.

While donning the Green and Gold, Tiyouri raced on four West Coast Conference Championship cross country teams, took two trips to the NCAA Cross Country Championships and was a three-time NCAA qualifier on the track. But her racing career was far from over after graduating in 2014.

Tiyouri took a risk to move to Boulder and began morphing into an Olympic marathoner.

"Definitely USF opened the door for me," Tiyouri reflected. "I think if I didn't make that move I wouldn't be an Olympian, to be honest. Who knows. Maybe I would not be even a runner anymore, because I think life in Israel is just so hard. You can make it, definitely, but I think definitely that was a step up."

Training in altitude helped prepare the Kfar Saba, Israel, native to find another level to her running. And after qualifying in Canada, she earned a berth to run the streets of Rio and make a lifelong dream come true - representing Israel at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Part of that Olympic training and mentality could even be seen on the Hilltop, as USF's mental performance coach Yvonne Gomez competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics, representing Spain. And part of her drive to continue compete at the highest levels comes not only from within, but also from those who surround her.

"Even in the hardest times and I can tell you there is probably more hard times than better times in running, or at least for me it was like that, but you kind of have to push through it. What's nice is that Helen is still such a big part of my life, and my former college teammates are still a big part of my life. We shared such strong moments together that you carry that on with you through the rest of your life."

Not only is she an Olympian, Tiyouri competed in the World Championships this summer, again donning the uniform for her homeland. Cheering her on in London was USF's Helen Lehman-Winters. Staying connected to those memories and bonds formed on the Hilltop propels Tiyouri to keep running and keep risking, taking the mentality learned from her team and her coaches and turning it into fuel to get her through the miles.

"I think that's really important for my professional running career at the moment. You're going to be rich from running but you do it for the love of it, and you just have to take the risk.

Hear more from Tiyouri in this Tuesday Testimonial, one in the series focusing on the pioneers of USF athletics who will be featured in "The Rise," an upcoming documentary profiling some of the greats as part of a celebration of the 45th anniversary of Title IX. The Rise," will be seen this spring, released in conjunction with National Girls and Women in Sports Day, and airing on NBC Sports California in February during the 2018 Winter Olympics.