Tokyo 2020: Grass to grace story of Quanesha Burks

A former McDonald’s employee is set to represent the USA in the long jump competition for the first time.

Ahead of her Olympic debut, Burks reassured her social media followers that she came to Tokyo all the way from Alabama for one thing–to win.

“Some boys want Audi rings. Some girls want wedding rings. But these are the rings I’ve been wanting all my life,” Burks wrote on Instagram with a photo of her sitting in the middle of the Olympic rings in Tokyo.

While it is quite normal for an Olympian to be fueled by the thirst to win the gold, Burks’ journey to the Olympics made her somewhat special.

Some may not know, but Burks used to be a McDonald’s employee and a scholar-athlete at the University of Alabama at the same time.

“When I worked at McDonald’s, I thought it was the best job ever,” Burks told Sports Illustrated. “I was making $100 every two weeks. It’s terrible, but I came to work every day happy and I knew it was all part of my goal to go to college.”

“I remember looking up the requirements to earn a full scholarship and I wrote those goals down,” she added. “I jumped 20 feet and that’s when everything changed.”

Contrary to what many assumed, Burks’ story wasn’t all fairytale. Working at McDonald’s from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. soon took a toll on her scholarship as there were days when she had troubles dealing with practice schedules and his coaches couldn’t contact her.