CSM Track & Field Coach to Lead Long Jumper at 2024 Paralympics
OMAHA, Neb. – Steve Gordon was all set to go to the 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo to coach his athlete Taleah Williams in the T47 long jump. That was during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I was cleared, but because of the rules during that time, it would have been a trip for me to sit in the hotel,” said Gordon, the head track and field coach at College of Saint Mary. Instead, he had to watch Williams compete and finish fourth on television.
“There are all types of little communication that goes on that to anyone else, it sounds like gibberish, but to us it’s shorthand,” he said. “There are a few things I could have helped her fix that would have gotten her those extra centimeters.”
Now, Gordon will have that chance as he leaves Wednesday to coach Williams, a Norfolk, Neb., native, in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris.
“I’m a ball of nerves,” he said. “I’m already nervous, mainly because I know what it means to her and how hard she’s worked,” he said.
In addition to Tokyo, Williams, born without her lower left arm, competed in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro and won gold and bronze in the World Championships in 2017 and 2023, respectively.
In her off-season, Williams trains with Gordon in the Lied Fitness Center Fieldhouse at College of Saint Mary. Another Paralympic long jumper, Petra Luteran, also trains at CSM. The former Husker is representing Hungary in the Paris Games.
Gordon, who has worked with Williams since 2017, said she motivates his college athletes.
“You’ve got a woman missing her arm. She works a full-time job and comes all the way here to work with your coach,” he said. “There’s no better way for me to say, ‘Everyone, let’s get to work,’ than to have an athlete like Taleah show up and show everyone else that there are absolutely zero excuses.”
Opening ceremonies for the Paralympics Games are on Friday. Williams will jump Sept. 6. Gordon said he hopes Williams will find a sense of accomplishment and “just do what we do.”
“It’s a big track meet, a different city, and this huge event, but all we have to do is do what we do. Because what we do has been proven through the last eight years. I hope she enjoys that, understands it, and feels accomplished in getting to that point. The icing on the cake would be a medal,” he said. “I’m super proud of her. She’s taken me all over the world to these events. I’m just proud of her, and I hope she gets everything she wants. She deserves to be on top of the podium.”
About Steve Gordon
Gordon is a two-time letterwinner and Big 8 Conference runner-up in the triple jump for the Huskers. He transferred to the University of South Dakota to finish his collegiate career. Gordon was an eight-time North Central Conference Champion in long jump and triple jump and a two-time NCC Conference runner-up in high jump. He was a five-time All-American. Gordon is a member of the USD Hall of Fame, as well as the NCAA Div. II Hall of Fame. He earned spots on the ’92 U20 Pan Am and ’97 World University Games teams for Team USA. He earned his highest professional rankings of U.S. No. 3 and World No. 12 in the triple jump. Prior to an injury, he competed professionally for four seasons.
After college, he worked with several programs in the area including the University of South Dakota, University of Nebraska Omaha, Westside High School and Iowa Western Community College – mostly coaching jumps and sprints. Gordon has also been a credentialed personal coach with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and he is the co-owner and coach of the Tachyon Athletik elite training camp.
