Melissa Jefferson is now in an exclusive club.
Not many people can say that they have ever made an Olympic team and represented the United States of America at the Olympic Games. Even fewer can say they have won a medal at those games.
But how about winning multiple Olympic medals for your country?
Jefferson, a Georgetown native and a former Coastal Carolina track and field standout, can now say just that.
She had a career-changing performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics, winning a gold medal as a part of the women鈥檚 4x100 relay team and a bronze medal in the individual 100-meter event.
The journey to the podium was filled with emotions, Jefferson said, and it didn鈥檛 come without its share of challenges.
She admits that the year leading up to the games was filled with many adjustments. First, she moved to Florida and joined a new training group to prepare for the lead-up to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. And throughout that process, she said she was dealing with a nagging injury.
Training looked very different during the fall. Rehabbing the injury, there were some days where she could only sit beside the track and ride the bike. Other days she could run, but it would have to be in the grass.
The journey was far from linear, she admits, but things eventually took shape.
鈥淢entally, it was a lot to juggle to stay locked in and focused on me still having a chance to make the team,鈥 Jefferson said.
鈥淏ut, we got that taken care of and the season really started to take off for me. I was winning some meets, and even though the times weren鈥檛 super, super fast, they were still an indication of what could come. Once I got to trials, it was just about me trusting all the work that I had put in up until that very moment.鈥
Jefferson eventually peaked at the right time and earned a spot on Team USA for the games.
From there, the challenge was a different one: Keeping things as neutral as possible.
The Olympic Games are large. The fanfare is, at times, unbelievable. Plenty about the event can prove to be quickly overwhelming. Once she got to Paris, Jefferson describes that her goal was to do as much as she could to block out the noise.
鈥淗aving the opportunity to go to the Olympic Games, that was definitely a big moment. But, I wanted to make sure that I didn鈥檛 focus too much on that moment being really big,鈥 she said. 鈥淚n a sense, I really just wanted to lay low. I needed to stay focused on the job at hand. I focused on having fun as that fun came along, versus trying to sight-see and everything once I first got there.鈥
Back watching in our home countries, fans often have a certain guess as to what athletes experience over in the thick of the Olympic experience.
Bright lights. Constant celebrations and events. Endless opportunities for fun-filled experiences.
Those things do exist. But they weren鈥檛 top of mind for Jefferson.
Instead, she chose the simple route.
鈥淚 binge-watched TV. I played different little games on my iPad,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 wanted to keep things as normal as I possibly could and go about it like it was just another ordinary day where I went to practice, came home and relaxed and chilled鈥 I created a routine of things to do鈥 I went to practice, got food in my body, got worked on and did the same thing every single day.鈥
Jefferson said being at the Olympics offered a different type of challenge in the mental side of the experience.
Staying as far out of the chaos of the experience and locked in on a tightly focused routine was her way of making sure she was prepared to run her fastest times.
鈥淚 think I underestimated how much of a mental game the Olympic Games would be, just because it鈥檚 not only Track and Field there. It鈥檚 all the sports from all the countries,鈥 she described. 鈥淭he Olympic Village was definitely busy, and at times it could probably get overwhelming, but it was really just me finding ways for it not to be that way. I tried to stay in my own little bubble and keep things as normal as possible.鈥
Of course, Jefferson got the job done.
She and her U.S. teammates stole the show in the event, bringing back medals and playing a key role in helping Team USA dominate the medal count in Paris.
Jefferson is now back in Florida, where she is training and still on somewhat of a normal routine. She says she is aiming to make it back to South Carolina and the local area in October, when she says she will be ready to celebrate and feel the love.
For the next several weeks, she is training and hearing constant reminders from those closest to her 鈥 like her parents 鈥 about just how proud they are of her.
In a couple of months, Jefferson said she is ready to be back and share in her accomplishments with 鈥渉er village.鈥
鈥淟ike I have said before, I am a village kid,鈥 Jefferson said. 鈥淓verybody has played a part in getting me to where I am. When I think of South Carolina, I think of it as my village. They always keep me grounded. No matter win, lose or draw, good or bad, they are always going to be there to support me. That makes the journey a lot less frustrating or stressful. That makes things a lot easier for me.鈥
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