How Charleston shaped Olympians Raven Saunders, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn and Emma Navarro (2024)

In between London and Paris, Emma Navarro made sure to return to the city she loves best— Charleston.

Fresh off a whirlwind run to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and with the Paris Olympics looming, the world's No. 15-ranked women's tennis player took some time off to refresh and recharge before climbing back on an airplane.

"I wanted to come back home to Charleston, see my friends and family and do some of the activities I've been doing since I was really young," Navarro said recently.

That meant going to Riley Park to take in a Charleston RiverDogs game (twice!), strolling down King Street on Second Sunday (a few people recognized her) and spending an afternoon relaxing on a dock near the water.

"Spending time with people I care about in Charleston is the best way to recharge," she said.

Charleston had a hand in shaping the lives of three athletes who will compete in the Olympics, which start July 26 in Paris. Two of them— shot-putter Raven Saunders from Burke High School and hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn from Fort Dorchester High School— already have won Olympic medals. Navarro, who is among five Americans ranked in the top 15 of the WTA Tour, will be making her Olympic debut.

Here's a look at the Charleston stories of all three:

Harmon Field to Paris

Coach Herbert Johnson first spotted Saunders, who identifies with the pronouns they/them, when they were a freshman at Burke High School, throwing the shot put at a meet at James Island High School.

"I was actually there to watch another athlete I was training," Johnson said. "I saw this young lady in the shot put pit throwing 32 feet, and I knew that 38 or 40 feet would win a state championship in her class. So I just encouraged her to keep throwing."

As luck would have it, the Burke coach at the time and his wife were about to have a baby. The coach asked Johnson if he could help out, and "I guess the rest is history," Johnson said.

Saunders and Johnson often trained at Harmon Field across the street from Burke, with Saunders throwing from a sidewalk near the field.

With Johnson's help, Saunders transformed from a "glider" to a "spinner" in technique. By senior year, Saunders was throwing more than 58 feet.

Throws like that qualified Saunders for the U.S. Junior Nationals that year, but Saunders — who did not have a father in their life and whose mother, Clarissa, worked for years at the Krispy Kreme on Savannah Highway in West Ashley —could not afford to travel to Oregon for the meet.

Donors contributed $6,525 to a gofundme account, with families of track athletes at rival Bishop England High School donating more than $1,000 so she could make the trip.

"That has meant a whole lot," Saunders said at the time. "I've competed with athletes from Bishop England for a long time, and we'd always have fun laughing and joking around. They did so much to to help me out, and I'm not even on their team."

That meet helped launch Saunders, the Post and Courier All-Lowcountry athletes of the year in 2014, to a college career, which included four NCAA titles at Southern Illinois and Ole Miss.

Saunders qualified for the Rio Olympics in 2016, finishing fifth, and won a silver medal at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. A gesture of support for "oppressed" people on the medal stand garnered further attention.

Tragedy also struck during those Games when Saunders' mother died at age 53 while at a gathering of Olympic families in Florida. Saunders flew home from Japan to accompany their mother's body home to Charleston for her funeral.

Saunders, now 28, has been outspoken about mental-health issues, including contemplating suicide while at Ole Miss. Often wearing a mask during competition, Saunders is also famed for her "Hulk" persona. During an 18-month suspension for failing to show up for a blood test after Tokyo, Saunders often thought about giving up the sport.

“It’s a blessing that I’m even here right now," Saunders said after finishing second at the Olympic Trials with a throw of 19.90 meters (65 feet, 3.5 inches) So to be able to make my third team after stating that I wanted to and after quitting the sport five or six different times this year — of doubting myself and fighting and battling myself, and having people drop out of the race with me, I mean, it’s amazing I’m here right now.”

Hurdling to fame

Born in Charleston in 1996, Camacho-Quinn was just a young girl when she first dreamed of Olympic glory. The athletic genes were there— her brother, Robert, grew up to be a football star at Fort Dorchester High School and then in the NFL. Her parents, James and Maria, both competed in track and field at Charleston Southern, James as a hurdler and Maria Camacho as a sprinter and long jumper.

But it was gymnastics at which Jasmine first excelled.

"Gymnastics was my life," Camacho-Quinn once said. "I was a gymnast, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. As a young girl, I wanted to be an Olympian. I had dreams of working with the great coaches and performing on that stage."

By middle school, Jasmine began to grow out of gymnastics and gravitated toward track. With her father a nationally ranked hurdler during his career at Charleston Southern, the hurdles were a natural choice. James coached his daughter during workouts at Fort Dorchester.

"She always was a natural athlete, very blessed," James said. "She has always had a great work ethic at whatever sport she was involved in. I'm not surprised at her success because she is pretty driven to be the best."

Camacho-Quinn had a standout career at Fort Dorchester, winning four gold medals at the state track championships in 2013, despite painful shin splints. She scored 40 points by herself, good enough to finish fourth in the team standings. At Kentucky, she was a three-time NCAA champion (twice in the hurdles, one in a relay event).

For her post-college career, Camacho-Quinn decided to run for her mother's home country of Puerto Rico.

“My mom was really excited,” she said at the time. “She wanted me to run for Puerto Rico because she never got to do it when she was younger. I wear it with pride.”

In her Olympic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, she made the semifinals before stumbling over a hurdle to end her medal chances. But she made up for that in the 2020 Games in Tokyo, storming to a 100-meter hurdles gold medal in 12.37 seconds.

This season, Camacho-Quinn ranks 10th in the world in the 100 hurdles at 12.39 seconds. The fastest time in the world this year is 12.25 seconds by American Masai Russell. In Paris, she will be among two athletes to carry the Puerto Rico flag.

Ashley Hall days

By the time they get to ninth grade, many top junior tennis players have already outgrown high school tennis. Online schooling and tennis academy is often the route for players with professional potential.

Emma Navarro tried that route, but it wasn't for her.

"A lot of kids in my position did online school or homeschool, and I did that for a couple of years," she said. "But I kind of realized maybe that wasn't the best path for me."

So Navarro, the daughter of Charleston businessman and philanthropist Ben Navarro and wife Kelly, attended Ashley Hall School. Ashley Hall, the tony private school on Rutledge Avenue, boasts alumni such as former First Lady Barbara Bush, authors Madeleine L'Engle, Nancy Friday and Josephine Humphries and actress Mena Suvari.

"I was really lucky to have that opportunity to go to Ashley Hall and still travel and play tournaments," she said. "It's an opportunity that not as many kids get to have."

While at Ashley Hall, Navarro played for the tennis team and coach Mary Gastley, helping the squad to a state title and earning All-Lowcountry player of the year honors.

"It was such a cool experience," she said. "I love playing on a team, and to be able to play alongside my schoolmates was incredible. I think it taught me to be a little more light-hearted, and it was a time I could just enjoy myself to the core."

This year, Navarro won her first WTA singles title and defeated former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka and current No. 2 Coco Gauff on famed Centre Court at Wimbledon.

In Paris, Navarro will once again be on a team, along with American stars such as Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins— this time with a gold medal on the line.