At the upcoming 2024 Olympic Games, Team USA’s golden dreams don’t look too shabby, at least in one event. The women’s 100m sprint is one of the most prestigious sporting races in the world, and Sha’Carri Richardson stands on the verge of making up for her lost opportunity from three years ago. With a season’s best of 10.71 seconds, Richardson finished the women’s 100m sprint first at the US Olympic Team Trials, while Melissa Jefferson, and Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry picked up the second and third places respectively.

There’s the only person whose excitement about what the Paris Games holds could rival that of the fans and the qualified athletes: the man who trains all three of the sprinters mentioned above. Dennis Mitchell is an iconic figure in the USA’s track circuit and he proved just why.

Meet sprinter Twanisha Terry’s coach, Dennis Mitchell

Mitchell has accumulated several accolades throughout his collegiate and professional careers. Thanks to his prowess shown early in life, Dennis was offered a scholarship by the University of Florida. As a Gator, he won the men’s 200m race at the 1989 NCAA Championships. In 2005, Mitchell was inducted into the Hall of Fame of his alma mater as a ‘Gator Great.’

His time with the national team has also been successful, to say the least. At the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Dennis narrowly missed out on a podium finish after he placed fourth in the men’s 100m race. He also had to watch his hopes for a gold medal crumble after a botched baton pass led Team USA to be disqualified from the men’s 4x100m relay race. However, at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Mitchell not only won gold in the men’s relay race, but he also managed to secure a bronze medal in the individual 100m race.

Along with these feats, Dennis boasts four World Championships medals, including two golds. Considering how he has tasted glory on his own at the highest levels, it might be surprising to think that he’d be as thrilled as he was when his three students finished 1-2-3 at the Team Trials. But here we are.

Dennis Mitchell’s reaction to his disciple Terry’s performance

While the 58-year-old track coach was obviously elated by Sha’carri’s success in Eugene last month, seeing two more of his students also punch their tickets to Paris was obviously a pleasant surprise that Dennis probably wasn’t prepared for. After the women’s 100m final race was over, Citius Mag caught up with him, and Dennis evidently had a hard time trying to mask his jubilation. “TeeTee, just like all of my other girls, is very hard-working. We have seen TeeTee in practice, executing as well as anybody in the world…I knew that she was in 10.8 shape, we just needed to put it out there,” Mitchell was heard saying about Terry’s out-of-the-blue performance at Hayward Field.

“She’s been showing it every day in practice,” Dennis stated with a look of pride on his face as he noted how it was an emotional scene for him to see Richardson, Jefferson, and Terry hugging each other after crossing the finishing line. But will any of the three speedsters be able to replicate their success on the biggest stage? We’ll just have to wait a few more weeks to see!