Public Employee Press

Olympian: Retiree’s granddaughter competes in high jump

High jumper Sharon Day, left, and sister Jasmin.

Before a global television audience estimated in the billions, the granddaughter of Local 1549 retiree Barbara Gibson is competing this summer in the 2008 Olympic Games in China.

High jumper Sharon Day, a 23-year-old graduate of California Polytechnic State University, was among the 600 U.S. athletes vying for gold medals as this issue of PEP went to press.

Day, who placed third in the U.S. Olympic Trials, was a seven-time All-American at Cal Poly, where she graduated in June with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, the science of human movement.

“It feels amazing,” said Day after qualifying for the Olympics in July. “It’s kind of like a dream.”

Gibson said she would be glued to the TV and the Internet in late August as Day competes.

Day’s parents, Eugene and Yolanda, and her sister Jasmin, 20, also a track star, are traveling to Beijing for the games. “Sharon called us just before she left. My husband and I said what’s important is doing her best and having a wonderful experience,” said Gibson.

The Days are a family of track and field stars. Eugene helped train Yolanda for college competition when the couple was dating. He also trained his children.

“Oh, man, it is hard to put in words how I feel,” Eugene Day said. “It’s just so exciting to be a parent of a young lady, who shortly after graduating from college, which is also every parent’s dream, is representing our country in these world-famous games.”