Twin Cities triple-jumper Shani Marks has put her life on hold for four years, hoping to make it to the Beijing Olympics - though she knows there's little chance of a medal.
Shani Marks: For the love of the jump
From the edge of the jumping pit at the University of Minnesota, Shani Marks eyes the line raked in the sand. Leap past it and become Champion of the World. Or, if she's really feeling it, Champion of the Universe.
The make-believe competition is Marks' lighthearted way of injecting fun into her tedious workout routine. Her training partner, Amanda Thieschafer, has just soared a good 4 inches beyond the line. "Here she goes, stepping onto the runway, Shani Marks," Thieschafer calls out in her best sports-announcer voice. "Currently in second place."
"That is not how we play the game," Marks says, laughing. "You're sending me bad vibes."
Marks leans back, inhales and barrels down the runway, jumping first with her left leg, then again, then springing off her right foot with all the force her powerful body can muster.
For four years, the triple jumper from Apple Valley has been training hard, focused on making the 2008 Summer Olympic team. She has spent hours every day lifting weights, running and fine-tuning her form. She has chosen to stay in Minnesota, even though it means being apart from her husband and training via e-mail with a coach a thousand miles away.
Now, the Olympic trials are right around the corner. Marks is a favorite to make the team, but if she does, she is not likely to step onto the podium in Beijing. No American woman has ever won an Olympic medal in the triple jump.
Hope for a medal isn't what has kept her sweating and striving and fighting through two decades of sport.
It is the pure joy of the moment, when she soars over the sand, eager to see how far she can fly.
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Video: Chasing an Olympic dream
Shani Marks of Apple Valley has been training for years for a chance to compete in triple jump on the U.S. Olympic team. She said the triple jump is a joy in her life, but added it does not define her.
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