David Blough of the Detroit Lions gets emotional while rooting for his Olympian wife Melissa Gonzalez.

David Blough of the Detroit Lions gets emotional while rooting for his Olympian wife Melissa Gonzalez.

David Blough sat back in his chair, hands on his head, then anxiously bent forward, twisted his neck, and pounded the floor to release some of his stress.

Blough tapped his feet nervously on the ground as his wife, Melissa Gonzalez, sat in her starting block for the first of four 400-meter hurdle qualifying heats at the Tokyo Olympics on Friday.

Gonzalez finished second in her heat to progress to the semifinals on Monday, while Blough celebrated enthusiastically 6,000 miles away in the Lions' Allen Park training facility's quarterback meeting room when an impromptu Olympic watch party erupted.

Blough sat on the front row of a huge auditorium with his other quarterbacks, while many teammates and the majority of the Lions coaching staff observed from the rear of the room, according to footage released by the Lions.

Blough, who is competing with Tim Boyle for the No. 2 quarterback job, said the room erupted in applause when Gonzalez beat Team USA's Anna Cockrell to advance to the semifinals, and that he was surprised and grateful for Lions coach Dan Campbell's gesture to temporarily halt training camp preparations in support of his wife.

Blough remarked, "It made us feel really cherished." "You may have seen the video of me going insane, and I told them that's me whether it's the Olympics or we're racing at a middle school and she has to race her sister. That's how I'm wired. When I turned around and saw the crew, it hit me like a tonne of bricks. That's one of those memories I'll cherish for the rest of my life."

Due to COVID-19 limitations, foreign family members are not permitted to attend the Olympics this year, but Blough claimed he had vicariously experienced the Games through Gonzalez.

Even with the 13-hour time difference adding to their already demanding schedules, the two have been in frequent touch since she flew to Tokyo earlier this month.

"It's a tiny glimpse of paradise (for her) as a little kid who grew up watching track and dreamt of being at this stage," Blough said. "She told me about having a fluent discussion with someone from Japan, where they spoke into their phone and demonstrated how advanced our technology is." They presented it to her, and it spoke to her in English. She then spoke into it, and it responded in English (Japanese).

"It's simply a small peek of everyone coming together." That, I believe, is one of the unique aspects of the Olympics. She's made friends with other ladies and boys in the village, swapping pins and enjoying the activities available to athletes. Yeah, we’re kind of on Cloud 9."

Blough was a nervous wreck until exhilaration kicked in as he saw Gonzalez establish a new Colombian record with a timing of 55.32 seconds.

Because of her history of strong finishes, he claimed he wasn't concerned when she fell behind early in the race. Blough shouted again at the television screen displaying the race as Gonzalez entered the last bend, with one of four automatic qualifying berths from the heat within grasp.

"The obstacles are enormous," Blough remarked. "When they jump over the obstacle, you can always tell where they are. They're evenly spaced, so I can see if she's in the seventh position at hurdle five, but I know her back half of the race is better than her front half, so by hurdle eight or nine, she'll be in second place. Talking about it or thinking about it gives me the shivers. She's fantastic. She's been through a lot in the last year, and as a fan and spouse, I simply wanted the best for her, and she delivered."

Congrats Melissa Gonzalez on qualifying for the 400m hurdle semis‼️ https://t.co/ecAu6g9vJl

— Detroit Lions (@Lions) July 31, 2021

Gonzalez will compete in her semifinal race at 7:55 a.m. Eastern time on Monday, shortly before Blough and the Lions' first padded session of training camp.

To qualify for the finals, she'll almost certainly need to run a personal best, but with the 13th fastest time in prelims, nothing looks out of reach.

Blough remarked, "She's worked extremely hard to get to where she is." "She's a world-class athlete."