Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn on handling the pressure as she pursues her first World Championships medal: "This is my first worlds, there's nothing to be afraid of”
In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com ahead of her Track and Field Athletics World Championships debut at Oregon2022, the Puerto Rican opens up on why she has gone off social media, how she grew from the disappointment of being disqualified in the semi-finals at Rio 2016 to win a historic Olympic medal in Tokyo and why she is eyeing switch from hurdles to 200m.
Athletics
Olympic hurdles champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn knows the weight of expectation far too well.
At Rio 2016, she tripped her way to disqualification in the women's 100m hurdles semi-finals and was at her lowest. She snapped out of it and resolved not to let her career be defined by her debut Olympics.
Five years later at Tokyo 2020 held in 2021, she changed her story with two staggering races.
The 25-year-old clocked an Olympic record of 12.26 seconds in the semi-final, to tie for fourth-fastest in history. The hurdler went on to become the first athlete from Puerto Rico to win an Olympic track and field gold.
“Going into the Tokyo Olympics, I didn't want that same thing happening. It was stressful for me just because I didn't want to hit another hurdle. Even before my semis race in Tokyo, I just broke down crying because I was scared,” she told Olympics.com before her qualifying race in Oregon.
The south Carolina native, who chose to race for her mother’s home country, Puerto Rico, missed the 2019 World Championships injured.
As the Olympic champion, Camacho-Quinn knows far too well that now the focus will be on her. But she’s chosen to deflect the pressure.
“I'm trying not to stress myself out…it’s my first world championships, so I'm not going into it as former world champ." - Jasmine Camacho-Quinn
“And there's nothing for me to be afraid of because (I tell myself) ‘everybody you're lining up against, you already raced. You know these girls, you are always competing against them'," she said.
She’s among the favourites in the event at Oregon 2022, alongside the defending champion Nia Ali of Team USA and her former training mate Kendra Harrison, the world record holder.
The former three-time NCAA champion at Kentucky Camacho-Quinn has only lost one race this season out of nine starts in the 100m hurdles.
Still, she hasn’t had any perfect races yet, as she feels she's “pushing too hard and trying to fix something”.
Find out what her targets are at the Hayward Field and more in the transcript of our interview, lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
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Camacho-Quinn on how she approaches her races: "I don't stress myself out trying to be perfect"
Olympics.com (OC): What’s the feeling like ahead of the 2022 World Championships?
Jasmine Camacho-Quin (JCQ): I'm pretty excited. This is my first world championship, even though I don't think anybody else has done two Olympics and no world championships. The goal is to win, of course, just make it through safely and have fun with it. I think sometimes we forget to have fun with what we are doing and we stress ourselves out trying to be perfect when things don’t go how we envisioned them.
O.C: What’s your idea of fun?
JCQ: It depends. Every meeting for me is different and how I feel. I just don't beat myself up too much mentally and enjoy the process. As a hurdler we can get a little worked up. It doesn't have to be super perfect but as a hurdler, you can't make simple mistakes because this can cause you anything. So, it's not to overthink and go out there and just do the best you can.
O.C: How do you get into the zone before the races?
JCQ: I'll say music. But once the headphones come off, I feel like that's when I start overthinking. Honestly, I don't like hearing the fans. Because I can get sidetracked and I'm listening, but then I'm not focused on what I'm doing. That's the problem. If I was like in a 100m or 200m, that's different. But for hurdles, everything just has to be like dialled back. So if you're listening to what people are saying in the stands that can throw off everything during your first eight steps, some people are seven steppers, but your first step to hurdle is very crucial.
O.C: What we saw in Tokyo and then what we've seen from you all season, you've been on the podium at every single competition you've taken part in the season...
JCQ: I just go out there and do what I have to do. Every race hasn't been perfect. Like, I can't think back to any races year where I felt like, 'Ok, I had a great race, this went amazing, I felt good.' Last year, outside of like Olympics, the only race I think about that went good for me was in Budapest, at the beginning of July. Let me just say it like it was an easy race for me. I didn't feel like I had to push too hard. This year, I feel like I'm still trying to fix something. And so I wouldn't say like I have had any perfect races this year.
O.C: So the best is still to come? And what's it going to take?
JCQ: Yeah. Yes, definitely. Whenever something happens, it'll happen. But I'm not going to stress myself out of trying to be perfect and trying to hit certain times (world record) and stuff like that.
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Camacho-Quinn's next challenge - the 200m and how she is deflecting pressure
O.C: What’s your limit?
JCQ: I don't think there's ever a limit. If I do something, I want to go fast, I know I can go faster. I always think: 'If I do this, I can do more.' It doesn't matter whether it's hurdles, whether it's in sprints, I always want to challenge myself.
I also like sprinting too. I don't think there's ever a limit. I want to run the 200m and try to go, like, 21 (seconds). I think I could do it. I opened up pretty quick in March, so I think I could do it, but I never really got time to do just sprint, so I don't know what I can do. I went 22.2...and I'm a hurdler. You don't hear of short hurdlers going 22.2. It's rare. People look at us only as hurdlers and I want to challenge that. The only other person that you think of going back and doing hurdles and sprints is Gail (Devers) definitely, she's an inspiration.
O.C: Is it possible for you to do both at the same time?
JCQ: I want to do the best I can. So I can't do a whole hurdle work and then go do a sprint work. I can't do that, I'd be dead. I wouldn't mind but it is hard trying to be a hurdler and training for the 200m.
O.C: How do you deal with pressure and its effects on mental health as an athlete?
JCQ: I don't like that feeling at all. I am off all social media. Because you could be fine and then you're on social media, someone tags you, you see something and now your mind starts doubting yourself.
But once the pressure comes, you got to figure out how to handle it, because every athlete feels that pressure, it’s just how you deal with it. Trusting yourself. For me, it’s removing all social media, especially leading up to worlds.
As athletes, we do put a lot of pressure on ourselves. We do stress ourselves out trying to be perfect, of course, we want to be perfect at what we do. And that's an issue. That’s why I just try to go out and have fun with it. Like just trying to enjoy the process like to find that balance. I don't even have it right now.
"As athletes, we do need to take more time to take care of ourselves and put ourselves first. And not paying attention to what everybody else is saying and stop talking to prove a point to people. You don't have to say nothing, especially to prove nothing to nobody. Just show up. Do what you do."
As athletes we go through so much. Everybody expects so much from us. When do we ever have time to just be ourselves outside of sports? Even what Simone Biles went through, she says her mental health isn't good. She's dealing with this, going through that. And people still attacked her. And it’s like you can’t win with other people, but you can choose peace for yourself.
Olympic disappointment in Rio and the comeback in Tokyo
O.C: Let’s look back at what happened in Rio, because you were such an image of resilience in Tokyo. What motivated you to push for those five years?
JCQ: I took it year by year. I knew Olympics was going to come back eventually. What happened in 2016 definitely was on my mind. I worked extra hard and I definitely knew what I wanted. In 2016 I felt I could have gotten a medal. I ended up in a hurdle because I didn’t really pull away at the end of a race, and I hit the hurdle. Everything happens for a reason though. I was able to grow from that.
So going into the Tokyo Olympics, I didn't want that same thing happening. I wanted to do something positive. I wanted to bring back a medal. I trained really hard. It was not easy. Like, we see the wins happen, but it's like 'what goes into that?' There are practices where I'm like crying, I'm mad. Like the journey I feel like is never really talked about. I was just talking about the win and it was really stressful for me just because I didn't want to hit another hurdle.
Even before my semis race in Tokyo, I just broke down crying because I was scared. I didn't want the same thing to happen again. And then boom! I broke the Olympic record! In the finals, it almost did happen... I did hit hurdle nine, but I was able to recover myself. I showed that I was in great shape for it and I was ready.
O.C: Coming back to this week, Oregon, and what you've got coming up. Do you reflect on Tokyo to help you with the present?
JCQ: Yeah, and then no. Because I'll sit and think sometimes, I already ran in the Olympics and won a gold medal, there's nothing for me to be afraid of because everybody you're lining up against, you already raced. You know these girls, we are always competing against them.
So what's the point of stressing yourself out and it’s not like something brand new? It's just the name or whatever at the time. Nearly everybody (who raced) in the Olympic final, I have already seen (them racing) during the season. It’s like a comfort kind of thing, like I know what you're capable of doing... I've raced against you, so it's nothing foreign.
Going into worlds, it’s like we have all seen each other this year. We've all raced against each other. This is my first worlds, so I'm trying not to stress myself out, but I still have to deal with… “she's the Olympic champion…”
But it's still my first World Championships, so I'm not going into it as former world champ…
O.C: That, in a sense, takes away the pressure?
JCQ: I don't think so. There's still pressure you put on yourself. Ok, I have just won a title last year, I need to do it again. It's my first worlds, but when you line up your heart's beating fast, you don't have that pressure on you, but I still do. I feel like a majority of people I've met are going to make it and finals. It’s going to be a really hot field.