Best of Track World Athletics Championships Part 2: Melissa Jefferson-Wooden JOINS + Unc throwing SHOTS at Jamaica

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Hey, don't think I didn't see what y'all said, Jamaica, but we about to get that gold medal. We about to get gold and silver in the 200.

Let them know.

Y'all be talking.

Y'all make it seem like the Olympics just inserted the 100 meters in 2008

when USA burst

on the scene. Now, I'm not going to take anything from him.
He's the greatest sprinter to ever live.

Facts. Not going to take anything from him.

But when it comes to sprinting, and it's incredible what the Jamaicans have been able to do when you look at Ocho, a country that size, you're talking about, about,

you know, what, four million people?

Yeah.

Yeah. And to have the greatest, I mean, and some of the women, I mean, you look at Shelly Ann Frazier.

I mean, they've always had Merlin Adi, she never won gold, but, you know, she was always silver, bronze on the Olympics and the world championships. So they've had, they've had good, good sprinters.

VCB, Veronica Camber Brown, Sharon Stewart.

They've had great women sprinters. So don't get me wrong.
I don't want to say anything. But

y'all know what time it is, right? Y'all know what time it is, okay? So you go back and look at the world championships over, say, the last 15, 20 years.

I mean, we're right there. I know y'all think the Jamaicans, you know, been running phase, but go back and look at it.
Go back and look it up.

I know y'all only go back to 2008 because you sane, and I get all that. But you know the Olympics, the modern Olympics, is 130 years old.

They first instituted the Olympics, the modern Olympics, in 1896.

I'm just, you know,

I'm just saying

if you look at it, if you look at it,

gold medal in the Olympics, gold medal in the world championships.

I feel very comfortable.

Do y'all have the greatest male

and female woman sprinter of all time? Yes, you saying is the greatest, is the greatest male sprinter. He's the greatest sprinter.
Woman sprinter is Shelley Ann Brazier Price.

Absolutely.

I'm not arguing that.

I'm not. I'm not.
I'm not arguing that. Shelly Ann is unbelievable.

I mean, five world championships, two Olympic goals,

a 200-meter championship, two four by one championships. What's the argument? She's the greatest.
You say, I don't even have to say anything.

I don't need to say, hey, you just say, you say both, the greatest sprinter ever.

Shelly Ann is the greatest woman sprinter ever.

But, you know, we're going to see what we're going to see.

We're going to try to make it. We're going to make a two for two.
Sweepstakes. Yeah.
Hey, MJ got this.

Yeah. And y'all already know Noah

got something for y'all.

Oblique, go see Noah in the 200. Chris Shane, go see him in the 200.
Y'all want some? Y'all want smoke?

Yeah.

All my fellow Jamaicans, you know, I love you. Yeah,

I love you. Every last one of you.

I get them Jamaican oxtails at least once a month.

Yeah.

What go on?

Yeah. But y'all be, that'd be talking reckless, man.
Look,

it ain't no upset. It is an upset.

First of all, it is an upset because Noah was the reigning Olympic and world champ. What do you mean it wasn't an upset?

It is. If you beat the champ, it's an upset.
I'm not saying the oblique hadn't been running well.

Noah hadn't had a whole lot. He was dealing with some injuries.
That's what he said. He didn't run a whole lot.
Didn't run a whole lot, 100 meters, didn't run all, and he's he's taught himself.

He's a 200-meter specialist, like you saying,

that taught himself how to be a good 100-meter runner, Ocho.

But I gave uh Seville and Thompson the credit, they go into goal and simply did, they beat him.

But I'm worried about, I'm, I'm, I'm worried, I'm worried about this 200 why, look,

I'm waiting, I'm waiting on it. He seems to be fit.
So it should look, we know about, we know about Noah, We know about Beneric. We know about Tobogo.

I don't know if anybody else can really challenge those three.

Noah seems to be as he's run

and he had to run rounds. He's kind of run himself

conditioned where he needs to be because there's nothing like racing. You can go out there and practice all you want to, but you got to race.

You got to get your body conditioned to run those four rounds.

And

I like Noah Chances. We'll see.

I love him. Now, I don't like him.

I love it. I love his channel.
Yes. And if he doesn't win, it's going to be an upset.

It is.

I know Tobogo, but I mean, you talk about a guy that's won, what, three

world championships.

And everybody that's in this race, he has the fastest time. He's run 1931.

He has the fastest time this year in 1963. Big Nerrick is close behind him in 1967, and then Tobogo is at what 70, 1976.
We know Tobogo has run night, I think he ran 1941, 1943 at the Olympics.

So we know

Tobogo can run. We know he has 200-meter capabilities.
He got DQ'd out of the 100-meters, but it's going to be interesting to see.

God don't know it. Who wants to bet something on it? Put something on it.

Uh-oh. What y'all got? What y'all got, Jamaicas? What y'all want to put on this?

What y'all want to put up? Man, a lot of yourself.

I'm taking Noah.

We're getting gold and silver. We're going to pay y'all ass back.

Y'all took gold and silver in the hundred. We finna take gold.
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Pull itself into 200. That's what we're about to do, OJo.

That's what we about to do.

MJ.

Here she is.

Here she is. Hey, joining us.

The world's fastest woman. Here she is all the way from Tokyo.

She got the bronze medal in Paris. She said she wasn't satisfied.
She says, I want to reach my maximum potential. And she did.

At the World Track and Field Championships in Tokyo, just a few days ago, she ran 1061, which is the fourth fastest time ever run by a woman. We got Flojo, who ran 1049 at the USA's in Indy.

And in 2021, I don't know what was in the water because you got Elaine Thompson-Herrer run 1054 in Eugene. And then you had Shelly Ann Fraser Price, the Pocket Rocket, run 1060 in Lausanne.

And here she is.

We had a conversation, MJ. I say, I think if you, with these ladies in,

with the right win, I say, I believe you can go 10, I believe you can go sub 10.6.

You had a negative headwind.

I believe if you get the plus, you get a plus one. You get a plus one five,

you're going sub 10.6. Do you believe that? Congratulations.
Tell us how you, before we get into that, how you feeling? I'm feeling good. Thank y'all.
I told you I was coming back.

You told you, hey, you say, hey, I said, when you win that gold medal, I said, when you win the gold medal, make sure you come back and tell us about it. Oh, yeah.
And your Wi-Fi is perfect.

Listen, Tokyo, Tokyo, it's so efficient over here. Everything is great.
The Wi-Fi is good. I know it's good because I brought my game and I could play Call of Duty.

So you're going into, so obviously, is your coach over there with you? So tell me your strategies. So obviously, it's survive and advance.
You're trying to be as efficient as you're possible.

I'm not trying to expend any more than I have to to advance and get through the rounds. And so that's what I'm trying to do.
And once I get to the finals, I'm going to drop the hammer.

Is that kind of your strategy, survive in advance, doing as little as possible? Yep.

That's the name of the game when it comes to these championships and the rounds is to just conserve as much energy as possible. And then when you get to that.

Last round, it's just about who can put together the perfect race at the perfect time.

And I just kind of look at it as I'm going to just lay it all out because I mean, I've been working for this very moment, so there's no need to be trying to hold anything back, just let it rip.

Do you believe if you get a positive tailwind, you could have gone 10 sub 10-6?

Absolutely. I thought I was going to run 10-5 if I'm being honest.
I knew it. Really?

Hold on, 10, hold on,

10-5-8, 10-5-5, or lower than that?

If I'm being completely honest, I thought that I had a chance to run anywhere between 1052 and 1055 with the right tailwind.

Well, that, well, now you're talking about a right tailwind. You're probably going to need

probably about a 1.5.

And a 1.5 would probably get you what you wanted, probably a 1055, maybe a little lower.

But I felt that with the women in this race, you look at Juliana Alfred to St. Lucian, you look at Tia Clayton.
So you had the women. Talou is always dangerous from the Ivory Coach.
She's dangerous.

Dina Asher-Smith, she's dangerous. Your training partner, Shakari, she's run 1065.
There's not a whole lot of women that's run 10 sub 10-7. She's one.

So you had the women in the race. You had the track.
You just needed a little bit more favorable conditions. And I believe you go sub 10-6.

Yep, for sure. And I say that too.
And then even looking back at the race, like, obviously it was one of the best races of my life. It was the fastest I've ever ran.

But I look at the race and I still see areas where I could have improved on. Like I probably could have been a tad bit more explosive coming out the blocks or, you know, just running through.

Well, I ran through my transition very well. I feel like the weakest part of my race the other night was probably the start.

Yes, I would agree.

And that's, and that's just because I like to be able to create the separation.

Like my coach drills into my head, like, you know, when we get in certain races, obviously the game plan changes, but for races like these in this moments,

the biggest advantage that I can have for myself is to put it away in the first 30 meters.

I feel like going back at it, like if I could do it all over again, I would probably be that much more aggressive at the start. And then you take.

you take my start, make it a little bit more aggressive with how the rest of the race went for me.

I probably would. I probably wouldn't have needed a win.
I probably wouldn't have needed a tailwind to run.

I don't know. Boy, that vanish.

Hey, Tia Clayton pulled up. She like, where you, MJ, where you going?

Get up out of here.

Where you going? You ain't finna get dance. That's me.

Hey, MJ,

when it comes to racing, always having a game plan when you're going against women that are that are great as those that you went against today. Or, well, what time? It's 130.

It's 138 out there, huh?

It's,

yeah, it's like 2.30. It's like 2.30 in the afternoon here on Wednesday.
No, Tuesday.

You always have a game plan going to a race like that. What part of the race is your strength? Would you say?

I would like to say my strength in my race is my start.

Start. Yes.

But sometimes I have a tendency, like I think I've been so focused on trying to make the other part of my races better.

It's almost kind of like I find, I find comfort in knowing, not being complacent or prideful or anything like that, but like my start is

kind of like the part of the race where I don't necessarily have to worry about it.

It just, it with my start, it just, it has more so to do with how aggressive I am, attacking the front side angle and things like that.

But I really try my hardest to focus on the other parts of the race. So like the transition, the acceleration, the keeping up with my frequency.

Like I've always had the frequency, but in the past, I just wasn't strong enough to be able to meet or

let it get the best of me, if that makes sense.

So like my legs could be moving this fast, but then if my arms ain't doing that, like if I can't keep up with the amount of turnover and frequency that I have, then that's when things start to go wrong in the race.

So I feel like this year, just in that race alone, like I feel like

I feel like my acceleration and my transition was probably like the best I've ever had.

Yeah.

When you look at a race

and training, I'm sure your coach is drilling your head. There's two ways to increase speed, stride length and stride frequency.

How far are you out and how quickly do you pick them up and put them down? You look at you saying, boat, he's the perfect sprinter.

You talk about a guy that had a stride length and he had the stride frequency and it's taking him probably 40 steps to run 100 meters. So when you said, I'm a starter.

But for some reason, was it in the back of your mind? Did you know, did you see that Tobogo had false started? Is that in the back of your mind? Like, look, I am not going to blow this.

I still believe even with these women in this race, you got Talou and you got Alfred and you got Clayton and you got Sharika Jackson and you got Shakari. They're in this race.

But in the condition that I'm in right now, they can't beat me. The only way, the only person that can beat Melissa Jefferson Wooden is if I fall start.
If I don't false start,

They can't see me. They ain't getting nothing but tail pipes to date.

And it's true because I think it's crazy because I did the same thing at US trials. Like, I feel like this year, my best start was probably when I ran at Pre-Fontaine and Eugene.

So like maybe about a couple of weeks out before U.S. trials, but even like going through the rounds at U.S.
trials, I was very,

I was very, like, I played it safe with all of my starts through the rounds, but it was just, I think, I think, like, I agree with you.

I think that I know what I have in the tank and i don't want to put myself in a predicament to mess that up so i'd rather play it safe than to you know have that one time where i think like oh no this is the one and then it'd be it's a little bit too too much so yeah

is is it a situation mj that maybe you get a diamond league meet where you don't have to run the rounds it's one time it's one crack you know i'm i'm i go over there a couple days earlier i get acclimated i don't have to get off a plane and i'm running in three three hours, something like that.

Well, I go over there and I get acclimated for a couple of days and I only got one race. Is it a situation like that where you feel you can put something together?

Because we're asking you to do an awful lot. And I understand it's three, you know, to put rounds together and then run fast at the end.

Because even though you're trying to be as efficient as possible, you're still moving at a pretty good rate. You're still burning gas, so to speak.
And so, do you think a 10-5,

it was possible, but what do you think about if you just get that one race? So you know what? This is it.

Yeah,

I think without a doubt it would have happened because then it would have just been like one and done. Like, this is it.
You only get

the tanks. Yep.
Empty the tank. That's literally it.

When you think about it, no American woman, and we've had some fast, only one American woman has ever won faster than your 1061. Carmeletta, good friend, hey, she runs 1064.
We got Shakari at 1065.

We got Marion Jones at 1065. We got some, so you're in a very elite company.

I believe in the next year's year, maybe two, you're going to

join Elaine and Flojo, that 10-4, 10-5-ish group. Have you thought about it? When you wrote your goals down coming into this year, was 10-5 on that paper?

So 10-5 this year, writing down my goals, 10-5 wasn't on the paper. 10-6 definitely was, though i had i wrote down 1068 and then when i ran 1065 at trials it was kind of just like oh well excuse you

what you're talking about actually

to my own self so um but then it just like a testament to the work that i put in and me knowing that like you know um I'm a very firm believer in my faith and I know that the journey that I'm on, the journey that I'm walking, like God, it's, I'm right where I'm supposed to be, where I'm supposed to be.

And so I can't put a limit on what I think that I can accomplish.

If I say that I believe in him wholeheartedly to the fullest extent and that he's literally guided my steps, then there's no possible way that I could put, you know, a limit on what I do.

So, and the same thing goes for the 200. Like I ran 20, I had written down 21.9.
That was my end goal for the 200 for me this year. And I ran 21.99

in

rain and 68 degree weather. So I'm like, okay, Melissa, like, what are you actually talking about? Like, what do you actually think you know? Right.

So those are not favorable conditions, cold and rain. The last thing a sprinter wants to see.
Now, a distance runner, he okay with the cool. Yeah, he's like, what's up?

He wants it. They want it to be cool.
But as a sprinter, the way you're bound tight, you want it nice and, you know, 75. I do 75.
Yeah. Give me a little nice little tailwind, but you don't want windy.

You don't want rain. You go slipping and all that other stuff.
So now, and I'm looking at this race, and I'm looking at the women that's in this race. Yourself and Julian Lafford has run 1070.

You know, Sharika Jackson runs 1065. Shelly Ann has run 1060.

Talou had run 1070, I think 1075.

She's run a monster time. So you got everything that you could possibly hope for.
You're like, you know what? You look at her ride, you're like, yeah, yeah.

You're like, yeah,

this is all barbecue chicken, oxtail.

Yeah, I mean, well, you're feeling good. So, how did you feel going into, how did you feel coming into the championship? Because you had run, you were the favorite.
You had run all the times.

And I kept like, well, damn, you put, you had, you know what, what I knew, Melissa, when you put back-to-back 10-6s, I said

there ain't been a whole lot of women that can back up 10-6 with another 10-6. When you back that up, I said that if she don't fall start, ain't nobody beating her.

is that when you knew you was ready to run fast really fast

i

i think i knew after i ran

philly's grand slam that this was gonna be like that i feel like that's when it started before then but it was really like okay no i i feel like it was i put the stamp on it like no this is your year to become a world champion it was after that meet and then going into trial or going into pre-fontaine you know was the rematch of the olympic podium um very much so uh it almost looked pretty identical to the um the finals that we had last year in paris so it was kind of like all right they beat you that time don't let them beat you again and

going into the race a couple days ago i remember we were in the call room and then we were they were about to walk us out for the final and i sat there and i just told myself and i was like melissa tonight is your night but it's not going to be given to you you're going to have to take it like don't just think that it's going to come to you and then i looked around and all the women that i was getting ready to race against they had all beaten me before and i said well they won't get me twice and i was the last thing

before i got to the line

i was the last thing i said before i got to the line and then after the gun went off it was just like well here we go

i don't i can honestly say and i follow track and feel and everybody knows i'm a big track and feel fan i don't know if i've ever seen anybody finish as strong as you did I mean, because when Till Clayton challenged you, it's almost like race horses.

Because a lot of times, talking to Bob Bafford and some famous trainers, Ocho, they say they'll tell their jockey, let the horse pull up next to him.

That horse knows he's in a competition against this other horse. He just needs that somebody pulls up to his bumper.
And he knows he's there. Now he gets another gear.

Melissa, when Till Clayton pulled up,

I was like, okay. Oh, I said, oh, ooh.

And then you like,

where are you? Do you act? Where are you going?

I ain't even hit this turbo. I ain't dropped this nitrous on you yet.

Ooh.

I said, well, damn.

Did you know?

Have you seen, have you re-watched the race? Did you see that you got another gear? Did you see that for your own self? I did. So crazy enough, I did see it.

When I heard the gun go off, I remember me getting out and I was just like, okay, you got to clear the pack. You got to clear the pack.

And then I got to the middle of the race and then it kind of went blank for a a second and then the closer we got to the line i was just like don't do that thing you do where you like roll your shoulders get all crazy and just run through the line and then after i ran through the line it was kind of like oh i think i won but i need to know i need to see with my own eyes that i actually won so i didn't really feel myself hit that other gill it was just about really like just trying to trying to stay clear of everybody else are you are you nervous before races i i think about football games and right before kickoff the music is playing and before they kick the ball off, I got butterflies in my stomach.

My stomach is tight. I'm nervous until I actually have contact or I catch a touch of ball.
Like it's almost, I don't want to use the word scared, but nervous.

Before a race like that, before you go in the blocks, is there, are your nerves okay? How do you calm yourself down?

The biggest thing I do is just listen to music. And I.
I kind of get a sense of that too. Like leading up.

So I was here about maybe a week before we started actually competing because we had relay camp and everything so

i think that was probably the longest week of my life because it was just like okay melissa you know you're ready to run there's no need to be anxious like just let the days go by and then the time difference here was crazy so the first couple of days it was like no matter how late i tried to go to sleep i was still waking up at four or five a.m and then it was like i finally got to the point to where I was waking up at six.

I'm like, okay, that's a little bit of progress. But then it was just still like trying to get to the line.
So I think think if anything, like, I don't be really, really nervous.

I just be, I just have like a lot of, I'd be anxious in a sense. But I'm also like you too, like I'll, um,

I'll, the minute I get to the warmup area and I start warming up, I'm like, okay, let's do this. Like I'm ready now.

Yeah. You're in your, you're in your element.

Yes. Exactly.
In my element. We're safe.
I'm looking at this relay. Now, I don't know who's going to be on the relay.
I'm sure you and Shakari because you guys made the finals.

You're the fastest woman in the world. I don't know if we've seen a situation where the fastest woman in the world run lead off

because you're such an outstanding starter. And so.

Hey, what up, y'all? It's DJ Envy from the Breakfast Club. Now, picture this.
You open a car door, you step inside, and there's no driver in the front seat. The car is driving itself.

handling everything from pickup to drop off. That's what hits you.
Waymo isn't just another ride share. It's the future of rideshare.
It's a total Waymoment.

It's the feeling when you finally get a minute to yourself where you can sit back, relax, and actually enjoy the ride. No mystery car, no small talk, just you and your moment on the go.

Download the Waymo app and request your first ride today. And now, Superhuman Shaq.

I keep telling them not to say that. I'm no superhuman.
Believe it or not, I struggle with moderate obstructive sleep apnea, or OSA.

In adults with obesity, moderate to severe OSA is a condition where breathing is interrupted during sleep with loud snoring, choking, gasping for air, and even daytime fatigue.

Let's just say it can sound a lot like this.

Sound familiar? Learn more at don't sleep on OSA.com. This information is provided by Lilly, a medicine company.
Incoming with the old gays.

It's Jessie, Bill, Robert, and Mick with a special bonus episode of Silver Linings with the Old Gays.

No matter what time of year it is, we know it's important to uplift the spirit of pride, which is relatively easy when Palm Springs celebrates in November.

The first pride I went to, it made me feel like I was really part of something.

People being so joyous in the streets and being themselves.

We've really come a long way and I realized I am standing on the shoulders of so many millions of queer people who sacrificed their lives for what we have today.

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I don't know what you want to share because the relays are going to probably come after the 200. So you'll probably have some other women that's going to, you know, qualify.

Have you guys decided on a race order?

Yeah, so

it's pretty, I would say it's pretty much set in stone. I think what's going to end up happening is that

this is just as of today, obviously.

I know that I will be leading it off and then

my train, basically, I'll be on, it'll be my training partners on the um, yep. So, me to TT to Kayla White to Shakari is the last I've heard of.

Last I've heard of anything

this is like unofficial, okay? So, if something changes, just say I, I, I, okay, that's what I'm saying. Disclaimer.

So, think about that, Ocho. We got the fastest woman in the world running lead off.
Hey, the stagger already caught. I don't know who y'all got.
I don't know who.

Hey, we're probably going to get lane five, but six, seven, and eight,

nine. Y'all need static chairs.
Y'all buy what you're a.

I'm switching them in that order. Cause you're not finna make me look bad and walk this to have the stagger walk down on me.
Cause what's the head is caught.

what's behind stage behind that's what coach used to tell her son what is the head is caught what's behind stage behind because you already know she gonna eat up that stagger because ain't nobody else got their best runners on the on the first leg most people put their horses they put them at the second or they put them at the third occasionally they'll sprinkle that the uh uh uh the ankle leg but you could be so far behind it doesn't matter unless you you sane but ain't nobody got no you sane we got you saying and she running first leg for the america y'all

hey hey you need to hit them hey hit them with that peace out

hey just get the baton around the track that's all you got to do you we got the fastest four women. Let me take that back.
We got the fastest six women.

You take anybody six women that's currently going to be in this relay. We got the fastest six.
Get the sticks around the track. That's all you got to do.
Yep. That's all we got to do.
We got this.

We got this. We got this.

We got it. Because we got it to a great start.
We won the gold in the woman's discus. We won the Krauser, won the shot.

His first meet all year.

All year.

Three-time Olympic gold, three-time world champion. He's only the second man to win three consecutive world championships.
Oh, we've been doing a what the hell are we?

We've done a weather gold or something, didn't we? Oh, we're gonna win the gold. We're gonna, hey, we're gonna get this gold in the 100-meter hurdle too.
Cordell Tinch, I'm going on the record.

Cordell Tinch is gonna get the gold.

I'm going with Cordell.

I'm going with Cordell. Yeah, you're going with Cordell?

Okay, okay,

okay, okay.

Yeah, for sure. He's been running great.

He's really been, he's the only one that's going on to 13. There'd be a lot of guys, 13 flat, 1301, 1305, 1310.

Hey,

he can cover some ground. So I'm going with Cordell.

Going with Cordell. You know what I'm saying? Cordell.

I mean, so have, so when you win the goal and you go back to your room, could you rest? Or were you just so excited? Like, you just look at that, like that goal, like, damn. damn.

So what's crazy is after, after we do media and then

the other things, I waited. We got back to the hotel room.
And then I actually had a chance to like meet up with my family and everything.

So my parents and I have aunts, uncles, and cousins out here too. So I had a pretty good crowd of people to come all the way over here to support me.

So I spent some time with them. And that was good.
And then by the time I think I got to bed, maybe around 3 a.m. But I was actually proud of myself.
I slept for six hours.

And I feel like that's one really.

Yeah, because last year after Paris, I slept for all of like three and then woke up the next morning and was on my phone just checking everything.

So, so

who's DM'd you and said congratulations? Is there any like celebs or other athletes or entertainers that's congratulated you? Okay, so I have I have one.

I have to make sure I say his last name right, but his name is Daniel,

I believe it's Daniel.

Oh, cool.

Daniel LaBelle. Daniel LaBelle.
So he.

Who is he? He's really big on social media. He posts like different videos and it'd be like little funny stuff.
It'd be like,

I believe one time he raced against speed. Okay.

But yeah, I just like his videos. It's like

he has like, 81 point 8.1 million followers. And I saw he, he messaged me.
He was like, congratulations. And I was like,

oh my God,

thank you. We got to get your followers up too.
We got to get you up into the three and four million. Yeah,

y'all do us a favor. Go follow.

Give them your tag. Give them your handle.
How can they find you on Twitter?

Okay, so on Twitter, my name is at Melissa, M-E-L-I-S-S-A

Janae, J-A-N-A-E 21.

Okay.

And then on Instagram,

oh yeah, on IG, it's at underscore underscore Melissa J19.

Wow.

Were you always fast, Melissa? I mean, growing up in South Carolina,

could you, I mean, I don't know if you have siblings, but were you the, were you the fastest

girl in the neighborhood? Were you the fastest? Could you outrun the boys?

Some of them, some of them I could. It was definitely like that.
But I was like always fast on like the level that I was. So I went to a smaller school.

My high school, I'm from the country. So my high school was like, we went back and forth between 1A and 2A.
And in South Carolina, you know, that's like real small.

My graduating class was probably like,

my husband will laugh at me, but it's probably like 80 kids.

Well, I graduated with 60.

Okay. So, yeah.
So about 80 kids in my graduating class. And then Coastal Carolina, you know, obviously is a smaller D1 school.
The Seattle players. Yep.
Shine suck. And then,

so that was like a smaller D1 school too. So it's pretty much like I've lived the underdog life of just, you know, being fast at the level that I am and being in that area.

And then it wasn't until like 2022 where everything,

like one meeting just literally changed everything. That's, because that's what I'm, that's what I was, that's what I wanted to ask you because you said I was fast for where I was.

It wasn't like when you go look at Shaqara, she's at Texas at a big, at a, where they got 3,000 kids and she runs what she runs and she goes to in a freshman year she wins the MCAAs or you see Gabby Thomas, how she bursts on the scene or you see Sidney McLaughlin.

That wasn't the case for you. When did you realize you could be a pro? Or

was that always your goal to be a professional tracking field runner?

I didn't think that I could

be a crazy enough. I knew that one day I would go to the Olympics.
I didn't know when, but I just knew that I could because of a coach that I had in high school, my freshman year, high school.

It was probably, I think it it was my, that was my second year doing

high school track. And then when I got to college and I had the coach there, that's when I was like, you know, I think I want to do, this is what I want to do for a living.

And I was, I got to college the fall of 2019. So that's when it really just was like, okay, I know this is what I want to do.

I don't know how I'm going to get there, but I'm going to just trust the people around me to help me get me to where I'm supposed to be.

And that's kind of how I went about it.

Yeah, but I'm looking, you know, when you choose to do something, it is just you because track and field is a really lonely is a it's you versus you, it's you and your thoughts, it's you and your training, it's you and your nutrition.

So everything is dependent on you, and ain't a whole lot of money in track and feel.

I mean, you can count it probably on like one hand, maybe a Usain that made a bunch of money, or Simone Bowes, or Michael Phelps,

Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis.

It's not, you know, flush with money, right especially for for the women um and so what why why i mean i mean obviously you go to your college you're like i'm gonna get a degree but why tracking field you just had something deep down inside of you say you know what i can make a living doing this yeah and then i say it all the time like i just like this is this is what i was this is what i'm here to do like i'm here to run i'm here yes this is my gift that i'm supposed to be sharing with the world and so the minute i got an understanding of that and realized like obviously obviously the higher I go in the sport, the more sacrifices I'm going to have to make, the more I'm going to

be disciplined. And like you say, like

obviously there's nowhere near as much money in our sport than there is in like football or basketball, but it's also just

the resources that you do have, the money that you do have, being smart with that.

investing in yourself in order to make sure that you're becoming the best athlete that you could possibly be.

Like, I feel, and I feel like it was so easy for me because I grew up always not having the resources that everybody else had. Never needed for anything.
I've always, I've always had what I needed.

But when it came to like, you know, sports or the schools that I went to and things like that, we never had

the same resources as the bigger schools. So it was just like, okay, Melissa, control the things that are in your control.

And then the things that are out of your control, leave that to whoever it's supposed to be to. And everything else will work itself out.

Melissa, I'm looking at you. You're a thin, you're a thin young lady.

So obviously you had to get stronger. You had to get,

and I know women don't want to hear this, but you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. You had to get bigger.
You had to get stronger. You were not strong enough to carry that.

You needed to be able to propel yourself down the track. So women, don't be up.
If Shanna Sharp call a woman big, say she need to get bigger. But you'll understand what I'm talking about.

But you needed to grow. You needed to fill that frame out.
And

you're still a thin young lady, but

you're probably, what, 15 pounds heavier than what you were probably in high school, college?

If that.

If that. So what's crazy is, I think

weight-wise, well, and I was because

of the, so yeah, I'm, I'm around the same way I was, but I'm definitely

have more of the muscle mass that I'm supposed to have, but I've definitely leaned out this year because I started working with the chef and everything and just like really paying attention to what I hear that on everybody.

Wow. Wow, Ocho.
She started working with a chef and now she's the working child.

Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
She said she's working with a chef. She didn't say what she was eating.

She ain't eating bulljive. You don't look like that eating bull jive.

McDonald's.

You like McDonald's too?

I love McDonald's. But, but, sorry, Ocho.
I will say,

I have not been eating fast food. The last time I had fast food was before my wedding in February.
And I said I wouldn't have any fast food until after

I do all the things I want to do. That's okay.
That's okay. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you heard what she said, right?

Did you hear what she said?

Did you hear what she said?

She hasn't had it since February. That's okay.
Because she's preparing for tonight or yesterday for that matter. It's okay.

No, she's she ain't gonna have no fast food until she gets back to the states. But guess what? She said, you know what? You see, she said, you know what, Ocho, you know what?

I'm let me cut this fast food out and let me see just how great I can be. That ain't got nothing to do with it.
Because she listen,

she was fast while she was eating it.

So

she's faster now that she's not eating it. No, you mad.
You mad because you

she just told you she hasn't had fast food since her baddie. That was, she said, February.
She's been fast all her life.

But what you saying? She wasn't this fast.

She wasn't this fast. She was last year and the year before that.

No, she wasn't.

No, she ran 10-6 back to back eating McDonald's. So what you're saying?

Didn't she just tell you she hadn't had McDonald's since February? She ran those times in June. She did.
In July. Chicken McNuggets.
I saw it.

But But

so now you shift your focus to the 200.

There has not been a whole lot of women to win the world championship in the 10 to 2.

Has that crossed your mind? You start putting yourself in very, very elite company. Oh, yeah.
No, the goal this year is,

I won't say what's because it ain't done yet. The goal of this year is to win everything.
Like,

I set up, yep, I set out that goal at the beginning of the year when I talked with my coaches and I said, well, you know, obviously at first, like for the 200, because I'm a very realistic person too.

And I've fought back and forth with me running the 200 for a long time. But now I'm starting to embrace it.
So I'm like, okay, if you stop playing around, then you can actually win the whole thing. So

it went from that to just telling my coaches, like, I want to be able to take the 200 more serious to know I'm not only going to be like a contender, like I want to be at the at the forefront, you know, like I want to to be able to say like i came away with the gold medal and the 200 and i know that the only other woman to do so at a world championships is shelly and frazier primer shellyan

who happens to be the greatest she's the greatest sprinter she is a back-to-back eight and twelve she won the gold uh the gold medal and then you got you and then she got five world championships in the 100 and she won the 200.

So she's the, you're absolutely right. That's why many label her the greatest woman sprinter in the history of the sport.
And it's hard. Look, it's hard to deny it.

I know Elaine has won back-to-back 100th and 200.

Bless her heart. But when you look at the totality and the longevity, she won a world championship in 135.

I was in that race, by the way.

It lasts. I remember.
There.

Man, Melissa, we're happy. Nightcap, the family is very happy, very pleased.
Congratulations. Thank you.
Thank you for taking time out of your schedule schedule to come on and talk to us.

But yay, this is not the end.

So, what's next? After the world championships is over, your season's over. Now, you go eat some McDonald's or you go get some oxtails or you go get some shrimp.

Oh, you from Low Country. You down in Georgetown near Charleston.
So, you going, you going to eat some

rice, neck bones. That's what I'm talking about.
That's even what I'm talking about. And waits.

She's down there geechies. She's down there in Georgetown.
She's wearing.

Hey, Ocho, she'll tell you, they got up when they, when they brought us, they got off the boat down there close to where she at.

Man, congratulations. I know everybody in South Carolina is very proud of you.
We're proud.

We're extremely proud of what you've been able to do, but don't be satisfied. Be greedy.
Oh, yeah. Be greedy.

This is what I tell people.

They say, but man, they say, Shannon, if you cheat on the test, man, you don't want to get them all right. I say, if I'm going to cheat, I'm getting 100.

You there now. Don't be satisfied.
Well, I got one goal. I happy if I win a silver, the Bronx.
No, no, no, no, no, no. Double goal.
Do something that very few, and we don't know how.

So think about it. In the history of the World Championships, the World Championship started in 1983.
I don't know if you know this. In 1983, in LC, I know

only Shelly Ann has been able to back it up with the 100 and the two. So you get an opportunity to do something that hadn't been in 40 years of world championships.

Whoo!

It'd be special. Congratulations.
Thank you.

Congratulations. We're going to be pulling for you.
We're going to be watching. Hey,

when you get that 200 gold, come on back. Come on back.
Okay. Come on back.
Come on back.

All right. We'll see you.

Listen, Jefferson Wooden, the Olympic

World Championship 100-meter. gold medalist with the fourth fastest time ever run.
Show us the medal. Yeah, I was just about to say that.

You should have had the medal on the whole. Oh, you got it in the box.
There you go. There you go.
Look at it.

Oh, it's not.

Yeah, there we go. There we go.
We can see it back. Back it up from the camera so it focuses.
Back it up a little bit, Melissa. Okay.

Hold on, let Dick.

Let me just turn. Right there, right there.
There you go. There you go.

Nice.

Yep. Got it last night.
Round of applause. Melissa Jefferson Wood.
Congratulations. Stay healthy.
Hey,

get all of them. 100, 200, 4x1.

They might need a leg.

They might need a leg on the 4x4, but I told them to hold off. Please hold off.
If they want to win, they don't put me in there. Not this year.

I need some time. I need some time.

Well, congratulations. Go enjoy the rest of the evening with your family and your husband.
Tell everybody at Nightcap, we said hello, and we look forward to talking to you very, very soon. Thank you.

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