East Lansing's Taylor Manson to compete in Tokyo Olympics

Manson family.

By: Gabi Dunham

The East Lansing High School track is where one Olympian got her start.

Taylor Manson placed seventh in the 400-meter dash at this year's Olympic trials, qualifying her for the U.S. 4 x400 relay team. She hopes this will just be the beginning of her Olympic career.

"Right now, it's for the relay but hopefully like in the future it's for the individual 400," Manson said.

Turning my dreams into reality… #USOlympicTrials pic.twitter.com/4UvvOPPyry
— Taylor Manson, OLY (@TaylorManson4) June 16, 2021

Manson says her community and family have always pushed her to dream big and aim high.

Her Olympic dreams started as she watched her favorite runners in the 2008 Olympics.

“I was just so cool to watch like them competing like for the country against like other countries. And I was like, I want to do that one day,” Manson said.

Manson’s family said, when she first started running they could tell she had a talent.

“When she started talking about the Olympics, we were like, 'Okay, she's determined.' Because she always can do whatever she says she's going to do,” said her mother, Ta-Tanisha Manson.

As Manson got older, those dreams didn't fade.

“She made this vision board with the Olympic picture in the middle and all of those things. And like I said, whatever she speaks she just does,” her mother said.

Manson’s been training year-round since she was nine years old, competing around mid-Michigan, on to Florida University, then even representing the U.S. in the 2018 IAAF World U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland.