PREPPING FOR PARIS: Wayne alum working toward back-to-back Olympics
Anavia Battle is training for to make the 2024 USA Olympic team, three years after qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Games.
As humble as she is fast, Anavia Battle rarely spends time contemplating her status as one of the swiftest people on Earth.
“Honestly, I usually don’t think about it until somebody else brings it up,” admitted the 24-year-old Battle, smiling. “When they do, I’m like, ‘Oh, wow! Yeah, I am kind of special.'”
Special, indeed.
The 2017 graduate of Wayne Memorial High School, Battle broke several track-and-field sprinting records during her time at Ohio State University, from which she graduated in 2021 with degrees in Human Development and Family Science.
During the 2020 USA Olympic Trials, which were pushed back to June of 2021 due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Battle became the first woman collegiate athlete ever to break 22 seconds in a wind-legal 200-meter race when she was clocked at 21.95 seconds.
World-class achievement
The effort was good enough for third place at the Trials, earning her an Olympic berth.
“In terms of my track-and-field accomplishments, that’s the one I’m most proud of,” Battle revealed.
“After the race, I looked up and saw the 21.95 and I dropped down on my knees, started crying and gave thanks to God for hearing my prayers.”
While a Buckeye, Battle helped lead OSU to four team championships.
She captured seven individual Big Ten Conference titles, third behind only Donica Merriman and Christina Manning in the school’s rich track-and-field history.
Admittedly proud of her past accomplishments, Battle is 100% focused today on making the 2024 USA squad that will compete July 26 through Aug. 11 in Paris.
After signing a professional contract with Adidas in 2023, Battle moved from Columbus to Austin, Texas, to train with other professionals.
Important routine
“I didn’t really like it, so I moved back to Columbus to train with my college coach, Joel Brown,” she said. “I train pretty much every day. It’s the same routine, which is boring sometimes, but it keeps me on the straight and narrow.”
“I get up everyday, walk my dog, come home, eat, practice running, followed by weights. I’m usually home by 5 p.m.
“I had a few setbacks — both physical and mental — last year, so my coach and I are working from the ground up. Other than some minor tweaks, though, I’m close to where I need to be right now.”
Familiar place
The USA track-and-field Olympic trials are set for June 21-30 in Eugene, Oregon — the same venue where Battle’s memorable 200 in June of 2021 unfolded.
“I’m super-excited for the trials,” she said.
“I try to stay focused on the present and not look too far into the future because that gets me too wound up sometimes, but I do have goals written down and the Olympic Trials is on the list because I have to do well there before I can even think about the Olympics.”
While competing on the professional track-and-field circuit, Battle has visited Switzerland, Poland and Bermuda, among other high-profile destinations.
“But I’ve never been to Paris,” she added.
Mind is important as body
Battle explained how she has to put as much work into her mindset as she does her running form.
“People tell me, ‘You’re so fast!’, but I have to be mentally locked in, too,” she said. “In the minutes leading up to the start of a race, I try to stay in the moment, not worry about the outcome and have fun with it.”
Battle couldn’t attend her Ohio State commencement ceremonies because they coincided with the Olympics in Tokyo.
“There were no fans allowed in the stadium because of COVID, so they piped in crowd noise, which was kind of surreal,” she added.
She returns to southeast Michigan every chance she gets to spend precious time with her mom, Antoinette, grandpa and aunt, who still reside in the area.
Along with her family, she said those who helped her find success were Wayne Memorial teachers Drew Dodds and Liz Baker-Wallace, and her track coach Jamal Johnson.
‘It takes a village’
“Like they always say, it takes a village,” she said.
Battle has her sights set on becoming an educator once her track-and-field days are over.
“I’d love to become a school district superintendent someday,” she elaborated. “I’d like to lead a district that makes its students and families feel like they’re part of the family; like it’s more than education.
Battle, her mom and aunt launched their own hand-crafted candle business based in Romulus called Sister Scents MI. Each hand-crafted candle includes a scripture printed on its label.
“We hope and pray that reading the scriptures listed on our products will encourage all to read the Bible and put God’s word into action,” the business’s website states.
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
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