Sprinter Teahna Daniels brought her smile and Olympic medal with her to the Maximum Velocity Track & Field Academy at Centre College. (Larry Vaught Photo)
Three years ago Teahna Daniels of Orlando was getting ready to compete in the Tokyo Olympics where she won a silver medal on the USA 4×100-meter relay.
Today she’s in Danville as one of the clinicians for the 12th annual Maximum Velocity Track & Field Academy led by Centre College track/cross country coach Lisa Owens and 1984 Olympian Sharieffa Barksdale who now works for USA Track & Field.
Daniels brought her Olympic medal here to show the 167 campers — a record number for the camp.
“It is still kind of surreal that I have the medal. The Olympic experience in Tokyo was very different (because of COVID). We had so many restrictions. Every day we have to wake up and do a COVID test to determine if you had to quarantine or would be kicked out of the Olympic Village,” she said.
“We could only go to three locations, so we could not see any other sports. It was very isolated but I am still very grateful just to have been part of that monumental year.”
Since her Olympic medal, Daniels has faced adversity. She got COVID at the end of 2021 and that eventually led to a knee injury in 2022.
“I got into 2023 and was dealing with some family stuff after my sister passed away in November of 2022,” she said.
She moved from Austin, Texas, where she went to college back to Orlando in 2023 but had more injuries. She also admits her mental focus was not there, so she is taking this year off from track and says it has been a “life-changing experience” because it has given her time to give back to her community and track.
“Last year I ended up hosting my own camp in Orlando where I had about 65 kids show up and it was a great time. That kind of sparked my passion of pouring into the young younger generation of track and field athletes,” Daniels said. “Now I own my own strength training business and I’m working with kids directly every single day. My mom owns a school and a daycare. So I work with kids there.
“Taking this year off was definitely necessary for my mental and physical wellness. But I’m happy I can have time to pour myself into my other passions.”
Daniels contemplated retiring from track but has changed her approach to training and now feels motivated to get back on the track.
“I know I have some more in me, so let me just lock it in and then get it done next year,” Daniels said.
Daniels met Barksdale at a camp in Orlando last year and since then the two have stayed in contact.
“She reached out to me. She saw that I did my camp last year and have been a part of different camps from then until now. She was like, ‘Do you want to come and be at the speed coach?’ I told her I absolutely wanted to come,” Daniels said.
She worked at a football camp recently put on by former NFL star Ray Lewis where she was around other professional athletes but was the only track athlete. She likes having a lot of other Olympians at Centre College with her to instruct the campers. Daniels was looking forward Wednesday to connecting with Bianca Knight, 2012 Olympic gold medalist in the 4×100 relay, who also went to the University of Texas.
“We’re both power sprinters and we both have to share the same passions of giving back to the kids. so I’ve definitely wanted to connect with her a little bit more,” Daniels said.
The 2024 Olympics start soon in Paris following the USA Track & Field Trials. Daniels will “definitely” watch the Trials because she has friends competing.
“I watched the World Championships last year ,so I definitely can see myself watching the Olympics,” she said. “I want to watch everything? We were all mainly focused on track at the last Olympics, so I definitely want to see gymnastics. I want to see basketball, volleyball and all that stuff.”
Daniels wants to share more than just sports with camp participants this week. She added more elements into the camp she host s to talk about “all the transferable skills that you have when it comes to being an athlete and in using those skills on the outside world with whatever you want to do.”
She said off track advice might be more important to the campers than the skills she can help them with in four days.
“I want them to know just always trust and believe in yourself. If you can create a foundation of just that, everything else is gonna fall into place. It might not look how you think it will but eventually you’ll get to your destination where you’re supposed to be. Always trust and believe in yourself,” she said.
