Jefferson-Wooden's path to world's fastest woman
On Her Turf sits down with reigning 100m and 200m world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden to talk about her journey to becoming the fastest woman in the world and the power she draws from her 'village.'
Video Transcript
On her turf, scene Melissa, take one.
What does it mean to you to be referred to as the world's fastest woman?
Melissa Jefferson Wood.
We have an Olympic legend right here, Melissa Jefferson Wood.
Melissa Jefferson, she's been undefeated.
The fastest woman in the world.
Ready, go.
Come on, come on.
Ready, go.
Come on, come on.
I did start running at the age of five.
Go.
Come on, come on, come on.
Good job.
It was something that I always felt the love for.
Growing up, going to school, we joked with her because she ran to the bus practically every morning.
That was her thing.
Here she goes.
She takes off across the field to catch the bus.
At that point, we should've realized, okay, there's something different about this young lady.
She's always been just very determined.
Once she has her mind set to something, like, that is what, what she's going to do.
I was a busy body, in a sense.
I wanted to be the kid that was always active, that was always getting into things, just wanting to find the path that was gonna be for me.
She wasn't afraid to try anything.
She was brave.
Anything that she put her mind to, she just did it.
If I had to go back and think about when exactly running took over for me, I would say it was probably freshman year of high school.
I ended up going to the state meet and placing first in the 100, the 200, and the 4x1.
And after the meet was over, I was kinda like, "Okay, well, let's- let's do it again next year."
And he's like, "What do you mean?
Like, we can go and do this in a couple of weeks at a meet."
And that's how I got introduced to Junior Olympics and summer track and field.
When we realized how much she loved running, that was our life on the weekend.
Hershey track and field.
I remember seeing all of these kids from all of these different states from all over the country, and I remember saying to myself, "Wow, like, of all the kids who could be here, Melissa, you're one of them."
For college, I decided to go to Coastal.
Coastal gave me the opportunity to grow.
Without them, I don't know if I would have grown and developed to being the athlete that I am right now.
I'm all about where I'm trying to go, and so coming off of the 60-meter title, there was a lot of people now who I had caught their eye, so I was getting picked on prediction shows.
And I wouldn't necessarily say that I got caught up in that, but I think I put so much pressure on wanting to win.
I was at a point to where I had the decision on if I wanted to go pro or not, or go back to school.
Do you stay even though it'll cost you professionally, or do you take the chance and bet on yourself knowing that if you move, you might get the world laid at your feet?
I decided to make the leap of faith and leave my collegiate coach.
In 2023, I was putting in the work and I was doing the things that I wanted to do, but I wasn't in mental shape to be able to achieve the things that I wanted to achieve, which was make the team.
The US Track and Field Team is the hardest team to make, ever.
'23 didn't go the way we wanted it to.
It's a lot of learning, a lot of adjusting.
You don't know what it's like to be a pro until you are one.
That's your US team to the world championships, Richardson, Brown, and Tamari Davis.
I decided to join a professional training group.
You have to go and train with the best.
Iron sharpens iron.
On a turf, scene TT, take one.
Me and Melissa met in 2022 when we both made our first US championship team.
Started seeing her around on the circuit.
Come 2023, I started calling her, like, an honorary member of Star Athletics.
Well, we refer to Star Athletics as the block, and I was kinda like, "You know, the block is always open to you."
And the rest was kinda just history.
Me joining Star Athletics definitely gave me the mental edge that I was missing in 2023.
We come to practice and we train so hard.
Like, not only just physical, but the mental part of it is really what I feel like is the game changer.
Even when we dying in practice, it'll be moments where I'll take the lead and I'll pull the girls through, or I can't take the lead that day, so they'll be like, "Okay, well, I'll lead this next one" and they'll step up and they'll pull me through.
I love the fact that it's not one of those where she's trying to be great and I'm trying to be great, and we can't train with each other.
I feel like we do a great job of being able to understand that all of us are great in our own right.
All of us have different strengths of, like Coach tell us, "When you step on the track, I don't know what the outcome gonna be, but I trained all y'all to go out there and do what it is that you want to do."
Those girls, when they say they're sisters, they really, they really do mean it.
They've shown me what it's like to genuinely be a family and look out for one another in a sport where that's sh- not that common.
Making the Olympic team, and then also doing it with my training partners, was like, oh my gosh, this is crazy.
Like, this has been a crazy year.
To think that in December I wasn't doing anything and now I'm here, like, wow.
These girls, these ladies, they're training year-round for 10 seconds a race.
That's all they get.
So there's not much room for errors.
Going out to Paris and that experience with Melissa and being part of the 4x100 that gained a lot of recognition.
The rain just came out of nowhere.
The rain is coming down.
Didn't have any doubt going into that race.
I knew what we were capable of.
Melissa is gonna kick things off for Team USA.
We just went out there trusting one another.
Like, Melissa, you gonna do your job, I'm gonna do my job.
Us being a part of each other's journeys, the chemistry that we all have, like, I feel like it all just played a part.
The USA wins gold.
Even though it feels good to be able to say you played a part in helping a team get to where they needed to be, there's nothing like being able to do that for yourself.
Melissa Jefferson-Woodson, it's a great night for Team USA.
An individual medal just hits differently.
I get the individual bronze, and in my eyes, I'm like crying because I'm like, "This is a gold medal," in my eyes.
Crazy enough, after I won my bronze medal, I turned around and TT was right there.
I was crying at that point, but I hugged her and I said, "Thank you."
But I said thank you because, not because she said congratulations, but I said thank you in a means to say thank you for welcoming me, just being that person who, no matter the circumstances, just always being there.
And vice versa for me, like, I'm always there for her.
Whatever she needs, I will always be there.
TT knows at the end of the day, Louise always got her- no, I'm Thelma, she's Louise.
Thelma always got her back.
After closing the chapter on 2024, I had to look at myself in the mirror and say, "Okay, Melissa, you've been here before in this space.
Being okay with what you felt like was enough."
Like, it was enough to get a bronze medal, but that was for that moment.
My goal has always been to be someone who wins every single time.
I feel like the Prefontaine Classic was a defining moment for me.
It was basically an Olympic rematch of the finals in Paris.
Even though I was really happy with how last year went, looking back at it now, I definitely wasn't satisfied.
The competitor in me was also like, "No, you're better than a third place finish."
And I remember telling myself before I went out there, I was just like, "They're not gonna beat you twice."
Got on the line, and the gun went off.
And I could feel Julian next to me the whole time, but I was just like, "Just keep going, just keep going, just keep going.
Focus on you, focus on you" Jefferson-Woodson, and it's gonna be Wooden.
Yes, it is.
Jefferson-Woodson on the inside outdoes the Olympic champ.
And I won, and I was so happy, and I was like, "Come on, I feel like a star."
I tell her all the time she's my favorite athlete ever.
Getting to see it firsthand, the dedication and the patience with herself, and when things aren't going great, and the way she exudes energy when things are going the way she wants them to, I love everything about what she's turning into and who she's becoming.
I went out there, and no matter what or who was around me, I focused on me.
I focused on Melissa.
And I feel like that's literally what everyone has been seeing this year, is just me focusing on me.
And I rode that all the way into Tokyo.
And they're out and away.
Melissa Jefferson-Woodson had a good start as she is out and away.
Tina Clayton trying to close, but it will be Melissa Jefferson-Woodson in a championship record.
To go undefeated in the 100 meter the entire year, that is insane.
Well, how about it?
Bringing an undefeated season into the World Championships in Tokyo, and you just crossed the line as the gold medalists put it around your neck.
Just describe the feel.
Amazing, amazing, amazing.
Before we left for Tokyo , I told her, I was like, "We have to go to dinner."
And she's like, "Why do we have to go to dinner?
Like, you're coming to Tokyo, too."
I was like, "Because this is gonna be the last time we can go and sit in a restaurant as normal people."
Here comes the 100-meter world champion.
Her and Sherica Jackson off the turn.
And Jefferson-Woodson in the lead, beginning to build some space between her and the rest of the field.
The sweep is realized.
Fastest time in the world this year for Melissa Jefferson-Woodson.
Because when you come back, I'm like, "You're gonna be famous famous."
Like, we're gonna have to get private rooms and things like that.
Melissa, what does it mean for you to complete the sweep here?
It means a lot.
For me to be able to come out here and double, and then walk away with two gold medals in the events, it just says a lot.
I always knew she'd be the fastest woman in the world, like, and to me, she's only gonna get faster.
Like, sky's the limit for her, and just seeing where she is right now, it's- it- it- it's amazing.
Every time when she cross the finish line at, in the finals of an event, I get emotional because I was allowed to see it.
In 2018, she, donated her stem cells to give me a second lease on life.
I remember going to get tested, and I literally had a feeling that it was gonna be me.
And one day I came home after band practice, and they sat me down and they were like, "Well, like, you're a match and you're the preferred match, but would you wanna do this?"
And I'm like, "Of course I'm gonna do it.
It's my dad."
When I see her cross the finish line, it's- it's- it's like, you know, real emotional, real special, 'cause I'm- I'm blessed to have another chance, and it's because of her.
It literally takes a village.
That has been instilled in me since I was brought into this world.
My village is the best.
People ask me what my why is, why I do what I do, it's them.
Having people like that in your corner just, it just means the most.
To always have their support no matter what, when it's good, when it's bad, when you have to take a step back and really look bigger picture, make the sacrifices, like, they're- they are there every step of the way.
They pour into me, and I feel like I owe them the success that I have.
What she's accomplished over this year, to be able to witness that as a mom, I mean, I can look to her now and gain strength from her.
We have the opportunity to watch history being made, and it's like, "That's our baby."
Without my village, there is no Melissa.
2025 was for them, and because of that village, I'm sitting here today, crying, but sitting here today.
She's really just getting started, like, we're still early into this thing.
At the end of the day, this is the journey that I'm supposed to be walking.
I do it in my way.
I do it in a way that best fits me.
This is Melissa.
