Queens Woman Carries Torch For Olympic Dream

As the world’s greatest athletes travel to Sydney this week for the start of the 2000 Olympics, one young woman will stay behind. Unranked, and overlooked, budding track and field star Nadine George is making her presence felt close to home, as she begins her run for the gold at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
For the 22-year-old South Jamaica resident, life has always revolved around two basic concepts: poverty and track and field. Born in a poor community on the island of Jamaica, financial struggles quickly became a way of life. Rather than deal with her problems directly, George started running.
"The track never hit me back," George told The Queens Courier. "Running has always been comforting, and gave me something to hide behind."
Moving to America with her mother in 1990, George immediately signed up for the track team at her Westchester County high school. Running circles around her competition, George began racking up victories in the 200-meter dash, 100-meter hurdles, and the long jump. Catapulting her career to the next level, George became a perennial champion at the Empire State Games, winning titles in four out of the last six years. During George’s short career, spanning less than 10 years, she has already won 280 gold, 100 silver and 70 bronze medals. In addition, the speed demon has acquired six MVP titles, and, as possibly a sign of things to come, a Junior Olympic gold medal.
However, with her running career finally on track, George’s personal life began crumbling beneath her. Her mother abruptly moved away, and George was put in the care of her uncle. In 1995, her turbulent life hit yet another bump as her uncle left town.
Without a place to live or any financial stability, the young woman was left to fend for herself on the streets of South Jamaica. "I got caught up with the wrong crowd," remembers George. "I just bounced around from place to place."
Homeless, George spent many nights sleeping on the floor of many of her friends’ apartments in South Jamaica. Unable to afford a college education, she spent her days training at Roy Wilkins Park, and working the graveyard shift at a local laundromat. "It helped me get stronger," said George. "I never did any drugs and I never sold my body."
It was at the laundromat earlier this month that she met Esther Price-Johnson. A local civic activist and a practitioner of medical alternatives, Johnson discovered a magnificently conditioned athlete, working in decrepit conditions for $6 an hour. Although the ladies had never met before, Johnson said there was an immediate chemistry.
" You could tell her body was in distress," Johnson recalled as tears welled in her eyes. "And, you have no idea the conditions she was living in. The irony that God placed us together at this moment is amazing."
Taking a leap of faith, Johnson provided George with over $1,000 worth of equipment from her stress management company. Within a short amount of time, much of the pain that George was battling through was relieved. Taking George under her wing, Johnson began training her young protg, both physically and emotionally. "An average person with average skills couldn’t handle it," said Johnson.
Johnson organized an entourage of nine doctors, dentists, dermatologists, physiologists, and physical therapists to manage George’s physical well being. Darryl Jones, owner of a Rosedale photo studio took it upon himself to put George, who never finished high school, back in the classroom. "She lives, eats, and breathes track," said Jones, "but to become a champion, you must have an education."
Jones, believes that if George is to ever realize her Olympic dream, the athlete must run nationally, a feat that can be achieved only in college. Following the completion of high school, George’s long-term plan now includes the University of Texas.
This week, as the Australian sun rises to shine its glow on the world’s most gifted athletes, Nadine George will hop a plane to travel to Florida for the 2000 Classics, an annual competition where young hopefuls showcase their talents to advertisers and scouts.
Although she recognizes the hurdles she must first leap before even fathoming a run at the Olympics, George continues to display an exuberate a level of confidence seen in only the rarest of athletes. "I am watching everyone, but they aren’t watching me," warns George. "I am going to surprise some people."