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The sun was setting, the lights were shining and the electrifying roars of the crowd were echoing through the stadium when Savannah Sutherland stepped onto the track for the women\u2019s 400-meter hurdles at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With a whirlwind of emotions racing through her, she couldn\u2019t help but take a few seconds to admire the scene around her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing in the finals with women I grew up idolizing and knowing that I was racing them and deserved to be racing them was surreal,\u201d Sutherland told The Michigan Daily. \u201cI remember before getting in my blocks, I stopped and just took a deep breath and looked around me at the stadium because the energy in there was absolutely amazing, and the track and stadium were beautiful. It felt like straight out of a movie.\u201d<\/p>\n
But long before Sutherland traveled to Paris to make her Olympic debut, her journey began in the small village of Borden, Canada, with a population of roughly 300. Growing up, Sutherland played every sport in the book, dabbling in volleyball, soccer, softball and even figure skating. But it wasn\u2019t until her older brother, Cole, started track that Savannah set her eyes on running.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nHowever, Savannah\u2019s introduction to track and field was anything but traditional.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m from a very small town, so we don\u2019t have a track or anything,\u201d Savannah said. \u201cWe kind of just get out there and run on this little dirt circle and call that track.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Savannah\u2019s running journey took off, it didn\u2019t take long for her natural talent and speed to turn heads \u2014 literally. At a district track meet, a coach from the neighboring town sought her out, complimenting her speed and suggesting that she look into track camp for the upcoming summer. Thinking that it could be a fun opportunity to learn the basics of track, Savannah decided to take him up on his offer and enroll.<\/p>\n
At camp, Savannah immediately realized that she was in over her head. Unlike everyone else, she had no idea how to use blocks and didn\u2019t know what spikes were. But she took the experience in stride, and little did she know, this summer camp would lead her straight into the provincial selection for Team Saskatchewan. One minute Savannah was learning how to use starting blocks at camp, and the next she was being selected to represent her province at U16 Nationals. From running around Borden\u2019s dirt track to competing at U16 Nationals, Savannah was all of a sudden living a small-town girl\u2019s dream \u2014 and she was only 13 years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At Nationals, Savannah finished seventh in both the 100-meter and 300-meter events. Once Nationals was over, she decided to officially join the Saskatoon Track and Field Club, which she\u2019d be affiliated with for the rest of middle school and high school. Throughout high school, Savannah excelled. Not only was she ranked No. 24 at 400-meters, she was ranked No. 6 in the world among U20 athletes in the 400-meter hurdles for the 2021 outdoor season.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nAfter placing third at World Juniors the summer before college, Savannah came to Michigan feeling confident \u2014 both in herself and her abilities. However, the transition from her 300-person town to college proved to be much more challenging than she had initially thought. After all, Savannah was moving to a new country, leaving her family and friends and entering a new chapter of her life with the lingering effects of COVID-19 still present.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery aspect of my life had changed,\u201d Savannah said. \u201cI was recruited during COVID, and the first time I stepped on campus was to move into my dorm. It was the first time that I had ever been in Michigan. It was definitely a jump, and I think that was reflected in my times freshman year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although her times were still impressive, Savannah felt they didn\u2019t truly reflect all that she was capable of. It was during this vulnerable time that she turned to the one constant in her life \u2014 her family. After several long phone calls, her parents reminded her not just of the athlete she is, but of the resilient person she is. And, as parents often are, they were right.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family has always supported me,\u201d Savannah said. \u201cI think the first meet they missed was World Juniors in 2021 when I was in Kenya, and that was only because they weren\u2019t allowed to travel due to COVID. They have always been in my corner and been my number one fans forever.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thanks to her family\u2019s revitalizing encouragement, Savannah leaped into sophomore year with a completely altered mindset. Despite her disappointment in her freshman year times, she knew that doing well on the track started with having a positive outlook. For Savannah, this meant having her family\u2019s support and established friends at her side.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n\u201cI was ready to put freshman year behind me,\u201d Savannah said. \u201cIt was a fresh start, and I really attacked fall training that year and ended up having some great results, even better than I could have expected.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Savannah\u2019s sophomore year can be summarized in just two words: shattering records. By the end of the year, Savannah ran several career-bests and broke just as many school records. At the Big Ten Indoor Championships, she ran a 51.41 in the 400-meter dash, earning second place. To this day, it\u2019s one of Savannah\u2019s best times. And at the NCAA Championships, she ran a career-best and school-record 54.45 in the 400-meter hurdles to win the title. But her individual accomplishments in her sophomore year are not what she finds most memorable. Instead, the highlight of her year was a 4\u00d74 race with her teammates at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a great team that year, and we knew going in that we could win the title,\u201d Savannah said. \u201cWe had enough points to secure the win before running the 4\u00d74. But, we were pretty amped up, so we decided to run the 4\u00d74 anyway. It was a pretty tight race between us and Ohio State, but we ended up winning at the line. I think it was one of my favorite memories, just winning with my girls.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even with the tournament already won, it was one of the most meaningful experiences she has ever been a part of, simply because she was with her friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a great year, and it just continued to ascend from there,\u201d Michigan coach Kevin Sullivan told The Daily. \u201cIt just goes back to her qualities as a person, not just as an athlete. She\u2019s talented and she knows she\u2019s accomplished a lot, but at the same time, she\u2019s got really good values and characteristics that make her a strong person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nAfter her sophomore year, Savannah only got better, with more career-bests and new school records. Although her list of accomplishments could go on and on, there is an entire other side to being a female student-athlete. While her work ethic, passion and confidence are undoubtedly evident on the track, these values all stem from her small-town upbringing. Instilled in her from a young age, Savannah has always strived to embody them in every aspect of her life, both on and off the track.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know she\u2019s someone that\u2019s very passionate about women\u2019s rights, accessibility and representation,\u201d Sullivan said. \u201cI respect her so much for her values and studies, and I think it just comes back again to who she is naturally. She\u2019s someone that leads by example, not in an outwardly way but as a friend, teammate and person.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As a senior now, Savannah has learned what it means to stay true to herself and be confident in everything she pursues. She knows that she\u2019s worked hard and earned her place on the track, and she has every intention of continuing to get better and better. And, at the heart of it all is her family, friends and the people who have supported her along the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a lucky necklace that my mom gave me, and I wear it every single race,\u201d Savannah said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of beat up a little bit and the clasp has fallen off multiple times. But, it\u2019s my lucky necklace, and I am able to see it when I\u2019m in the blocks and looking down. And so every time before a race, I look at my necklace and remind myself of why I\u2019m doing this and who I\u2019m doing it for.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After almost every race, Savannah fondly remembers rushing over to her family, who are always cheering her on from the sidelines. Some of her most cherished race day memories are her family\u2019s glowing smiles and the long embraces she shares with them over the railing. Even if they\u2019re back home, she knows they\u2019re watching and celebrating her from hundreds, sometimes thousands of miles away.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\nSavannah\u2019s journey from Borden to the Paris Olympics was one marked by adversity, moments of self-doubt and times when her confidence wavered. Yet, it was also a journey that culminated toward breaking records, achieving personal bests and embodying perseverance. From not knowing how to use starting blocks to getting on her blocks on the Olympic stage, Savannah became the first Canadian to reach the event finals since 1996.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Savannah, the cliche truly rings true: life isn\u2019t about the destination, it\u2019s about the journey \u2014 a journey defined by her small-town roots and endless family support.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<\/aside>\n
Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sun was setting, the lights were shining and the electrifying roars of the crowd were echoing through the stadium when Savannah Sutherland stepped onto the track for the women\u2019s 400-meter hurdles at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics.\u00a0 With a whirlwind of emotions racing through her, she couldn\u2019t help but take a few seconds to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[494,497,496,498,495,499],"class_list":{"0":"post-521","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-family","9":"tag-guided","10":"tag-roots","11":"tag-savannah","12":"tag-smalltown","13":"tag-sutherland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":523,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521\/revisions\/523"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}