Former Tennessee track and field star Tianna Bartoletta began her Rio Olympic journey Friday night.
Bartoletta, formerly Tiana Madison, qualified for both the 100 meter dash and the long jump in the Rio games. No woman has ever won the gold medal in both events at the Olympic Games.
She ran in the first qualifiying rounds of the 100m Friday night, finishing 1st in her heat with a time of 11.23 seconds.
"It was a solid execution of a race," she said afterwards, though she wasn't thrilled with her time. "Qualified automatically. That was goal number one."
You can watch the race here. The semi-finals and finals in that event are set for Saturday night. See those races here.
The long jump competition starts on Aug. 16.
Bartoletta was asked she was approaching competing in both events.
"One day at a time," she sad. "I look forward to it."
Bartoletta already has a gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics, where she was part of Team USA's winning 4x100m relay team, and she is the only member of that team returning to defend that title.
She still holds Tennessee’s all-time best long jump mark both indoors (6.78m) and outdoors (6.89m). She won the 2005 NCAA National Championships both indoors and outdoors in the long jump. She also earned three All-America honors her freshman year.
She was the world champion long jumper in 2005 and 2015.
Bartoletta has also competed as a pusher on the US Bobsled national team.
