Hurdler from Ypsilanti hopes third time is a charm in bid for Olympics

Candice Davis Price balancing training, coaching and motherhood

YPSILANTI, Mich. – Candice Davis Price calls herself a senior citizen in the athletic world, but at 30 years old she knows is stronger and wiser than her younger self.

She is focused on her training to compete in the Summer Olympics in Rio, but she is not doing it just for herself.

"Looking at Gia was just like, I don't ever want you to grow up and say 'Hey, Mommy why did you stop running?' and me say, 'Because I had you," Davis Price said. 

Gia is her daughter, Gianna, a 3-year-old. Davis Price is a hurdler and she is training to qualify for the 100-meter hurdles at the Olympic trials in July.

"(The) 100-meter hurdle has just kind of been a passion of mine," Davis Price said. "There's just so much adrenaline and emotion that goes into it. It's really hard to describe."

She has competed in track and field for most of her life, focused on hurdles and sprinting. Growing up in Ypsilanti, she attended Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, where she holds the state records in the 60-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles. She then went on to the University of Southern California. During her senior year there, she finished second in the 100-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

After college, Davis Price spent eight years as a professional hurdler, traveling the world to compete.

She has been second in the world to Olympic great Lolo Jones.

"I've been runner-up to her in the USA championship. I've been runner-up to her in the world championships and, I mean, some athletes could say that I'm settling, but, like, when you're losing to someone great, you're just kind of like, that's just part of how it goes. She will be one of the greatest hurdlers," Davis Price said.

Davis Price has her own Olympic dreams and narrowly missed qualifying in 2008. She tore her labrum months before the Olympic trials for the 2012 London games but still went for it.

"I did pretty well given that circumstance. I got ninth. I didn't make the final and came to find out six weeks later I was, like, 10 weeks pregnant with Gianna," Davis Price said.

Davis Price is very candid about how she initially felt about becoming a mom.

"I'll be very honest. It was confusing because women are supposed to be so happy when they're pregnant. And you're like, 'Oh my gosh, this is amazing.' But I saw it as, 'I can't run, I can't compete, I'm getting behind.' And that was difficult, but once she came, I was, like, just, 'Oh my gosh, how could I ever live without?'" Davis Price said. "She is the greatest thing I still have."

After Gianna was born, Davis Price eventually returned to international competition but she missed her daughter and her husband Brian.

"I was traveling and I remember being in Budapest and seeing like my 11-month-old baby on FaceTime and was, like, this is devastating. I just wasn't there."

She and her husband and child returned home to Ypsilanti to be close to family. Then, last summer, she started thinking about the Olympics again.

"My family was just, like, 'You know, you have to go get it. This is it. The window is closing,'" Davis Price said. She attributes all the support from her family, especially helping care for Gianna, as the only way it's possible for her to go after her Olympic dream. 

This time, Davis Price sees her daughter as her secret weapon.

"I guess it's more about making sure I'm an example for her and also me feeling like when it's done that I did everything I could do and there were no regrets," Davis Price said.

Davis Price is training at Eastern Michigan University. She is also a track and field coach for Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, replacing her mentor, Brian Westfield, who died last summer. He was much more than a track coach to her and other members of the team over the years.

"I understood the responsibility that he had. I understood that he was sending women to college, he was fostering kids at their home, he was, like, responsible for a lot and I was, just, like, 'I don't know if I can do that.' He was, like, 'I need you to do this. You can do this.' And I was like, 'OK, I'll do it,'"  Davis Price said. "It's going a lot better than I could have imagined."

In the fall of 2015, with her training well underway, Davis Price suffered a serious setback after being involved in a car accident. She said she was hit by a driver who ran a red light.

"It was just kind of like a bomb went off. Everything was stinging. It was just loud but it was quiet," Davis Price said. "I sustained a severe concussion, which ultimately, for an athlete, is just like breaking a leg, I had strained my back, my neck, all on one side of my body."

The accident put her training on hold for several weeks. In addition to what she is doing on the track and in the weight room, her training for the Olympic trials includes weekly rehab at Michigan Neurosport.

Davis Price remains positive and is giving it her all as an athlete, coach and mother.

Whether she realizes it or not, she is inspiring those around her to chase their own dreams.

"It's so amazing that she is trying to qualify for the Olympics again," said Britten Bowen, a sophomore who is coached by Davis Price. "That's a very big goal to have. That's one of my main goals, actually, to do what she does, because I want to follow in her footsteps."

"She is not just a coach for me, she is my best friend, my mentor. She has really taken the spot of Westfield for me, which is really nice," said Jordyn Dresch, a senior who is coached by Davis Price.

Davis Price hopes when her daughter is a little older, she will understand her mother's commitment.

"I kind of feel like win, lose or draw that I'm being an awesome, obtainable hero to my daughter," Davis Price said.

The Olympic trials for track and field are in July. 

Candice Davis Price is one of the metro Detroit athletes Local 4 is following on the Road to Rio.


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