PHOTO | KEVIN MORRIS

Mallard Creek High graduate Gabriele Cunningham, who ran a personal best 12.53 in the 100 meter hurdles final at last month's U.S. Olympic Trials, was promoted to the Tokyo Games when second-place finisher Brianna McNeal lost a doping appeal.

Gabriele Cunningham is ready for the Olympics.

The 23-year-old Mallard Creek High alumnus will compete in the 100-meter hurdles at the rescheduled Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which run July 23 through Aug. 8. The women’s 100-meter hurdles final is scheduled for Aug. 2 at 11:50 a.m. in Tokyo (10:50 p.m. on Aug. 1 in Charlotte). She leaves for Japan on July 24, and the community held a surprise sendoff at Mallard Creek over the weekend to wish her luck. Now comes the challenge. 

“The hardest part about traveling is honestly the packing,” Cunningham said with a laugh. “I have my parents kind of help me pack. My dad is really good at folding and making sure everything fits into the suitcase, so I always have him help me because I am a person who overpacks. If you tell me I’m staying for a week, I will probably pack for three.”

Packing is a welcome hurdle after last year. The road to the Olympics has been rocky, with the COVID-19 pandemic pushing the Games back from 2020. Cunningham continued to train, competing in 10 meets and working with coach Allen Johnson, who won gold in the 110-meter hurdles in the 1996 Games in Atlanta. She began working with Johnson her sophomore year at North Carolina State, and he continued to coach her as she made the transition to professional athlete.

“I felt going into my professional career, that he was the best person to coach me,” Cunningham said. “I had seen some success in some of my events [with him as my coach], and really just his mindset toward things and his attention to detail makes him a great coach. Those were some of the things I needed in order to get better as an athlete. He is really good at having you mentally and physically prepared. He’s been there in those moments so he knows how to coach you through them and tell you exactly how to handle it.”

Cunningham began to consider running professionally while attending Mallard Creek. When she began competing at New Balance Nationals and receiving calls from coaches her junior and senior high school seasons she knew choosing a college would play a key role in her Olympic dreams.

“Any athlete who does an Olympic sport, their goal is to make the Olympic team and then of course to medal,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham’s experience at last month’s Olympic Trials in Oregon came with a mix of emotions. She ran consecutive personal bests: 12.67 seconds in the first round, 12.61 in the second and 12.53 in the final, but Christina Clemons edged her out for the third spot. Keni Harrison finished first in 12.47 seconds, followed by Brianna McNeal at 12.51 seconds.

“Of course I was disappointed, because I didn’t know what was going to happen, but I was also proud of myself, because I came each round and gave it my best,” Cunningham said. “I was able to come out with three PRs in a row. I went out there and gave it my all and that everything that we had done in training had paid off. No matter what the decision was going to be I was just going to keep training and keep trying to get better preparing for the meets to come.”

McNeal, who won gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics, lost her appeal against a five-year ban for violating anti-doping rules. She was charged with tampering by the Athletics Integrity Unit, which said she falsified medical forms with the intent to deceive anti-doping officials when she missed a test in January. McNeal, who was recovering from an abortion, changed the date on the forms, because she thought the doctor wrote the wrong date. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the ruling.

McNeal still participated in the trials and ran a qualifying time. Cunningham, who was invited for processing immediately after the trials, said she has not had a chance to speak with her.

Everything changed on July 2 when Cunningham received the call promoting her to the Olympics.

“I was at practice, and I was just about to leave to go right in my first European meet over in Hungary,” she said. “I actually missed [the call] the first time, because I was practicing.”
Cunningham’s coach told her to call back, which she protested because they were in the middle of practice and that was what she wanted to focus on.

“At that point, I had to tell my parents and all the people I know who have been waiting to see what was going to happen,” Cunningham said. “I took a moment away from practice to kind of enjoy that moment and then I got right back to it, so that I could continue training and preparing.”

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