Let’s talk Olympics and some SC athletes worth bragging about | Opinion

During the Olympic trials, the Grand Strand got to witness Melissa Jefferson become an Olympian. She’s been celebrated, and rightly will be celebrated more in coming weeks as she heads to Paris to try to medal in the 100-meter dash.

Socastee High School graduate Jermaisha Arnold ran well at the trials though didn’t make it to Paris. We didn’t get to see T.J. McCallum, who had qualified to compete but was sidelined by an injury.

The short-term fates of these three S.C. athletes illustrates better than anything the hard work and precision that goes into succeeding at the highest level of competition.

Jefferson, who graduated from Coastal Carolina University a couple of years ago, is a product of Carvers Bay High School in Hemingway, S.C. Coastal Carolina has a rich athletic history. It’s the home of Myrtle Beach legend Amber Campell, a three-time Olympian in the hammer throw. It’s also the birthplace of one of the most successful football families in U.S. history. The Geathers produced more professional football players, including in the NFL and Canadian Football League, than nearly any American family.

Jefferson only enhances the school’s legacy. After getting married in their late 30s, Jefferson’s parents grappled with the idea of having another child. Their youngest from previous relationships was 11 years old then, which meant they weren’t far from having the house to themselves.

“Everything that had to do with making sure you don’t have babies, we did it,” Melissa’s father Melvin Jefferson said. “We prayed and talked to God about it. In the end, we let God make the decision for us. God knew best.”

Melissa came out of the womb running.

From a young age, “Melissa was beating boys” in races, her father said. I met him when he was a Freedom Readers volunteer, a literacy nonprofit my wife founded in 2010.

Melissa became such a decorated runner with multiple championships at every level that her father began a traditional “Melissa Jefferson Day” at their house to honor her growing list of accomplishments. It was supposed to include mostly family members. In 2022, it got so big — dignitaries, neighbors and others from afar joined for the cookout and various games — that Melissa pulled her dad aside and told him to scale things back.

She’s always been modest and didn’t want a big fuss, he said.

This year, “Melissa Jefferson Day” was scheduled for July 6, but has been put on hold because Melissa is headed to the Olympics and has other professional commitments.

There was a good chance McCallum would be celebrating now as well. Instead, the Carolina Forest High graduate was sidelined during the trials even though he had qualified for the 100 and 200. He’s nursing a slight injury. His parents and coaches didn’t want to risk his bright future by pushing him on an injured leg now, so he watched the trials like the rest of us.

McCallum just finished his sophomore year at the University of Tennessee. He has every intention of being part of the pageantry of the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

“These things are gonna happen,” TJ’s father T’Mars McCallum said of the injury. “As parents, we are very proud of what he’s done on the track, and off the track, expressing his love for God.”

Arnold is a Texas A&M grad after beginning her college career at Coastal Carolina. She also had an awe-inspiring trials, making it to the 400-meter semifinals.

It’s hard to overstate the pressure these athletes face, knowing a tenth of a second or a last-minute injury can mean becoming an Olympian or waiting four more years.

I have to also give a shout-out to Jayden Smith, the best track athlete in Davidson College history. He is running the 110-meter hurdles at the trials and has made it to at least the semifinals.

I’ve watched McCallum run since he was a little boy participating in the Myrtle Beach Track & Field Club alongside my kids. As his father said, he’s impressive on and off the track. Each of these athletes are. That’s reason for the Myrtle Beach to be proud of — and brag about — them all.

Issac Bailey is a McClatchy Opinion writer in North and South Carolina.