Obama’s momma-in-law tells senior sprint exploits
Talk about masters moles! In a couple weeks, the First Grandma will take up occupancy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. And can you dig it — Marian Robinson (Michelle Obama’s momma) was an Illinois Senior Olympics sprint champ. At least that’s what she claims. But did she really run the 50- and 100-yard dashes, as a gazillion news accounts contend (including this one in The New York Times)? Not sure why she’d be running yards, but that’s what she tells folks. I’m checking out her real stats. Sadly, she says she’s done with sprinting, and she’s only 71. But maybe she’ll get back in shape chasing those adorable granddaughters around the Rose Garden.
Here’s one account:
As reported last year in O, The Oprah Magazine, getting to know Marian is key to understanding Michelle. One interesting tidbit is that Marian Robinson took up a new sport when she was in her fifties:
Of all the stories I’ve heard about Michelle Obama, the most telling might be one about her mother, 70-year-old Marian Robinson, a tall woman with impeccable posture, a vivid smile, and excruciatingly high personal standards. On the far side of her 50th birthday, Robinson took up running. She was good, she had speed — she even competed in the national Senior Olympics — but after a fall a few years ago left her unable to hit her stride, she dropped the sport without hesitation. “If I can’t do it fast, I’m not doing it,” she says. “You don’t run just to be running — you run to win.”
Another mention of Marian Robinson’s athletic abilities appears in a January, 2007 Chicago Sun-Times article: “Michelle also was athletic, playing baseball, football and basketball with her brother, father and mother — who, in her late 50s, won some short-distance running events at the Senior Olympics in Champaign (IL).” In an interview with Ebony Magazine Marian confirms she ran the 50- and 100-yard dash. So she played sports and competed as a senior sprinter.
One Response
i like michelle obama coz she is very down to earth person*”‘
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