ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. — After the COVID-19 pandemic hit forcing the Tokyo Olympics to be postponed, Marshevet Hooker, nurse tech at Cone Health decided she would join in on the fun.
According to Cone Health, Hooker came to the decision as she was coaching long jump to a cousin on the Southern Alamance High School track team.
When the coronavirus forced the Tokyo Olympics to be delayed a year, she thought, “Why not?”
Hooker is a nurse tech in the emergency department at Alamance Regional Medical Center and ran track while studying at the University of Texas.
Cone Health said she was an NCAA champion in the 100-meter dash and part of the national champion 4X100 meter relay team and finished 5th in the 200 meters in the Beijing Olympics. Hooker’s work in the 4X100 eventually carried her to a gold medal in the World Championships in 2011 in Daegu, South Korea, according to Cone Health.
“This quest started with light runs in June then endurance training in July,” Cone Health said in a news release.
Hooker hits the weights 3 days a week and runs 5.
She credits her husband, Lacy Flintall, and her extended family for helping her balance it all.
“He thinks I’m nuts but loves every minute of it,” Hooker said.
The 36-year-old mother of 3 just completed everything she needs to get into nursing school at Alamance Community College.
She hopes to enter as an “open” athlete at an event at NC A&T on April 10. If Hooker makes it, she heads to Eugene, Oregon at the end of June. If all goes well, her next stop will be Tokyo.
“I’ve been through this before, so I have no pressure. Plus, I have three little cheerleaders (ages 3, 6, and 8),” she said.
Despite her busy schedule, Hooker still found time to get vaccinated—even after having COVID-19.
“I have young children and a husband that thankfully didn’t get sick when I did,” she said. “I had to act and make sure that I was doing everything that I could to protect them and myself.”
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