by Stuart Weir
Sha’Keela Saunders, photo by usatf.org
This piece made me smile. Stuart Weir sent this piece to me, and I loved the video.
Sha’Keela Saunders
Don’t you enjoy a watching some of the characters in our sport. Some athletes just go about their business quietly but offers put their whole personality into it. Long jumper Sha’Keela Saunders, who has represented USA at two world championships posted a brilliant analysis of the types of jumpers you see in meets.
It all started with a conversation between Sha’Keela and a member for training group, Kori Carter with Shak sharing with Kori that she would like a stronger social media presence. Then Kori woke up one morning with an idea. He was so excited about the idea that she called Shak at 5:00 AM – saying “I have an idea for you I think it’s going to be great. Let’s make a video about long jumpers because y’all have so many different personalities.
The crowd thinks it’s hilarious. Let’s go for all the things that jumpers do”. So we came up with a list. One Monday after practice we came back to the jump pit and made the video. Coach Flo was watching and checking us and thought we were crazy. But then when he saw the video, the final product he thought it was hilarious.”
Jumpers be like… we all have that one teammate 😂 tag them and the type of jumper that they are! @adidasrunning pic.twitter.com/aTLkvs74h8
— Sha’Keela Saunders (@keela_saunders) May 11, 2020
The final question is which one is Shak? “I’m not any one, I’m about three of them. I’m definitely the coach-checking jumper, always checking in on my coach. Some days I ‘m the accessorizer. I recently became a walk-up jumper. However, I hope I’m not quite as dramatic as the video!”
We will have a more serious piece on Sha’Keela next week
