Quitting Job for Track and Field, USA Track and Field Legend Reveals Harsh Truth: “Hadn’t Run in Four Years”

It is difficult to stay away from the track for someone who had easily won all the track events when she was in her 8th grade PE class. The same happened with the US track and field legend when she left the sport and started an advertising job—she had a master’s degree in mass communications. But the fire in her ignited when she saw her teammates on the track and winning titles for the country. Who is this track and field star we are talking about? Any idea?
Mechelle Lewis Freeman is the head coach of the USA team, who left track in 2002. After a four-year hiatus from the track, she faced a pivotal moment: stick to a stable career or return to the sport. “I wanted to take a chance on myself and quit my job,” Freeman revealed. She listened to her heart and fulfilled her dream to participate in the Olympics. How did she prepare herself for the return?
Mechelle Lewis Freeman felt pressured
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Sprinter Mechelle Lewis Freeman shared her insights about the pressure of coming back to the track and quitting her job. Freeman shared all the details in an interview hosted by Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green on a YouTube channel named Ready Set Go. When asked what made her itch, she responded, “Just seeing, I mean, everyone was still competing, you know, uh, South Carolina; all of my teammates were making Olympic teams, 2004 world championship teams, in 2005.” The decision wasn’t easy—pressure and the passage of time weighed heavily on her mind.
The journey back wasn’t immediate. Inspired by the successes of her South Carolina teammates, Freeman embraced the daunting challenge of full-time training, betting everything on her raw talent and determination. “I was training with those athletes every single day, and that inspired me,” she added. The mastermind behind Team USA’s relay told herself, “You are that talented as well,” and quit her well-established job in the top advertising agency in New York after seeing her friends on the track.
With that self-motivation, her journey started. Reflecting on the decision, she said, “I wanted to take a chance on myself and quit my job and actually start training full-time again… I hadn’t run in four years, and we crossed that finish line, and my name came up in the fourth spot by 100th of a second.” Just nine months later, she proved her worth by earning a spot on the 2007 World Championship team and then in the 4×100 m relay team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Freeman’s inspiring story reminds us all to “stand up for your gift,” even when the odds seem stacked against you.
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Freeman is known as a mastermind of relay for the US team
Freeman left connection from the track in 2002 as she nabbed an injury, and her dream to go to the 2004 Olympics shattered. She decided to focus on her education and got a master’s degree in mass communications from J-school. But as they say, you can’t take sports out of athletes; the same happened with Mechelle Chanai Lewis Freeman, OLY. The fire of sports was again ignited after seeing other fellow athletes’ victories.
Mechelle Lewis Freeman surprised everyone with her performance after four long years with a couple of years of training. She ran for USA Track and Field and won gold in the 4×100 relay at the 2007 World Championships and silver in the 4×100 relay and 100-meter sprint at the 2007 Pan-American Games. Also represented the 4×100 relay team of the USA in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.
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Later in 2015, she founded TrackGirlz to help girls succeed in track and field. After coming on track, she never left it for anything, and later in 2022, Freeman was appointed as a head coach of the USA team—her first event as a coach—the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. The team included Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson, Twanisha Terry, and Gabrielle Thomas. Freeman is considered a mastermind as her team bagged gold in the championship, that too defeating Jamaica—known for the gold standard in sprinting.
Freeman gives all the credit to the team’s hard work; she said, “Every decision was about the team, not individuals.” Life is a beautiful journey and sometimes takes a sharp ‘U-turn,’ and the same happened for Mechelle Lewis Freeman. There was a point when she left the track and focused on her normal job, but today she is a head coach. What do you think of her story? Tell us in the comments below.