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Being a professional athlete comes with so many perks, so many that it’s hard to count.  Let me give you an example.  One of the est parts of being a professional track and field athelete is the drug testing.  Of course, I’m being completely sarcastic about this being one the perks because it’s completely opposite of that.  Heres the run down on what we as athletes are required to do as far as doping (drug testing) is concercerned. 

First and foremost, only top ranked athletes are required to feel out what they call the USADA (United States Anti Doping Association) form and IAAF (International Athletes) form.  These forms require you to provide your address, email, and whatever phone numbers you have.  Then, they ask about your daily schedule consisting of your practice schedule and the primary location for training.  You are required to give the amount of time your traning will take, which varies from day to day.  After gathering all of that information, they randomly drug test you by taking urine, blood, or sometimes both.  Wait, it gets better! When we are the lucky winners selected for drug tests you are escorted to the restroom where the woman/man watches you give a sample or sits yo uin a chair to take you blood.  That’s right, your pants are to your ankles, private parts revealed while they watch. 

Sadly, drug testing is needed because we have athletes that are either lazy, impatient, or what I believe to be the main reason …. selfish.  For that reason, I rarely complain about the associations that are set up to “protect” our sport, track and field.  The questions remains, are tey here to keep our sport clean? 

Throughout track and field history, there have been men and women that have been caught for using some type of performance enhanching drug.  Some these athletes are publicly scrutinized, while others are kept quiet.  On the other hand, you have athletes that get caught and it doesn’t matter because it’s 4, 8, or event 10 years after the fact!  This is the most nerve wrecking and irritating for me as a CLEAN athlete.  I know I speak for all athletes when I ask, are these doping federations with us or against us?  I need to know the answer to this questions because if you aren’t for us stop badgering athletes, like myslef, who you know are clean and missing or overlooking those athletes that you hvae reson to believe or know are dirty.  And, please stop using the excuse that if more athletes are revealed to be dirty, it will ruin the sport becuase in all actuality it will do the exact opposite.  The American people yearn to see the true talent of real athletes who work hard. 

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What do you think?!

I figured it was time for some new photos so we made it happen.  These pics are from my latest shoot with the very talented Ashley Nguyen.  I felt like I was on top of the world!!  Behind the scenes footage and bloopers coming soon.  Very special thank you to Sydney Milan- make up,  Pure Perception PR and Red Summer ENT.

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The statement is true, but why are we so divided? Especially when the constitution states that all men (meaning human in this text) are created equal. From the beginning of time women have been a second class citizen. Yes we have come far from not being able to vote or play sports but there is still discrimination lurking around the world against women. When it comes to women and sports the same discrimination that women see in the workplace and armed forces are also shared within sports, even within my own specialty track and field.

Of course women have not always had the right to compete in sports dating back to the first Olympics in ancient Greece 776 B.C. They actually held their own games in honor of the greek god Hera every fours years alongside of the men. Are sports a non feminine activity? Some will answer yes, even I answer yes it is. But the problem that I face when thinking that it is a male activity is when the God given talent and/or gift that I possess happens to be a physical talent, track and field.

Iʼm a avid believer in sports, especially as a child. I believe every child boys and girls should participate in some sort of sport because it gives you so many tools that you use for every day living. Now I’m not saying that every child should consider turning their sport into a career but if you are just that talented I believe it should be a option to consider and retire from great career no matter what the sport.

Iʼve been running since I was five years old and my mother seen that I had a gift for track and field so she made sure that I pursued it. Having this gift allowed me to gain a scholarship for college at the University of South Carolina and to be sponsored by the biggest shoe company in the world, Nike. Women that ran track before my time constantly tell me how women nowadays have it way better and that we are lucky that we can actually make a living doing track and field. But I look at them like Iʼm not making the kind of living that I believe I deserve and I work extremely hard for. In our sport presently their is a big gap between men and women salary just like in corporate America. Men get paid more than women in track and field. You can have an average male athlete being paid more than the top female track and field athlete any day. It baffles me!

In track and field shoe companies priority is selling shoes and women are thee biggest consumers yet male athletes are thee most paid. Iʼm not saying that women should make more than men, Iʼm just saying that their should more balance within the sport when it comes to wages especially if the targeted consumers are women. Is there a hidden law that states “no matter what women should get paid less then men”? lol Or is there a hidden law that states “if women play a sport they must look feminine while participating”. In sports a man has to show his ability to get paid and thatʼs the end of it. For women there are so many aspects companies look at to see if we fit their company, like, is she marketable, attractive, the right size, height, and the list goes on. All these questions are thought about even before they determine how skilled we are in our discipline.

Clearly women have the greatest gift of all, being able to bring life to the world and in my opinion every woman should experience that, but what happens when the gift you possess stops or gets in the way of the true essence of being a woman. Is it all worth it? Is it worth postponing having children or even postponing pursuing a career else where? Women put a lot on the line when they choose sports over a standard career. I had my twins early in my career and I was forgotten as fast as I appeared on the track and field scene. It is assumed that your track career is over when you have children. My contract was cut and everything positive I did on the track was merely lost.

So are sports unsafe for women who pursue it for their career?

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Recently, someone told me track and field is a dying sport. Sometimes, Iʼm so consumed in what Iʼm trying to accomplish that I I forget to take time out and observe my surroundings. So, when someone brought this to my attention I stepped away from the situation and examined all aspects of it. Then, I asked myself a couple of questions like, how many people know that track and field is a professional sport?  How many people think that track athletes run one meet every four years … the Olympics?  I went through my thought calender recalling conversations Iʼve had with random people. Every time I mention running professionally, most are shocked and quite a few questions follow.  The most common of those being, “Wow.  Do you actually make money?”  My reponse, “ yes! I do, and for some athletes the pay out is really good!”  

I guess I understand why so many people view track and field as a “dying” sport because many people do not know we exist.  Just when I start taking it into consideration, I think about all the people in neighborhoods, parks, and different trails jogging and working out. Track and field is the most practiced sport from small children through adulthood.  In my opinion, there is NO way itʼs a dying sport. The average person runs for recreational use and it is one of the few sports where you will find senior citizens participating.  Again, thereʼs NO way that track and field is a dying sport. We (track athletes) share a connection with  the majority …. no other sport can compare. So, where is the missing link? Why is the sport of track and field overlooked for sports like football and basketball?

Track and Field is the first/original sport. I call it the most natural sport. It determines whoʼs the fastest, who can jump the highest and farthest, who can run the longest, who can run the fastest with obstacles and the list can go on. So what are we missing? The athletes make sure they are prepared to run at the best of their abilities.  I make sure I give 100% when I perform. The performances are there for your entertainment so the job is being done on the athletes behalf, but there’s a reason why our sport has not become mainstream. Iʼm stuck in my thoughts with this because itʼs not adding up.

 What do you believe is the missing link??

Lashinda Demus

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Mt. Sac relays are this weekend and it brings back old memories. Iʼve been running track since I was five years old,  and nearly every year up until my high school senior year, I have participated.  Walking through the gates brings back so many memories.  As soon as the officials see me, they greet me.  Some faces are more familiar than others but each of them takes the time to explain how theyʼve watched me run since I was a little girl.  Listening to their stories make me smile and chuckle all at the same time because it makes me feel so old.  Then I pause and think, they probably have the same exact feelings I do, lol.  I look at my kids and think of their first race at Mt. Sac and picture myself with an embarrassing t-shirt that has their picture and names all over it.  I’m screaming at the top of my lungs. Memories, memories…… Wait…. These arenʼt memories yet,  but I swear I can see it vividly.

Many years ago, my mother ran in the Mt. Sac relayʼs. In fact she still has the gift of wine glasses from her winning a race. What happened to those type of gifts, lol. This meet is monumental for majority of little track boys and girls in the Los Angeles area and itʼs so unreal for me to be competing as a professional at the same meet where I walked around in my spikes all day with a pen and paper in hand waiting for Carl Lewisʼ autograph. I donʼt think you understand, I was a stalker at a young age.  While the professional teams were on the track preparing for a relay,  I was badgering them for their autograph! I was very intense. Now look. I will be the one at Mt. Sac signing autographs running while little kids and their parents cheer for me. I canʼt complain about my life thus far. I’m blessed!

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