Being an Olympian makes you physically strong but doesn’t always show emotional strength. Track and field stars, though, really flipped that narrative. Just look at the Paris Olympics—athletes showed that even after the toughest losses, they could still push through. Take Letsile Tebogo, for example. He won gold, but not without the heartbreaking loss of his mom, something we all know.

Then there’s this 24-year-old female athlete who faced a similar loss. She lost her mom at the start of the year, but just a week later, she still raced. She said her “chest was burning,” seems she didn’t accept the fact until she broke down in tears. That moment? It sparked her determination. She ended up beating Sha’Carri Richardson in the trials and made it to Paris, showing us all how strong people really can be.

Recently, track and field star McKenzie Long opened up about the tough loss of her mom, Tara Jones, who passed away suddenly from a heart attack at just 45. Tara was McKenzie’s biggest supporter, always there for her and sharing the dream of making it to the Olympics. McKenzie shared her story on the Ready Set Go podcast with Justin Gatlin and Rodney Green, where Gatlin asked her about the moment she got the news. Her voice cracked, her eyes filled with pain as she tried to control the moment. “My heart dropped to my stomach,” she said, revealing the entire gut-wrenching scenario and how deeply it affected her.

McKenzie Long vividly recalls the moment she learned about her mom’s passing, an experience that forever changed her. “I was in my bed, honestly,” she began. She had been talking to her boyfriend when she realized she hadn’t spoken to her mom in over a week. While on the phone with his boyfriend’s mom, her stepdad called her. “I was like, ‘Hold on, I’ll call you back,‘” but when she answered, his words hit her like a punch: “I’m so sorry, she’s gone.” Confused, McKenzie asked, “Huh?” before her stepdad repeated, “I don’t want to tell you this over the phone.” That’s when the reality hit. “My heart dropped to my stomach,” the track and field star recalled, overwhelmed with emotion. “I was just screaming, ‘No, no, no, no.’” But, her boyfriend was there to comfort her during that agonizing moment.

McKenzie revealed how she tried to navigate the grief while staying focused on her training. “I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to have another reality check,” she said, choosing not to return home after the loss. Instead, she took just a few days off, three, to be exact—because she feared falling into a deep, unshakable sadness. “I didn’t want to go MIA for weeks,” she explained.

Coming back on the track was tough, “I took my three days. I was in so much pain, just trying to run,” she recalled. “My lungs hurt, my chest was hurting. I literally was just like, ‘Why does this hurt so much? I’m not even doing anything on the track. I’m just jogging.’” Her chest was burning from the emotional exhaustion, but the pain wasn’t just physical. “I was exerting a lot of energy crying,” According to McKenzie, she struggled in the shower, sobbing and yelling with her head down due to grief. It took time but she was finally back to track but it was McKenzie’s mother’s spirit that pulled her through to the Olympics.

Track and field star felt her mom’s presence on the road to Paris

Long, the NCAA champion in 100, and 200 meters, qualified for the Paris Olympics when she came third in the 200 meters in 21.91. She was placed behind Gabby Thomas and Brittany Brown. That means she beat Sha’Carri Richardson. Earlier that season she had recorded the fastest 200 times in the whole world but Thomas left her behind in the semifinals here. While Long did not qualify for the 100 final, that day she was competing in honor of her late mother.  Before her race, she used to talk to her mom who was no more with her but in her heart, “This is my last race, push me through” and felt her mom with her at the finish. But before her mother’s passing, Tara was excited to watch her girl in the Olympics!

Long and her late mom, Tara Jones, always envisioned competing in the Olympics in track and field events. Tara used to dream big for her daughter. Every time the race was over, Tara would get out of the stadium, and head to the parking lot to wait for the call from Long. They were kind of best friends.

Long once said that her mom would’ve been her “momager,” always wanting to be involved. Now, with her mother’s passing, Long’s grief fuels her success. Still, the absence of her mom is a constant pain. Before the track and field Olympics, Long usually dreamt of her, and felt her presence, especially when she saw signs like the “angel numbers” she often noticed. When Long cries, she cries with her mom, and when she races, it’s as if they’re accomplishing this dream together. Even in Paris, she left to leave a piece of Tara behind, making sure the world knows they did it together.