James Smith II - Texas A&M Track and Field

“I had to work hard to get to where I am! I don't have a dramatic past or a dream miracle story to talk about. I was good at track most of my life but never a standout. I was always swept under the rug so that motivated me because I always wanted to be in the spotlight and considered the greatest of all time. I was willing to do whatever it took. Some people need a motivational story, but what motivated me was the fact that people thought they could beat me.” 

“I know I'm not the best in the world yet, but I’m climbing my ranks every year and I’m coming for that top spot (GOAT status). I will get there and when I do, imma stay there for a very long time so I can say that I worked from being an average overlooked athlete to the best ever. I want to leave this sport knowing that I was one of kind and irreplaceable!”

“Sports taught me that you have to work for what you want in life! And it has helped me connect with people different than me by allowing me to see people work in different ways. Maybe putting work in for me might be running and lifting, but for someone else it might be late nights on the books or late night studying so it just taught me the appreciation of grind.”

“I just hope that the sports world will unite all races together, especially white and black people. A lot of African Americans are involved in sports, and if both sides unite their followers and fans together,  maybe we can stop the problems of injustice going on in the world.”