Michelle Carter became the first American woman ever to win the Olympic gold medal in shot put this past weekend.
Carter, who graduated from Red Oak High School and the University of Texas at Austin, also has an Oak Cliff connection. She attends church at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship.
Known as the “Shot Diva,” Carter is a certified professional makeup artist who has appeared in ESPN magazine’s body issue and organizes a confidence-building sports camp for girls called “You Throw Girl.”
The New Yorker reports that she’s on a feminist mission to give women and girls confidence and positive body image.
She is basically the coolest person in Dallas forever.
And she comes from an athletic legacy.
Carter’s dad, Michael Carter, won the shot put silver medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. In 1979, while a student at Thomas Jefferson High School, he set the American high school shot put record with 81 feet 3½ inches. No high schooler has ever come close to beating that record. Michelle Carter has held the women’s Texas high school shot put record since 2003. Her dad also played football for SMU and then eight seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and is described as one of the best nose tackles of all time. He’s the only athlete to win an Olympic medal and a Super Bowl ring in the same year.
