A Conversation with Olympic Champion Hurdler Dawn Harper-Nelson

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.

A Conversation with Legendary Olympic Track and Field Champion Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Jackie Joyner-Kersee is one of the greatest female athletes to grace the planet.

Need proof? 

Her Olympic record alone sets a standard that others have been trying to match for the past 20 years: three gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals across four Olympic Games (1984, 1988, 1992 and 1996) and a heptathlon score of 7,291 points in Seoul that has yet to be matched. 

She was also a four-time gold medalist at the World Championships and a star basketball player at UCLA.

In this conversation, Joyner-Kersee talks extensively about how self-discipline, rooted in her deeply held Christian faith, served as the foundations for elite competitive success,

Bonham: It takes a lot of self-discipline to be an elite athlete, but who modeled that concept for you when you were growing up in East Saint Louis?

Jackie Joyner-Kersee: It was my mom. My family modeled it, but my mom was a strong believer in being a disciplinarian. She would tell me that in order for me to do anything, there were certain things I had to accomplish first. If I wanted to go to the community center or if I wanted to go to the track, first I had to make sure my homework was done. Then I had to make sure my room was cleaned up. If everything was right in her eyes, then I was able to go play.

I saw my mom work hard day in and day out. She got up early in the morning to get ready for work, catch the bus and make sure she got to her job on time. She always told us she’d be home at 3:30 and she was always home at 3:30. She made sure there was food on the table so we could eat. That was a living example of example and doing the small things.

Bonham: How did you see discipline play out in your youth and throughout your athletic career?

Joyner-Kersee: As a student, discipline helped me get to school on time. School started at 8 o’clock, but I would get there at 7:30. That discipline overlapped into what I was doing athletically. If you have an event scheduled for a certain time and you’re a minute late, then you are disqualified. If I was working a job and I was supposed to be there at 9 o’clock, I wouldn’t just show up at nine. I’d get there before nine. All of this has helped me understand the importance of discipline.

Discipline is also about respecting other people’s time. My mom was a strong believer in that. My coaches would usually pick me up and she didn’t want them waiting for me. If they were going to be there at a certain time, it was not their responsibility to come to my door to see if I was ready. No, I was supposed to be ready to go before they got there. That’s showing respect for them. Discipline has played a major role across the board in my life. 

Bonham: What did you have to do in order stay disciplined as an Olympic caliber athlete?

Joyner-Kersee: I had a routine every day. I was at the track at 7:30 in the morning doing my warm ups before (coach and now husband) Bobby (Kersee) would get there. One of the things that Bobby would request of us is that we do our warm ups so that when he showed up, we would be ready to go. That helped me get prepared for competitions where you have to be warmed up and ready to go before the race. I had to train for seven to eight hours a day. It was tough to do, but I had to discipline myself to go through that because it was the same thing I would have to do when I competed. It’s like going to school. You read, you study and then you have the exam.

Sunday was always our spiritual day. We didn’t train on Sundays. I always made sure I was going to church and that those things were a part of my lifestyle. 

Bonham: What are the benefits of discipline?

Joyner-Kersee: Time management is one of the great benefits of discipline. It helped me a lot when I got to college. That’s where you really need time management. I had to get to class on time and schedule my day. That was crucial. 

Bonham: How did you make sure you stayed disciplined?

Joyner-Kersee: It’s a mindset. It has a lot to do with goal setting. Goals were and still are a part of my life. When you have goals, you know that there are certain things you can and cannot do. That’s where the discipline comes in. I knew that a lifestyle of partying and going out wasn’t something I didn’t want to do. I knew it would distract me and get me off the course of what I wanted to do.

Bonham: What were some challenges you faced as an athlete?

Joyner-Kersee: With me being an asthmatic, my discipline was really tested. I always had to make sure I took my medicine on a regular basis. I had to respect the disease. I couldn’t live in denial. I was considered to be this great athlete and I didn’t want to believe that I had asthma. But there were times I was extremely sick and I wouldn’t take my medicine so I had to discipline myself to take my medicine and do the things I had to do to keep my asthma under control.

Discipline became a big part of my survival. You know that you’re a world class athlete but then you get out on the track and can’t even run a mile or even a lap. Then you start questioning. You start doubting. Talk about having faith. Then I realized I had to start treating asthma the way I treated my training. Asthma became one of my opponents. I’m trying to beat it and these are the things I have to do on a daily basis. I look at my pulmonologist as my friend and not my enemy. I started using him as a coach. He and the nurses were trying to help me. That was the mindset. Then I started keeping a journal. I would write down the days I was feeling great. If they’d just cut the grass at the track, that was a red flag. I knew that would be a problem. If I had a bad day, I’d write it down and begin to question why I had a bad day.

I did a lot of visualization. This is easy to say and difficult to do. You have to weed out toxic people in your life. They might be the coolest person. They might be your best friend. But emotionally, if you’re on a roller coaster all the time, it’s not really a good situation. That’s tough but that’s where the discipline comes in and you start realizing that you’ve got to figure out a way to get out of that relationship. You have to learn how to say no and sometimes that’s saying no to the people closest to you.

I always try to focus my energy on the things I have control over because if you succumb to the things you have no control over, it zaps your energy and you lose your focus. I’m not trying to control anyone, but it’s making sure I’m controlling my own destiny. 

Bonham: What role has spiritual discipline played in your life?

Joyner-Kersee: I am a firm believer in faith and the discipline to believe that I could travel to California and go to UCLA and go on to make Olympic teams. It took discipline to hold strong and believe in myself and for others to believe in me. That was a test. It took discipline to separate myself from negativity and not to let the drug-infested community suck me in. That took a lot of discipline for a girl growing up in East St. Louis where there was (population) people and to go onto a place where millions lived and to go out there and know that I was going with a dream in mind. It took discipline to not fall victim to the things that might pull me away from that dream. 

Bonham: How can leaders be more disciplined?

Joyner-Kersee: When I was younger, I told myself all I wanted to do was to improve a tenth of a second or a half of an inch if I was running or jumping. If I made a C, how could I take that C and turn it into a B. The steps are realistic goals and small steps to get there. In some cases, you might go leaps and bounds, but I think it’s so important to take the small steps and appreciate those small steps while you’re struggling so that when things start to get a little easier for you, you won’t forget the discipline it took for you to get there. 

Bonham: How has the Bible inspired you to a life of discipline?

Joyner-Kersee: In sports and throughout my life, there have been so many challenges. You think about the patience of Job. I lost my mom when I was a freshman in college. I dealt with being an asthmatic. I had the dream of going to the Olympics. People would tell me I had to be patient. I had to wait. Not that I can compare myself to Job, but there’s the understanding of that kind of patience and discipline. At nighttime when I went to bed, I wouldn’t pray for patience because I realized I was already living through it. I was being taught to be patient. When the opportunity presented itself, I would be ready. I was thankful for the things I had gone through so that one day I could share with others and help them. 

Bonham: How does the concept of purpose fit into your outlook on life?

Joyner-Kersee: I truly believe that God gives us things that we can handle. If we don’t handle things properly, it will be slowly taken away. I don’t know quite yet what my purpose is, but I know that God is using me as a tool in the way He thinks I should be used, not what I think my purpose is. That purpose is still being defined. So that’s why I live each day with the understanding, I don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring. Mom would always say, "Jackie, don’t tell me about tomorrow. Take care of today."

Taking care of today means staying disciplined. If you’re worried about tomorrow, you’ll get off track from the purpose that God has before you. That’s where the mental and emotional discipline comes into place. I’m not going to let one over take the other. You have to understand that you have a purpose and you can’t take your existence for granted.

Bonham: How has your faith helped you deal with tragedy in your life such as losing your mother and your sister-in-law and fellow Olympic champion Florence Griffith-Joyner?

Joyner-Kersee: That’s where your faith comes in and your belief in God and not losing sight of what my mom would have wanted for me or even Florence. We have to be strong for one another. Even in dealing with the loss of a mother or a sister-in-law, having a brother, having sisters, there’s strength. It’s so important because when I’m strong, I’m giving them strength too. We all feed off one another.

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.

  

Lead photo courtesy of Erik van Leeuwen.