Richmond nails long jump, joins city's other Olympian
Under the wire with her qualifying long jump, Rose Richmond has made it to Crete for some last minute preparation.
By JON WILSON
Published August 15, 2004
ST. PETERSBURG - On her way at last, Rose Richmond, St. Petersburg's Olympic long jumper, used a cell phone to call her father as she left for Greece on Tuesday. She wanted to describe the airplane.
"She called just as she was boarding," said Aubrey Richmond, noting that his daughter was excited about the aircraft's size. "She said it was a huge plane.".
An eleventh-hour addition to the team when her qualifying jump held up, Rose stayed on schedule to have marched in Friday's opening ceremony with the U.S. team. Laser sailor Mark Mendelblatt is St. Petersburg's other Olympian.
While Richmond's daughter continues to train in Crete, a Mediterranean Sea island south of Greece, the excitement builds at home.
"It's unbelievable," said Aubrey Richmond, a St. Petersburg resident who spent last week scrambling to get a passport and arrange for airline tickets to Athens.
He is set to leave from Tampa International Airport Aug. 23 and, after stops in Atlanta and New York, will arrive in Athens on Aug. 24 - the day before Rose takes her first competitive jump.
Rose's mother, Viola Nichols, who lives in Tampa, is still trying to find a way. She said late last week her family has raised about $900, still short of the minimum $3,000 Olympic package to get her to Athens.
Busy getting ready for Hurricane Charley, Mrs. Nichols said she wasn't giving up on going to Greece. "But unless that miracle comes through . . . "
Rose learned Sunday her Olympic qualifying jump of 22 feet, 21/4 inches on July 24 made her good to go. Akiba McKinney took third in the Olympic Trials, but never reached the qualifying standard of 21 feet, 113/4 inches she needed to make the team.
Rose, who finished fourth in the Trials, was able to win a provisional spot on the team with her July 25 jump, but had to wait while McKinney tried to hit the standard. It never happened, and so the 1999 Lakewood High School graduate joined Grace Upshaw and Olympic veteran Marion Jones as U.S. long jumpers.
"In the Trials, Marion was really trying to boost Rose," said Aubrey Richmond. "Rose was in seventh or eighth place, and then she pulled off a real big jump and moved up to third or fourth. Marion came over to her and said, "Way to make this competitive!' "
While waiting for word on whether she'd made the team, Rose spent most of her time in Bloomington, Ind., where she attends Indiana University. She trained as usual with her coach, Wayne Pate, aiming to peak on an Olympics schedule.
She has achieved one of sports' highest pinnacles while attending graduate school and studying for a master's degree in sport marketing and management.
On her USA Track and Field resume, the entry for agent says: "self."
She is not affiliated with any big-name club.
Her St. Petersburg church, Mount Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist, paid her way to the meet where she made her qualifying jump.
She has succeeded as a genuine amateur, balancing athletics with the rest of her life.
"That's been amazing," said Aubrey Richmond. "I talk to her about how she's been able to balance the track and field activities and her work in school. She has done it, and, in fact, she says graduate school is earlier than undergraduate.
"She has always been able to keep herself together. Pretty controlled. Always wanted to focus, always had goals, always had something she wanted to do," he said.
His daughter has taken things in stride, but Dad said it was a wild few days, starting Sunday when he received the news that Rose had made the team during a Mount Zion service. The elation and emotion wore him out.
"I was just exhausted afterward," he said. "I felt like I had been working."
