MADE INC
to push them a little bit more nowadays . But when we were growing up , my mom didn ’ t want me to get burned out in anything and so she would make sure that every move I made was something that I wanted to do . I didn ’ t even start track until my freshman year in high school .
MADE : When you took track in high school , is that when things took off ? Pun intended .
AE : Once I got to high school - I went to Morgan Park High School , which is a school that was known for track and field on a state and national level - that ’ s the first time I got dedicated to a sport and was actually competitive . Yeah , I grew up doing just “ fun ” stuff . We were kids . I was a real life child ‘ til my senior year of college ( chuckles ). I didn ’ t grow up until like high school , college . I swear . And so , that helped preserve me a little bit when it came to compete . I didn ’ t get burned out .
AE : Yeah , I was running at state . We were winning state championship medals . I went from being a kid to this determined , competitive athlete . I have to credit a lot of that to my coach . I don ’ t think people realize how much of an influence coaches , teachers and adults really have on us because he was a very strict coach now that I look back on it . We had a good life and were still high school kids and bad in our own way . He taught us to be very determined when it came to track . We had to go to sleep at a certain time when we were traveling , this and that . He instilled a lot values that carried over when I went to college and on my own or when I pursued bobsledding . Because doing track and field on a competitive level as a high schooler , that kind of made me realize the type of stuff I wanted to do in life . At first , everyone says they want to be some top athlete or this and that ... but then I started realizing that more work I put in , the better I was .
MADE : We see where the running part came in , but how did you add the bobsled that ultimately lead your Olympic run in 2014 ?
When it came to me pursuing bobsledding - like a different type of Olympic sport - my coach told me about it when I was in college . I went to the University of Illinois ( Urbana-Champaign ). My senior year in college was in 2010 and that ’ s when the last Winter Olympic games were before I competed in them . And so , my coach told me that he heard about this sport bobsledding . And I was like ( just like everybody else ), “ Oh yeah , I know what bobsledding is ... like ‘ Cool Runnings ’”.
MADE : Guilty . That ’ s the first thing that came to mind .
AE : But he was like , “ No , if you look at it on a competitive level a lot of athletes ( Herschel Walker , Vonetta Flowers ) who were really well in their sport , transitioned to the sport of bobsledding and was able to pursue Olympic medals and other big dreams in that sport .” And that ’ s what ’ s really cool about my sport , is that it ’ s considered a second-generation sport . So basically , everybody doesn ’ t grow up doing it . You kind of come from other areas and other avenues and then you pursue it later on in life . So it ’ s kind of like a second chance at the Olympic Games and big dreams . Just competing on an international level . And I think not too many know about it and not too many people like us ( African-Americans ) know about it . So I think my pursuit in this whole journey opens up doors for a lot more to come . Opens up a lot of people ’ s eyes ... especially from Chicago .
MADE : So , basically the message is that it ’ s never too late . Your evolution led you to compete in ways you never thought .
AE : Yeah , so I was in the 2014 Winter Olympics , but I ’ ve been competing on a national and international platform since high school . When I got into sports , I kind of got into it really well and really quick - kind of like what I did when I went into bobsledding . And that allowed to me really stand out like I did with freshman varsity . Our team was really successful .
MADE : Share a picture . What was the feeling and energy of being at the Olympics ?
AE : I went through so many emotions around the Olympic time . First off , I worked my butt off to get to that point . For the sport of bobsledding , I only did it for two years . So like the season before the Olympics and the season of the Olympic Games . So , it took a lot to go into a different sport where I had no background . And then , not only am I coming in trying to be the top athlete , but I also gotta to learn from all these girls whose positions that I ’ m essentially taking . I literally have no idea what I ’ m doing outside the athleticism and the power and strength that I brought with me .
MADE : Those outside skills gave you an advantage though , right ?
AE : That helped me to excel in a sport without working my way up as much as other people , but I still had a lot of room for improvement - so that was a struggle within itself . But the actual Olympic Games , being down there was the most breathtaking experience of my life . Being at Opening Ceremony was like ... this is what I feel like ... when people get engaged it ’ s like , “ I ’ m so excited ” and then the wedding ’ s coming up , you see the bride and even the groom getting nervous and you ’ re like , “ How are you getting nervous and you know you want to be with this person ? It ’ s something you planned ”.
MADE : Okay , we follow you …
AE : But that ’ s how I felt at the Olympic Games . My whole mindset going there up until the moment of the Opening Ceremony was like , “ I know I ’ m going to be there , I know this is what I want ... so it ’ s nothing to be nervous about . It ’ s nothing that ’ s going to really catch me off guard .” But then , when you ’ re surrounded by all the top athletes of the world and everybody ’ s just like put the athletics aside , the competitiveness aside and everybody ’ s just happy , smiling , taking pictures , enjoying the moment ... that ’ s when I was like “ I really made it to the Olympic Games ”. I ’ m really walking in with USA , the American flag , all these hundreds , thousands , millions of people ... it ’ s not a competitive environment . That was
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