The Olympic Stadium was deafening as Carmelita Jeter unleashed her charge down the track, her powerful strides cutting through the London air. After having already won a silver medal in the 100m and a bronze in the 200m, one last race remained. As the last leg for Team USA’s 4x100m relay, she took the baton, thrusting herself onwards like a flash (of course we are talking about Marvel Superhero), the historical clock ticking beside her. She raced across the line, pointed at the time (40.82 seconds), and let out a primal scream. It was the world record. It was euphoric. It was history. But beneath the celebration lay an unseen emotional weight!

“I’m just going to be completely honest. I completely blacked out. Going to the 2012 Olympics was difficult for me. I had just lost my aunt to breast cancer. I didn’t even want to go to practice anymore,” Carmelita Jeter said to Channel 13 Las Vegas on February 26th. Months before she lined up on the Olympic track in east London, she lost one of the most important people in her life. Her aunt, Brenda Washington, had been more than family—a woman who fought fiercely for three long years against breast cancer. But cancer doesn’t fight fair.

When Brenda passed away, the grief hit Jeter like a sudden burst of headwind—knocking the air out of her. The pain was suffocating. She wanted to stop. She almost did! But then her coach’s word pulled her back: ‘Hey, we gotta finish this,’ and I said, ‘Ok,'”her aunt must be proud of her! Because the second-fastest woman ever from the United States doesn’t come easy. With a blistering 100-meter personal best of 10.64 seconds, set in 2009, she is at number four currently!

“So I was truly out there running for so many more people than myself. I was running for my aunt. I was running for all the women that were fighting a battle every day. I wore pink spikes for that, so when I crossed that finish line, it was an explosion of I’m done. Auntie, I did it. That 40.82 was for her (Aunt),” Carmelita Jeter further added. And Jeter seriously isn’t only about race!

Now she is onto something even greater—time, opportunity, and the responsibility of shaping the next generation! Forced into retirement after an injury in 2016, Jeter didn’t step away from the track; she stepped into a new role. From coaching at Cal State Dominguez Hills to launching TeamJet, and now leading the University of Nevada as a second-year head coach, she’s making her mark beyond medals.

“More women leave here better than I found them. That’s the biggest mark that I hope to leave. I hope these young women all graduate from college. I don’t want to be known as the coach that just gets women to perform at a higher level,” she said. And she’s proving it! Her athletes broke four program records in 2023-24, setting 12 top-five performances and also earning a record-high 3.43 GPA. “I want to be a coach with a 100% graduation rate,” she declared.

But is Carmelita Jeter the only star athlete turned coach?

Carmelita Jeter isn’t the only one

Some athletes chase Olympic gold; others chase the thrill of competition long after their playing days are over. But what happens when legends step off the podium and into the world of collegiate sports? Can the fire that fueled them to greatness ignite the next generation? Take Cécile Canqueteau-Landi, for example. A former Olympian for France in 1996, she transitioned to the coaching ranks, shaping some of the most dominant gymnasts of our time.

From Simone Biles’ artistry to Jordan Chiles’ resilience under pressure, her fingerprints are all over the sport’s biggest moments. Now, as co-head coach of the Georgia GymDogs, she’s rewriting the script for collegiate gymnastics.

She’s not alone. Deion Sanders, ‘Primetime’ himself, took his electrifying energy from the NFL and MLB to the college football sidelines. First at Jackson State and then at Colorado, he has proved that elite athletes can be just as legendary with a whistle in hand.

Kenny Anderson dazzled in the NBA, but his story didn’t end with a final buzzer. Georgia Tech’s former prodigy molded young talent at Fisk University, just as Juan Dixon. Maryland’s 2002 NCAA champion probably carved Dixon’s path in coaching the women’s basketball team at the University of the District of Columbia before moving to coaching duties of the men’s basketball team at Coppin State University.