In keeping with her parent’s teaching to always dedicate 100% of her efforts to accomplishing her goals, Dasia Reed propelled herself right to the top of the 2020 Junior Olympics podium. While this was here 3rd time competing at Junior Olympics, this was her first time competing with the tools she needed to perform to her capacity.
Dasia describes her experience as fulfilling. Now let’s read it from her point of view. Leading up to the competition, I was pretty nervous. Although I was fully aware of the training I’d put in, I knew that I would be competing against some of my top competitors. My goals going into the 2020 Junior Olympics were to PR, become the National Champion in all three of my races and to break at least one record.
Everyday was filled with a mixture of excitement, anxiety, nervousness and fear. That is until the gun shot sounds. Then, all I feel is laser focus. I say a little prayer to myself and then recite a last rundown of my plan of execution. I block out all distractions and focus on my race.
The one major difference between my experience in 2020 and the previous years was having my coach by my side every step of the way. Thirty minutes before each race, Coach Hightower took me to warm up. He would walk me through my entire race making sure I remembered every phase. That evening, we reviewed videos of my race, discussed what was executed correctly, adjustments needed and timing. I’ve never felt so prepared waiting at the starting line. I was finally equipped to focus on my race and not the competition on either side of me.
At the end of the day, I was extremely proud of my performances. I had no idea that I would do so well. I achieved all but one of my goals. I became the 2020 11-year old Girls National Champion in the 100m, 200m and 400m dashes. I surpassed all three of my personal records. As for breaking the records, they’ll go on the 2021 list along with defending my titles and adding the Indoor Championships to my resume.
Copyright © 2020 Speed Capital All Rights Reserved.