As far as accomplishments go, it's hard to beat Hazel Clark-Riley and her family. She is an Olympic athlete so is her sister, so is her sister-in-law and it doesn't stop there.
You could say Hazel was born to be an athlete. And she is one, a good one. An Olympian now, but she fought against her talent in the beginning.
"I tried every sport, but track and field and the reason I avoided track and field was because my older sister and my brother were so good at it," said Hazel.
For a time, she focused on figure skating. "I went up for an axle and I came down on my face I still have the scar on my chin. I woke up in the hospital and I threw my skates away," said Hazel.
And after much convincing she put on her running shoes. "I remember my dad said, 'Look, you've tried everything, basically. I mean everything. You can avoid it as long as you want, but I really think you should try track and field'," said Hazel.
Running was in her blood. "It just came so naturally for me. I mean I only ran for two years in high school and by the time I graduated I was the number one 800 meter runner in the country. I got the Gatorade All-Prep award and I got full scholarships to universities all over the country," says Hazel.
She chose the University of Florida where her brother, J.J. Clark, was coaching. And she got serious. At age 21 she made the Sydney Olympic team for the 800 meter. And so did her sister, Joetta and so did her sister-in-law, Jearl.
The Clark sisters all together in one race was history-making.
"It was a lot of pressure. I had a tough time with it. I remember just shaking, holding the paper going into it. Every day there was a Clark sister story. There were vans parked at our house covering us," said Clark.
The sisters were everywhere on TV, on magazine covers and soon Hazel would become a Nike model. She still is.
"It ended up being a very successful ad. I think they said apparel sales for that hood went up 60 percent. And after that Nike started using me in a lot of ads," said Hazel.
Hazel was the only sister to qualify in Sydney. She came in seventh overall.
"I sprinted when I didn't need to and at the end of the race, the difference between fourth and seventh, which is what I got, was a tenth of a second all of us leading across the line," says Hazel.
She also went on to the Olympic Games in Athens and Beijing and was going for London, but suffered a setback.
"I was running around the football field and my ankle just turned over. It was the most excruciating pain. I fell face-forward and someone carried me to the training room," says Hazel.
There is some sadness watching the London Games.
"I'm doing better than I expected. When you've done something your whole life, I'm gonna be honest with you, I thought there was a chance I would be balled up on the couch in a dark house and there was a moment I had to fight that feeling sorry myself," said Hazel.
That is not how the Clark family operates. Her sister, a four-time Olympian, her brother, a former Olympic track coach and now Director of Track and Field at the University of Tennessee.
And let's not forget about her father. "My father is the subject of the movie Lean On Me," said Hazel.
"He was a controversial principal who cleaned up a school in New Jersey. It's called East Side High School. And his methods, some people supported and some people were against it," said Hazel.
So, Hazel knew something about the spotlight long before she became a famous athlete.
Hazel Clark-Riley, a three-time Olympian, a Nike model now sprinting through life with her high heels on.
"I am just grateful for my blessings. I would be grateful to make one Olympic team. I've made three. I've traveled all over the world and now I am also able to support my husband being a track and field agent which is still keeping us in the sport that I love," said Hazel.
One of Your Stories. There's no place like this one.