Oak Lawn-Hometown School District 123 is proud to share that Shamier Little (OLHMS 2009) earned two Olympic medals and shattered records alongside Team USA in Track and Field in Paris.
Making her Olympic debut at the age of 29, this standout from Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School electrified the stadium in the mixed 4x400m relay. This foursome was victorious in heat 1, smashing the world record with a time of 3:07.41. Team USA made the podium in the mixed 4x400m relay finals, clinching a well-deserved silver medal.
"I always knew we were going to run fast," Little told ESPN. "And we talked about, it's gonna take a record to get a medal. But it took a record to win our prelim. So I was just excited."
Little helped lead the women’s 4x400m relay team to victory in the first round with a steady lead. She ran the first leg in the finals, giving them a strong start to finish with an American record and the gold medal.
Before qualifying for the Olympics, LIttle earned two Silver medals at the 2015 and 2023 World Championships in the Women’s 400m Hurdles.
After attending OLHMS, Little went to Lindblom Math & Science Academy in Chicago and later graduated from Texas A&M University. Going from a high school with no track or hurdles to an Olympic Champion in Track & Field was no easy feat. She missed going to the Olympics twice but persevered until she made it.
"For her to come out of Lindblom and go to the Olympics, it just shows you just got to put in time, work and effort," Shamier's brother, Genius Brandon, told NBC Chicago.
District 123 is proud to be a part of Little’s journey to the Olympic podium, and we hope to share more of her story in the next edition of our alumni spotlight newsletter, D123 4-WARD.