SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – The three once-homeless sisters recited all the athletes they met at nationals and the souvenirs they received as they slurped shaved ice.
Nine-year-old Brooke Sheppard got pointers from high jumper Vashti Cunningham . Rainn, 11, showed off the shirt she picked out at the merchandise tent. And 12-year-old Tai, well, her family’s story moved Justin Gatlin so much that he gave her the first-place medal he won in the 100 meters at the U.S. track and field championships.
The siblings from New York City were guests of USA track and field after their rise to prominence in the sport, with their exploits bringing them medals, TV appearances and a magazine cover. It also helped get them something more – a home. They and their mom moved out of a homeless shelter and into a two-bedroom apartment in April.
“A whole different world,” Brooke said, referring to all the paths that have opened up through track.
For a few days at nationals, they were treated like royalty. The sisters were accompanied by their coach Jean Bell, their “track mom,” since their actual mother, Tonia Handy, couldn’t make the trip because of work.