UPDATE: Vashti Cunningham finished in fifth place in the women's high jump, her best result in three Olympics. Her best jump of 1.95 meters was good enough to tie for the bronze, but she lost out on a tiebreaker.
Randall Cunningham put the finishing touches on the sermon he plans to deliver to his daughter, Vashti, on Sunday just before she competes in the finals of the women's high jump at the Olympics (scheduled start time 1:55 PM ET/7:55 PM in Paris).
"I always write sermons before every competition, so I just finished up the sermon for tomorrow entitled, 'Focus, focus, focus.' It's setting her mind on God and what He can do through her, rather than what she can do on her own willpower," Cunningham said on a telephone call Saturday.
Vashti Cunningham is in her third Olympic Games at just 26 years old. At 18, Cunningham was the youngest American track and field athlete to qualify for an Olympics since 1980. She finished 13th at Rio de Janeiro, and three years ago in Tokyo, where the Olympics were delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, inched up to a sixth-place finish. The fans are a major difference at this year's Olympics.
"The fans here in Paris are very enthusiastic," Randall Cunningham said after experiencing the crowd of nearly 80,000 at the Stade de France for Vashti's qualification on Friday to advance to Sunday's finals. "They are screaming and hollering the whole time. It's not a quiet stadium. It's the total opposite of Tokyo. I don't know where these people get their energy from."
It's a similar feeling to when Randall and the Eagles traveled to Tokyo for an international preseason game against the New Orleans Saints in 1993.
"As soon as we got off the bus, they rushed us. And it was like, 'OK, I'm not used to this,'" he recalled.
Randall Cunningham is in an interesting position as he is not only Vashti's father, but her coach as well. Since retiring from the NFL following the 2001 season, Cunningham has served as a minister at Remnant Ministries in Las Vegas as well as an assistant track coach at UNLV. At 61 years old, the electrifying playmaker once dubbed "The Ultimate Weapon" by Sports Illustrated jokes that he would consider a comeback, only if he had a year to train so that he could be the holder on field goals. He has developed a relationship with current Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and has adopted some of the wisdom from the fourth-year starter.
"I've learned from him and his patience. He's a very patient person," Cunningham said of Hurts. "That's one of the things that I've taken from him in the relationship. Don't rush into things, but just be patient."
Randall Cunningham sees that same maturity in his daughter as she looks to add an Olympic medal to a decorated career that featured a streak of 13 consecutive U.S. Indoor and Outdoor National Championship wins in the high jump along with a World Indoor Championship as well.
Vashti Cunningham leaped 1.92 meters (6-feet, 3.5 inches) in the qualifying round, despite a nagging back injury that has plagued her through the season. She cleared a season-high 1.97 meters at an indoor meet back in February and boasts a personal-best high jump of 2.02 meters. Mariya Lasitskene won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics with a high jump of 2.04 meters.
"She's more mature. That's the whole thing with the Olympics. Everybody wants to be on that medal stand. There's only three spots. You have to be on," Randall Cunningham said of the difference in his daughter compared to three years ago in Tokyo. "Watching the qualifying round, I knew it was tough for everybody and there are a lot of girls who did not make the finals that shocked me. It really, really shocked me.
"I think she's better prepared because of her experience now as a young athlete. She speaks to me like an evangelist nowadays. It's like, 'Dad, I get an opportunity to go for the gold, and then in my personal life, I get to minister to people,' and I see the way she responds in her interviews. She just grateful that God as given her the opportunities and then physically, her endurance. I mean, this is her ninth year. A lot of people don't realize that, but she's so young, but she's a nine-year experienced person. It's amazing but she just remains consistent. I love her endurance and consistency."
Randall Cunningham's sermon is ideal as he planned on spending the rest of Saturday focused on relaxing to save his energy to support Vashti, as a father and as a coach, on the sport's biggest stage.
