Deedee Trotter Blog - The Hard Choice

After the conclusion of the 400m semi-finals. I had four days to try and get it together, so I immediately went to work on my knee in efforts to get the swelling down enough to run the semi- finals of the 4x400m relay. I did everything I could do right up until the final minutes and I was confident that I was going to be able to run the anchor leg to help advance our team to the finals, but as I reached the end of my warm-up and I put my spikes on to do my accelerations, my knee was in too much pain to continue.



I dropped my head because I knew what I had to do. I walked over to the women's team sprint coach, Jeanette Bolden, and told her that I was not going to be able to run. She alerted Sanya Richards to the news, and Sanya hastily gathered her belongings and headed over to the call-room doors. As the tears welled up in my eyes I was determined to fight them back so I could be strong for my teammates. I walked over to my book bag and I picked up my front paper bib that read "USA" and handed it to Sanya, which for me marked the conclusion of my season and my last hope of winning an Olympic medal in 2008.  

As hard as it was for me to give up my spot, I knew that is was the right thing to do. Yeah sure, I could have gone out there and given it a shot and tried to run through the pain but in good faith I could not put the team at risk. If for some reason my knee gave out completely in that race, the entire team would have suffered and I would have had to live with that for the rest of my life. We all huddled up and put our hands one on top of the other and on the count of three shouted "USA!" As Mary Wineberg, Monique Henderson, and Natasha Hastings walked into the call room they came over to me and gave me hugs and with each look into their eyes I could see their deepest sympathy for me even without using words, Allyson Felix hugged me too and I love each of them for that. It was at that moment that I was grateful that these women were not just my teammates, but they are also my friends. As they walked into the call room, the staff and I cheered for them until they all had vanished behind the doors.  

When they were completely out of sight, Coach Bolden came up to me, hugged me and told me that she knows how hard a decision it was for me to have to make and that God was going to bless me for doing the right thing. She said not many people would have had the courage to do what I did and with that being said I rested my head on her shoulder and cried. I walked the length of one lap around the warm-up track and used that time to let it all out and pull it together. I told myself after that I would cry no more and everything, including emotions and sadness, would all be left behind on the track.

I walked into the stadium that night and for the first time I was not on the track but I was sitting in the stands. I cheered my teammates on as they won their heat and advanced to the finals that night and although it was definite that I was not running in the finals I returned to the stadium the following night wearing a USA Team shirt to help and support the girls in any way that I could, so I pinned on a few bib numbers and led them in our traditional USA cheer. The women's 4x400m relay won the gold medal that night with a comeback on the final leg by Sanya Richards passing Russia in the last 5 meters of the race. As much as I was happy for them for a brief moment I couldn't help but be a little sad at the same time. I quickly got over that sadness as I saw the pure joy, excitement and happiness on their faces as the ran by in their victory lap. What an amazing feeling and what a grand moment it is to win the Olympic Gold! Congratulations ladies, you ran with heart, beauty, grace and poise and I can't wait until I can run with you all again.  

Deedee Trotter
A.K.A. D-Trott