Growing up in a rough East
Saint Louis neighborhood, Dawn Harper-Nelson knows something about overcoming
the odds. But her natural leaping ability and speed put her on the proverbial
fast track to follow in the footsteps of another hometown hero—Jackie
Joyner-Kersee.
While not many expected much
from her at the 2008 Beijing Games, Harper-Nelson again defied the odds with a
gold medal performance in the 100-meter hurdles and won proved it wasn’t a
fluke by repeating the feat at the 2011 World Championships and then taking the
silver medal at the 2012 London Games.
In this conversation, Harper-Nelson
talks about growing up in East Saint Louis, how injuries drew her closer to God
and how winning gold in 2008 proved to be an enlightening experience:
Chad Bonham: When you were
growing up in East Saint Louis, how much of your journey as an athlete was
influenced by Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s legacy?
Dawn Harper-Nelson: When I was
working out at the track, she would come and visit all the time. I’ll never
forget the time that she came to me and said she saw something special in me
and that I could go really far. So going through elementary, junior high and
high school, Jackie Joyner was the known name.
Bonham: We often hear about how
East Saint Louis and how tough it is to live there. Is that an accurate
portrayal or is it sometimes exaggerated?
Harper-Nelson: It was tough. I
wouldn’t say that people exaggerate about East Saint Louis. But it really
depends on the parents and the way they raise their kids. There are just
certain things you don’t want you’re kids around. There are certain
neighborhoods in any community that might not be the safest, but for me, it
wasn’t as tough because my mom made
sure I stayed involved in positive things and my dad was a positive influence
in my life and he made sure I didn’t fall into the trap of getting involved
with the wrong kind of people. They also always told me that I had to have my
grades right if I wanted to run track.
Bonham: When did you first get
involved in track?
Harper-Nelson: It was about the
time I was going into the seventh grade.
Bonham: When did you start to
realize that you had potential to go far?
Harper-Nelson: I started to do
hurdles in the eighth grade. That’s when I realized it was something special
for me. When I started running in seventh grade, it was fun and I liked it, but
I usually the third place girl. Then when I started to run with the hurdles,
the light bulb came on and I was unbeatable. So my first year in high school, I
ran at the state meet against the defending champion. She was a senior and I
beat her and broke the record. So I realized, “Okay, I may be pretty good at
this.” That’s when I realized I wanted to buckle down and do this for real.
Bonham: What led to your
decision to go to UCLA?
Harper-Nelson: I don’t know
exactly how UCLA came into the picture for me but I think I was mostly looking
for a place that had great academics and a
great track program. I was looking for a school that had the overall picture.
My mom really stressed to me that I needed to keep up my grades in case track
didn’t work out. And then when I went to visit UCLA, I was sold and they
offered a full ride (scholarship) and that’s all I needed. That’s when I
started hearing, “Well, that’s where Jackie Joyner-Kersee went and she was
great so maybe you can do it too.” And I was like, “Oh Lord, what have I done
to myself?” But it was good to have that (pressure) on me because I had to stay
focused every day.
Bonham: How big of a role has Bob
Kersee (Jackie’s husband) played in your development as an athlete?
Harper-Nelson: When I graduated
in 2006, no shoe companies were offering me a deal. They offered me equipment
but nothing that I could really live off. So Bob Kersee came to me and wanted
me to keep my dream going. I didn’t have money to pay him and I worked three
jobs and he still coached me. He believed in me and told me everyday, “I
believe you have this gift.” And he gave me a hundred percent as a coach every
time we were at the track.
Bonham: Tell me about your
faith journey.
Harper-Nelson: My faith was
definitely a part of me growing up. I went to church on Sundays, but I knew
that God was real in my life. A lot of people start to look towards God when
they get hurt, and when I hurt myself as a sophomore and had knee surgery, the
doctors told me I would probably never run as fast again. I was only 15 years
old and track was what I wanted to do. So when I came back from that, I
realized there must be a bigger plan for me. And then, when I had knee surgery
before the (2008) Olympics, that just sealed the deal. I was thinking, “There
is another plan for me that I may not see for myself. I’m supposed to reach out
to other people and show them what God can do because of what He’s done through
me.” I knew that it was all about giving God the glory. And once I crossed the
finish line, that’s the first thing that crossed my mind. A lot of people call
me the “What” girl because once I won the race, you can watch the footage and
see that I’m saying “What” over and over again. But what I was saying, was that
from this big ole globe, God
chose this little girl from East Saint Louis out of all the kids who have said,
“I want to go to the Olympics.” He knew that I could handle this—the knee
surgery and all of the things that come with being an Olympic champion. He took
the girl that no one thought would win. He chose me. He entrusted me with this.
And after the race, I just broke down crying.
Bonham: When you won the gold
medal, it seems like the coverage focused as much on the fact that Lolo Jones
lost as it did on you winning. How did you deal with that interesting dynamic?
Harper-Nelson: I didn’t think
much about it in the moment. But once I crossed the finish line and took my
victory lap, it pretty much became reality during my interviews. The first
thing they asked me was, “Did you see Lolo Jones hit the hurdle?” And I was
thinking, “If I saw her, I would hit my hurdle.” Then they started to ask
things like, “Where are you from?” I had made it to the finals. If someone
makes it to the finals, don’t you think you should know a little about them?
Because obviously they’re capable of being the best in the world. So they were
asking, “Where are you from? Who is your coach?” And I remember one reporter
was interviewing me and he looked down at his notebook and there was nothing on
the page. So he just said, “Tell me about yourself.” But that’s where I really
thanked God because no man can determine my journey. You don’t have to know me
because I’ll make you know me.
Check out Chad
Bonham’s book Glory of the Games featuring Olympic athletes such as Shannon
Miller, Dave Johnson, Josh Davis, Tamika Catchings, Ruth Riley, Michael Chang,
and Tobin Heath.
Photos courtesy of USA Olympic Team/NBC Sports.
No comments:
Post a Comment