Carmelita Jeter; The Star that Shined the Brightest

Seattle, WA- In life, individuals go through life experiences that either makes them drown in the pit of sorrow or either makes them excel, soar and inspire others who are watching them. Women in any occupation have it the hardest. They have to do twice as much as males to get respected in their jobs, salary, and accomplishments. However, if you are the fastest woman alive like Olympian sprinter Carmelita Jeter, you would think her accomplishments would be astonishing in America’s eyes, but it was not. Jeter’s track resume has always been phenomenal, but at times it would be outshined by male runners.

“At times I felt like that one of my obstacles that I had to hurdle was the representation that my accomplishments was overshadowed by male runners or any female in any particular sport, male athletes get more attention.”

Before the world knew Carmelita as one of the toughest and fastest sprinters in history, her basketball coach saw something in her that made him have a conversation with her about running track. At that time, Carmelita didn’t know what to expect from track, but she tried it and started to fall in love with it. “Yes, track is a team sport, but also it is an individual race where you can just run your race. That was something I love about track and it stayed with me. I was determined and motivated to become the best out there on that track. ”

Carmelita started making a lot of noise when she was out running opponents without breaking a sweat. She broke history at California State University by having the most NCAA medals by a track athlete and became their first Olympic qualifier. However, her rise to the top had to come with obstacles in the way. She had a recurring hamstring problem that she was constantly fighting, but that made her determined and more focus to overcome the injury, as well as not having much of a social life, but she knew that she as destined to be great.

In 2007 she won a silver medal in the 60 meters with a personal best of 7.17 seconds. She kept fighting and breaking barriers and earned the title The Fastest Woman Alive. In 2012 she anchored the 4x100m, which broke the record and sent her and her teammates into the history books with the hashtag #BlackGirlMagic.

While Carmelita’s career was important to her, so was her family. She is very in-tuned with her family, friends, as well as helping people. ” Family is everything to me. They have sacrificed a lot for me and that is something that will always be there.” During the holidays, she spent time with them and brought them to certain events. ” I had a lot of my family that came out and supported my organization which is called Team Jet, as well as everything that I do. Everything that I do, as well as my organization, is about family.”

Right now Carmelita is doing everything she loves with being a mentor for any and everybody, managing her two athletes that are signed with Team Jet, a book that will be published that conveys her story and just living life the way that she wants it to be. “I just love love, love, helping people out. You never know what someone is going through, so I will email people that had contacted me back or someone that needs advice or something. I didn’t have that growing up and that is something that everyone needs. When I speak, I speak from the heart. There is nothing more promising to any individual than encouraging them.”

Carmelita is what the world needs to be reminded of once in a blue moon. You take your losses but stay committed to your goals, dreams, and the will of not giving up on something you want bad. You run your race and never take the shortcuts of life. Respect and recognition are the keys off! No matter what gender you are, always respect and encourage each other.