N.J. Track Prodigy Wilson Ready To Take Her Mark On Olympic Stage

By Steve Lichtenstein
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The Russian doping scandal may be dominating the conversation in advance of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, but for a select contingent of athletes the spirit of the Games has not been doused.

Ajee' Wilson, the 22-year-old 800-meter qualifier in women's track and field, is certainly no less pumped to be wearing Team USA colors when the Games begin next weekend.

"My mom said when I first started -- when I was 9 -- I said I wanted to go to the Olympics," said the Neptune-raised Wilson, one of Team USA's nine track and field Olympians from New Jersey. "It wasn't until my sophomore year in high school that I realized that it was a possibility. My sophomore year (2010) was the first time I made an international team -- it was in Canada for World Juniors. That experience really motivated me and made me realize I wanted to compete on the highest level."

Wilson, who placed 14th at the 2012 USA Olympic Trials while still a student at the Academy of Allied Health & Science in Neptune, punched her ticket to Rio after finishing second at this year's Trials in Oregon.

The Finals on July 4 were not without fireworks. Wilson was fortunate she held the lead heading into the final curve, as a collision then took out six-time U.S. outdoor champion Alysia Montano and knocked Brenda Martinez, who was barely trailing Wilson, off stride.

Wilson was overtaken by Kate Grace down the stretch and was disappointed she didn't win, but she said she understands that the outcome could have been worse.

"I didn't notice (the collision) because I couldn't see behind me," Wilson said. "I heard the crowd react, but I didn't know the magnitude of what had happened until I got home a couple of days later and got to actually watch it on TV. It kind of affected me -- it kind of threw me off. I didn't know what was happening. I was just nervous running down the stretch. But I was just glad I wasn't involved with it and I was able to come away with a pretty clean race."

Wilson has been training with renowned coach Derek Thompson since her junior year of high school for just these moments. At the conclusion of her stellar high school career, which saw Wilson break the state record for 800 meters, she declined a scholarship to Florida State so she could run as a professional under Thompson's guidance at the Juventus Track Club in Philadelphia while also taking classes at Temple University.

"A friend (Disa Nicholson) that I knew growing up racing on the circuit -- she was a coach in New York -- she knew (Thompson) and she's a really big fan of his and the work that he's done over the years," Wilson said. "She told me about him and recommended that I talk to him and see if we'd be a good fit for each other."

Wilson, whose family still resides in New Jersey, added, "Even though I'm in Philly I'm still a Jersey girl at heart."

Meanwhile, Thompson has taken his prodigy to new levels. Wilson won the World Junior Championship in 2012 and came in sixth at the main event in Moscow the following year.

"What makes (Thompson) unique and makes everything work is that he was an athlete and he understands what it's like to be an athlete and he understands the mental and physical part of it," Wilson said. "Whether he's giving us workouts or just talking about race strategy or even simple everyday life guidance things, he's able to point me on the right path and make me feel comfortable with what I'm doing."

For the Olympics, that means coming up with a plan to get Wilson through the preliminary heats. At the Trials' Final, she ran a 1:59.51, which is significantly below her personal best of 1:57.67.

That was at an event in Monaco in 2014, before an injury to her tibia kept her out of action last summer, including missing the World Championships. Still, Wilson's personal best would not have been fast enough to get on the medal stand in London four years ago.

Of course, the 2012 800-meter gold and bronze medalists were Russian, and as of this writing they won't be participating in Rio due to the IOC ban.

"I don't know the full story, but I do believe that doping has no place in our sport and it's up to our governing bodies to make sure the sport is clean to give clean athletes the best chance possible," Wilson said. "For me, it was a lot of shock when certain things came out with regards to it, before a lot of older athletes and athletes that have been in the game for a while, they're like. 'OK, finally something's been done about it,' because they've known over the years and they've been able to pinpoint (the alleged dopers). But for me, personally, I wasn't really too into that, so it's kind of new to me and sometimes hard to believe how those kind of things happen."

Wilson said that while she doesn't expect the early heats to be "a jog in the park" and doesn't even want to think past the first round, when pressed she talked about the ultimate race.

"Once we're in the final, that will be a lot easier. The nerves will have died down a little because at that point I will have placed myself in contention to go for a medal," Wilson said. "Anything can happen in a championship race. I think the main goal that I'm really gunning for is to make that final first and then after that definitely go for a medal. I believe in myself and I believe in my coach and God willing if the medal is in his plan, then it will happen."

How dope would that be?

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