NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
As the London Olympics near the completion of the first week of competition, we thought we would revisit a story that first aired on Channel 4 nearly 16 years ago.
Sasha Anderson was then in the third grade, and she had amazing skill, determination and Olympic dreams.
It was the middle of summer with the Atlanta Olympics under way, and the 9-year-old girl had two feet on the running track with both eyes on gold medals.
Channel 4's Demetria Kalodimos first profiled Anderson as the girl trained six days a week with her father, while setting records and winning races state-wide.
Now 25 years old, Anderson said she barely remembers.
"I know it was about me and running, all that good stuff, and I wanted to be in the Olympics. But other than that, I don't really remember. I was 9," she said, laughing.
We remember, because we have the videotape.
"I have a pace I need to run, and my dad keeps time. Sometimes I think about how I'm running," Anderson said in the original story.
She was thinking also of the Olympics, but those dreams for this runner just ran into reality.
"I think at the time that's what I wanted. That was my goal. And then as I grew the realization hit that I didn't really want to be an athlete anymore once I got to college," Anderson said.
College at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville opened doors to a career in modeling. Her new back-up plan was to use her degree in biochemistry.
And most of the running in the family these days is done by her 2-year-old daughter, Zariah.
She might set some records, too.
"She's part of my exercise," Anderson said.
But Zariah's playtime is much less intense compared to her mom's time on the track. It's easy to wonder if the intensity at a young age created burnout.
"No, he was great - an excellent trainer, a great father and an even better grandfather. I didn't ever get burnt out, because I loved to do it and still love to do it," Anderson said.
Anderson still loves to run several times a week to stay in shape, but she does not do anything with a timer. And she's happy about that.
Her father, Theodore Anderson, is a captain in the Nashville Fire Department. And the way Zariah likes to run around, he might get one more shot at training a hopeful Olympic performer.
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