Team USA track star Kendall Ellis is back and better than ever for second Olympics

The journey hasn’t been easy.

There were points with lots of tears.

Kendall Ellis was determined not to give up, and now she’s back for Team USA in her second Olympic Games.

Most sports fans have seen her video from college when she ran the incredible relay race for the University of Southern California. The seven-time state high school champion, four-time NCAA champion at Southern Cal (former collegiate and national record holder in indoor 400m), 1,600-meter mixed relay Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist and 1,600-meter relay Tokyo Olympics gold medalist is back on the Olympic stage.

The two-time Olympian is ready to etch her name in history, not just the college record books, and her family is here from South Carolina to support her all the way.

Nearly all of Ellis’ relatives are natives of South Carolina, and both parents and grandparents and uncles and aunts are from Columbia. She grew up spending Thanksgiving with her family there.

“That was a decision that we made early on that we would go to South Carolina every Thanksgiving because that is our favorite holiday,” said Wanda Ellis, Kendall’s mom. “Kendall and her sisters always looked forward to going to South Carolina for two reasons: that they would be able to see their extended family and also that it would be their one chance that they could tell their grandmother what they wanted to eat and she would make it for them.”

Her family, which has been there to support her all along her journey, will be in the stands at the Stade de France, the country’s national stadium.

It will still be a different experience for Ellis in her second time at the Olympics, considering there were no fans at the track stadium in Tokyo because of the COVID pandemic. But that might have actually played to her strength.

“I’m even glad that Tokyo, for it being my first time, was without fans, without a stadium and without so many people because that could have potentially been really overwhelming for me,” she said. “So that was kind of like a prelude and now we get to actually do the real thing — so dress rehearsal and now the real performance.”

She isn’t a rookie this time. She’s coming into this Olympics with one already under her belt and two Olympic medals.

“I think it helps with nerves,” Ellis said. “I think having had that experience already, I’m not coming in starstruck or as nervous about being on such a large stage.”

Outside of the track, Ellis uses her platform to be an encouragement to others, as she shares Bible verses on a regular basis and her journey dealing with anxiety.

Even though she isn’t a rookie to the Olympic qualifying, that doesn’t mean the experience won’t bring surprises. Being locked in a portable toilet at the U.S. trials wasn’t something she had on her bingo card. But she was determined not to let that prevent her from performing at a high level.

“It was truly knowing that I can’t afford to get too worked up because it’s also related to anxiety,” Ellis said of staying calm under unique circumstances. “I started to get worked up — I was crying and I started hyperventilating and then I looked at myself in the mirror and I said, ‘You have to calm down. You have a race to run. You have to calm down because this cannot be the deciding factor of whether or not you make this team.’ ”

After a kind person helped her get out of the porta-potty, she performed at a high level and posted personal records in back-to-back races at Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon after not posting a PR for six years. The aspect that wasn’t always there — her belief in herself — became apparent at the trials.

“We’re not only proud of what Kendall’s accomplished, but as her parents she’s finally beginning to realize what we’ve always known about her… that [she] belongs,” said Sam Ellis, Kendall’s dad. “Everyone can tell you that, but until you believe it, you won’t fully realize your potential. I was telling her after the Olympic Trials, we finally saw her believe it.”

As Ellis prepares to run 400m prelims on Monday, she’s focused on enjoying the journey and the results that come.

Anna Laible is a student with UNC Media Hub, a program with the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s Hussman School of Journalism and Media, reporting from the Summer Olympics in Paris. Laible hosts the Speak Up Sports Podcast. Follow her journey covering her first Olympics on her Instagram (@anna_laible).