JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Track and field is a huge focus at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. And as stars like Sha'Carri Richardson hit the track, spectators will be watching intently.
But before Title IX and the popularity of women in sports, women had to pave the way. Women such as Wilma Rudolph, the fastest woman in the world in 1960. She was a Tigerbelle, a member of the Historically Black University, Tennessee State's track team.
During the Rome Olympics in 1960 nearly the entire U.S track team consisted of Tigerbelles, under legendary coach Edward Temple. Fast Forward to the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, a Jean Ribault High School student stepped onto the national stage, Chandra Cheeseborough. She would go on to become a Tigerbelle, win gold twice in the 1984 games in Los Angeles, and set a trial record in the 400 meter sprint. A record that 40 years later still has not been broken.
"At the 2008 trials I knew the young lady, Sanya Richards-Ross, she was trying to go for the record,” Cheeseborough said. “And as the gun went off, I'm looking at her, I'm watching the clock, I’m looking at her. They're going around the curve and coming to the back stretch and she came across the line and did not break it. I was like yes!"
The record of 49.28 seconds she set on June 19, 1984, during the Olympic trials still stands. Cheeseborough is now the director of track and field at TSU, training future Olympians.
"We had 40 Olympians come out of Tennessee State under coach Edward Temple,” Cheeseborough said. “I am so proud to have my name spoken as a Tigerbelle and as an HBCU representative."
Her name is etched into history as a part of the gold medal winning 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays during the 1984 Olympics. She ran both races about an hour apart.
"You know, it's history, we ran the Olympic record," Cheeseborough said.
She met up with Good Morning Jacksonville Anchor, Keitha Nelson at Savannah State University and looked back at her time as an Olympian.
“Going to the Olympics at 17 we were just having fun,” Cheeseborough said. “We were just so excited we made the team. We were in Montreal, Canada. There were three of us that made it to the Olympics from Tennessee State.”
She was a student at Jean Ribault High School in Jacksonville at the time, but trained with coach Temple at TSU.
“We were excited and just staying up in the village and not doing what we needed to do,” Cheeseborough said with a chuckle. “But after we got that call from coach Temple we got on the right track!”
Cheeseborough was named to three United States Olympic teams but couldn't compete in 1980 in Moscow due to the U.S. boycott. Led by the United States, 66 countries boycotted the games entirely, because of the Soviet–Afghan War. Cheese won the U.S. Olympic Trials in the 200-meter in 1980.
“Not going was disappointing but I was still in college, so in 1984 I had the opportunity to go back,” Cheeseborough said.
It was an experience she describes as unforgettable.
“It's an honor just to do the opening ceremony,” Cheeseborough said. “I know in this day and time it's about the money and winning gold. The more gold medals you win, the more money you get. But it's an experience to walk in the opening ceremony and when you walk in that stadium and everybody is cheering for you, and the United States it so awesome! You can't believe it. It's mind blowing. It's something that everybody if you get the opportunity to do it they should do it. Along with the closing ceremony.”
Homegrown in Duval, Cheeseborough was raised by a single mother who she says always managed to make ends meet.
"My mom was a nurse at one of the local hospitals," Cheeseborough said. "My mom did a great job in making sure that we had what we needed."
Through her nonprofit, Cheeseborough Striving for Excellence, she provides scholarships to deserving student athletes.
"Giving back is very important,” Cheeseborough said. “As a freshman going off to college sometimes you just don't have the basic needs every week. I remember my High School coach sending me a care package every two weeks."
The Track & Field Hall of Famer makes her way back to Duval at least once a year, for the Chandra Cheeseborough Invitational Track & Field Meet. The event honors the legendary standout who was born to lead the way.
"This is what I leave with every student athlete, whatever you start complete it,” Cheeseborough said. “We have so many people starting and they quit. That's near and dear to my heart. Whatever you start, complete it. Finish the course."