My Story: Ruthlyn Greenfield-Webster - USA

"What??? Are you serious?" Those were my first words when I received the official call last October informing me that, in May of 2017, I was going to be inducted into the University of Pennsylvania Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 10th class of inductees (Class X). I tried to hold it together throughout the conversation, but I just wanted to scream with joy – which is exactly what I did when I hung up the phone! My youngest daughter said she had a feeling she knew what the phone call was about when she heard me running through the house screaming.

Over the course of these past 7 months, I've spent a lot of my waking moments feeling many emotions that have ranged from extreme exuberance, to surreal disbelief, to quiet humility. The thought of my upcoming induction made me reflect on my entire life as an athlete. It made me think of all that I had done leading up to what I consider to be the culmination of my athletic career – being inducted into the Hall of Fame for my beloved sport of Track and Field at my beloved alma mater…the University of Pennsylvania – and all while I am STILL competing.

I've always played sports, and I've always been very competitive. As a young girl growing up in Jamaica, I looked forward to competing in our Sports days. After moving to the U.S. at the age of 9, gym classes became the highlight of my days in middle school, and then my soccer, volleyball, basketball, and track teams became the highlight of my days in high school! Pushing myself to my physical limits (and beyond) in an effort to live up to what I believe to be my potential, has always been the motivating force behind my drive to be one of the best in any sport I played, and eventually in what grew to be my specialty – triple jumping.

I battled many injuries (mainly hamstring injuries) my senior year of college and pretty much just focused on defending my titles that school year. This was one of the reasons why I declined an invitation to compete at the Olympic Trials in 1992. I was graduating U. Penn a Co-Captain of my team, a 4-time Heptagonal (Ivy League) Champion, and the school record holder of both the Indoor and Outdoor Women"s Triple Jump. At the time, I felt I had achieved enough in the sport and it was time to stop competing and move on to my professional career. Little did I know, that wasn"t the end for me.

Fourteen years later, I found myself competing again as a Masters athlete in the sport for which I had such a great passion. I was able to secure a Bronze medal in the W35 Women"s Triple Jump at my very first World Championship competition in Italy in 2007. I won another Bronze in Finland in 2009 after coming back from a left knee meniscus tear surgery in 2008, and later won a Silver medal in Sacramento in 2011, which is where I also won my first World Championship Gold medal as a member of the U.S. W40 4 x 100m Relay team. Between 2011 and 2013, I continued to battle hamstring injuries and competed with knee pain. I had achieved State Records and won many National Championships, but I was still seeking my "individual" World Champion title.

I was heartbroken the summer of 2013 when, after a low-key Indoor season, I suffered a right knee meniscus tear just as I was beginning to train for the World Championships in Brazil which was scheduled for later that year in October. I couldn"t train because the pain was too great and I didn"t want to have surgery because I probably would not rehab in time for competition. I almost decided not to compete in Brazil. I was injured and therefore I wasn"t going to be able to train to prepare to compete optimally. But something deep inside of me said, "It"s YOUR time! It"s time for your Gold! You have to go and give it your best shot – injury or no injury!" And that"s just what I did. I tried to do what I could in pools to stay relatively fit and relied on muscle memory to execute my phases during competition. With pure and sheer determination, I was able to achieve my individual World Champion title in the W40 Women"s Triple Jump – I won Gold despite not being able to train to prepare and competing with a meniscus tear.

I've always felt that my greatest competitor was "myself"! This is because no one pushes me more than, well…me. In all aspects of my life, as a wife, mother, nurse, entrepreneur, and athlete, I hold myself to a very high standard and I always aim to meet them. I also don't believe in the concept of failure. Whether it's when I'm speaking during a formal panel discussion or when I'm speaking informally with someone, I always make it a point to talk about my belief that if a person has made a concerted effort towards achieving a goal, there is NO WAY that they can fail – even if they do not reach their goal. I firmly believe that along the way, we all learn something, we all grow. We learn about our strengths, our weaknesses, how to approach or how not to approach the goal, who we may need to involve or disassociate from in order to reach that goal, and so on and so forth. So in my opinion, as long as we"re learning "something", we"re growing. And to me, that is not failure.

My unwillingness to accept the concept of "failure" and my growth as an athlete over the 46 years of my life, are two of the reasons why my induction into U. Penn"s Athletics Hall of Fame this past May 6th is so meaningful to me beyond it"s obvious honored distinction. I spent 4 years of my life at U. Penn "living the dream" of marrying sports and academics even when it seemed impossible. I was surrounded by numerous people – coaches, professors, teammates, classmates, and friends – who recognized and respected my PASSION for competing in Track and Field. Their love and support and that of my family has been unwavering to this day! To be honored in such an incredible way for simply doing what I LOVE and what I believe I was gifted to do – to motivate and inspire through athletics – is quite humbling. I have a great deal of pride in U. Penn for all that my Penn family has done over the years to help me achieve my goals. This is why I've made it a point to remain connected with my alma mater and to give back to the Penn community in ways that include being a Penn Mentor and Penn Alumni Interviewer. I want to give other student/student-athletes the same love and support that I've received and continue to receive. I feel deeply privileged to have my body of work as an athlete as well as my involvement as an alumna be recognized and honored in such an amazing way – especially when this recognition comes within a week of me competing at Penn Relays, my birthday/Mother"s Day, and my 25th Class Reunion at U. Penn. What an incredible month it"s been.

Being inducted into the University of Pennsylvania Athletics Hall of Fame represents the pinnacle of my athletic career. It seals my legacy as a U. Penn student-athlete…and I will be forever grateful!

"Live Life with PASSION!" - Ruthlyn