MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Local track star Melissa Jefferson made her first Olympics appearance last summer at the 2024 summer games in Paris.
Jefferson reflected on her achievements saying, “Girl, you really went to your first Olympic games and came back with two medals. That is rare, not a lot of people in this lifetime can say that they did that. I didn’t necessarily foresee it happening so soon with me being only 23 years old, but I’m grateful that I was able to go out there and represent not only me, God, and my family but also the country.”
Melissa still hasn’t quite comprehended everything she achieved in Paris.
Her journey to the podium started with the 100-meter final, where the weather conditions were not in her favor.
“We were about to start warming up again and it actually started raining, Jefferson said. “I was like ‘wow, really, seriously,’ but then that just kind of went out the window because at that point it was like ‘okay it’s not only raining for me, it’s raining for everyone’.”