Damu Cherry Hurdling All Obstacles

Damu Cherry was a good hurdler on the Leto High track team, but never a state champion. And when she went on to compete for the University of South Florida in the event, she never won a conference title.

But when she lines up for her first race of the women's 100-meter hurdles Aug. 17 in the Beijing Olympic Games, Cherry will be ranked No. 2 in the world and favored to wind up on the medals podium - maybe on top of it wearing gold - after the finals are staged two days later.

She might not have been a high school or NCAA titlist, but now, at age 30, she is on the verge of being an Olympic champion.

"She's just an example of a hard worker who wouldn't give up and was willing to sacrifice so many things to improve," said Greg Thiel, her former USF hurdles coach. "Very few athletes ever commit themselves to that level for that length of time to find out how good they can really be."

Cherry's determination to master her craft has rarely wavered. Her biggest test came when she was hit with a two-year suspension in 2003 for failing a drug test. While steadfastly maintaining she has never knowingly taking any performance-enhancing drugs, Cherry was devastated by the ban.

It was coming at a time when she was just starting to make a full commitment to reach the elite level of the hurdles, a level where an athlete can start making a living in the sport.

"I was broke, I didn't have any money saved and I was barely paying the bills," Cherry said. "But I knew in my heart I hadn't done anything wrong. And I knew I had a gift and if I didn't use it, it would be taken from me."

Without a shoe sponsor and money earned from competition and appearances, Cherry took a job coaching gymnastics, the sport she had competed in long before track and one that remains her first love. While continuing to train full-time at her base in Clermont, she went to work for former Olympic gymnast Brandy Johnson.

Johnson's Global Gymnastics club is located across the street from Cherry's home track in Clermont, the National Training Center. But there were days, Cherry said, when she wondered how she could keep working out nearly five hours a day at the NTC under former Olympic sprinter Dennis Mitchell while coaching young gymnasts nearly six hours a day at Johnson's gym. On weekends, Cherry was on her feet as many as 10 hours each day as her gymnasts competed in meets.

From 2004-06, Cherry held that grueling schedule. And it nearly ended her track career.

"There were days I would just be sitting there crying because I was so stressed and tired and I would be asking myself, 'Why am I doing this?,'" Cherry said. "I think that's where a lot of people would quit - and a lot of people do quit. But there were people around me who believed in me and supported me. And I love the hurdles. I just love them, and I wasn't going to quit."

Johnson said that is the time when she and Cherry would have talks about her goals.

"I think she was a little bit lost for a while wondering if she should continue in track or not," Johnson said. "Having gone to the Olympics myself and knowing the struggles and hard work, I told her, 'Look, this is a chance of a lifetime, and you just can't pass it up. You need to do this for yourself, and when it comes time for you to chose between coaching gymnastics and running track, these girls here at the gym believe in you and will understand the path you choose.'"

Two of Cherry's main supporters during this time were, of course, her parents back in Tampa, Don and Hassie Cherry. Both say they were not surprised by Damu's determination to continue in track.

Don and Hassie had seen this trait in Damu for years - as a dancer, Brownie, Girl Scout, gymnast, track athlete, cheerleader, bodybuilder and even as a Leto homecoming queen who went on to compete on a state level against other homecoming queens.

"Most kids, they try something for a little while, they get tired of it and by the time they get out of high school, they don't want to do it anymore," said Don, a former track, football and volleyball coach at Robinson High. "Not Damu. She always wanted to continue whatever she was doing."

Don was the one who convinced Damu to try out for sports at Leto. He wanted her to do something at the school, but once she picked track, he never thought she would want to run the hurdles.

"When I coached track, nobody wanted to run the hurdles because it was hard and a little bit dangerous," Don said. "I had to go through the hallways begging guys, 'Please, c'mon, try them.' Damu wanted to do them right away because they looked challenging to her."

Her hurdles coach at Leto, Dave Mitchell, now the football coach at Wharton, says Cherry was competitive but not particularly gifted or "hungry" for the sport.

"She got to the state meet and finished third, but even there, she had to work at it to get to that level," Mitchell said. "I think high school gave her the taste for it, but it was getting out there with the college and professional athletes that made her realize she wanted to get even better."

Hassie was of particular inspiration to Damu during her rise to the top because she was battling multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. The cancer has since gone into remission, but her mother's ordeal has kept Damu grounded. At last month's trials, Cherry ran with a bracelet Hassie gave her during her recovery.

"She helped me make this transformation," Damu said. "I'll never forget, I walked into the living room one day and she was laying there and she looked so bad. I was thinking, 'My mom's not going to live much longer.' And the next thing I know, she's fighting back and so happy.

"I said, 'Mom, how did you do that? And she said, 'Damu, it was God. And I refuse to quit.' So how could I go to practice and complain that I was tired or sore when my mom had to fight just to live? I took her to chemotherapy one time and she looked so exhausted and tired. I remember sitting there and saying, 'You know what, I'm going to make an Olympic team. I'm going to make her proud.'

"When I look back, that's what drove me to the next level."

Don and Hassie will travel to Beijing to see their daughter compete in the Olympics. After all that's happened, it's sometimes hard for them to believe.

"Damu picked the hurdles to run, and after all these hurdles in her life, the dream is finally coming true," Hassie said. "It feels like a dream, but then you realize it's really happening."