Nearing the end of his professional career, Olympian Manteo Mitchell has a new mission

Manteo Mitchell long had the perfect ending in mind for his decorated track and field career.

“The plan was to leave competition at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games,” he said. “I wanted to cross the finish line, and win or lose I was going to leave my spikes (at the finish line) and that would be the end of my career.”

Though ideal, Mitchell’s destiny required one more pivot from the Shelby native.

Now living in Asheville, the Team USA bobsled team member and one-time Olympic sprinter returned to his hometown April 18 for in-depth conversations with eighth graders at Crest Middle School. One in a series of presenters as part of teacher Laura Tharrington’s Exploring Personal Character and Careers classes, the event marked a rare opportunity for the former Crest Middle student to survey halls he once roamed.

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“I'm so passionate and it's fulfilling to me more so as a person than an athlete, because of my upbringing and the examples I had,” Mitchell said. “A lot of people give with their money and fellowship, but for me I like to give time as well. When you’re able to set an example and show them that example, I feel it comes across better and people are better able to understand that. I am very blessed and fortunate to have a platform where people want to sit and listen to me, so they can aspire to reach their goals as well.”

A 2005 product of Crest High, Mitchell ran at Western Carolina University where he still holds indoor (21.23 seconds, 2007) and outdoor (20.73 seconds, 2009) records in the 200-meter dash, in addition to the outdoor 400-meter dash (46 seconds, 2009). In 2012, he won gold as a member of Team USA’s 4x400-meter men’s relay team at the IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Months later at the 2012 London Olympics, Mitchell gained international acclaim following his effort during a qualifying heat of the 4x400-meter relay event. While running the lead leg for Team USA, the Shelby native suffered a broken fibula. He finished the segment nevertheless, helping his team qualify for the finals where it claimed a silver medal.

Mitchell brought the medal and other items with him on Thursday, giving Crest Middle eighth-grade students tangible evidence of what can be earned through hard work. However, greatness comes with a price, he said.

“(Middle school) is where I really realized I have to buckle down now so I can be successful,” Mitchell added. “I used to have a math class right up the hall from this very classroom we are sitting in; I used to sit outside that classroom more than I sat in it because I got in trouble all the time.

“But look at me now; I’m standing right down the hall from that classroom because (of the time spent) outside of it. It made me better because of the experiences I went through.”

Such character shaping moments have made his transition to the U.S. bobsled team a seamless one.

“I was training for the Tokyo Olympics (in 2020) and of course COVID hits; there’s a halt to training, you can’t go to gyms and I literally created a gym in my house. My wife can attest to this, I was running in our development to stay in shape because you couldn’t go to any tracks because they were gated up and locked,” Mitchell said. “I was doing all this training (for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics) and I got the call there would be no games. At the time, we didn’t know there would be (an Olympic Games in 2021), so I stopped training.

“I didn’t feel like starting over (training for competitive running). At the time it was a blessing in disguise; in 2021, I received a call from the CEO of (International Bobsled & Skeleton), and he said ‘we’re doing some recruiting and want some fast, strong individuals… would you be willing to try out?’"

Though unfamiliar with the sport which involves sliding down an ice-covered or artificial incline on a four-runner sled, Mitchell was successful in his attempt at making the U.S. bobsled team. Now 36 years old, the Shelby native said his picture of a “perfect ending” looks much different. Should Mitchell medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, Italy, he would be the seventh athlete to earn medals at both the summer and winter Olympic Games. He’d also be the first African-American male to accomplish the feat.

“I don’t mind being in company all my own,” he said. “So that’s why I’m going to do it. I'm going to make history for my family.”

This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Olympic medalist Manteo Mitchell speaks at Crest Middle School