Kornacki: All in the Olympic Family, Part I
6/20/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field, Women's Track & Field, Features, Olympics
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Jeff Porter experienced a unique Olympic dream scenario by competing in the London Games four years ago with his wife, Tiffany (Ofili) Porter.
Now, qualifying times at upcoming Olympic trials willing, they could have what Jeff says would be an unprecedented family triple-header. Cindy Ofili is trying to make the team from Great Britain along with her older sister, while Jeff hopes to repeat as a U.S. team member.
The three former University of Michigan stars will be running basically the same race, with the sisters in the 100-meter hurdles and Jeff in the 110-meter hurdles.
What would it be like for all three of them to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Games in Brazil in August?
"I can't even imagine that," said Jeff, 30. "Not only would that be history. That would be a pivotal moment in everybody's life. Having the three of us -- a husband, a wife and a sister -- competing in the same race, that has never happened.
"A husband and wife have competed in a similar event. Or a husband has coached a wife. But you've never had a husband, wife and a sister competing in the same event at the same Olympics. You can't dream stuff like this up. Put your calculator away (on figuring the odds). You can't dream something like this.
"The fact that we're all here at this point is nothing but a blessing, but it's surreal. I used to watch Cindy in middle school, get better every year. I used to watch Tiffany get better in college. And then, 'Oh (crap), even I got better!' And now, this is our chance."
Tiffany, 28, said, "It would be a dream come true. How much better can it get to have your support system there with you and to celebrate in their successes as well. Hopefully, it all works out, and I'm really looking forward to it."
Cindy, 21, said, "That would be a phenomenal experience. Every athlete dreams of being on that stage. Everybody wants to be in the Olympics, in the greatest of greatest Games. It's my ultimate goal. But to also be there with my family would be an amazing feeling. I can only imagine how it would feel for all of us to qualify and represent our countries as well. I'd be blessed and honored."
Tiffany motivated Cindy to break her Michigan records before inspiring her to follow in her Olympian footsteps. Cindy broke her sister's marks in the indoor 60-meter dash (7.37 seconds surpassing 7.42), indoor 60-meter hurdles (7.89 seconds eclipsing 7.94) and outdoor 100-meter hurdles (12.60 seconds besting 12.73)
"I broke all of them," said Cindy. "I was very honored because my sister has accomplished so much at this University. To be in the same conversation with her is an honor, let alone breaking her records. It was a dream come true to compete with her in that way, and it was a great experience."
Cindy, the 2016 NCAA indoor champion in the 60-meter hurdles and Big Ten Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2014, also holds school records in the indoor 200 meters (23.65 seconds) and outdoor 100-meter dash (11.39 seconds).
Tiffany said, "I told my sister, 'I made a name for myself in athletics, and I feel so tremendously blessed. But now it's time for you to go out and make your name!' And she's made a name for herself!
"When she came to the University, it was, 'That's Tiffany's little sister.' But, honest to God, recently somebody wrote a caption on my Instagram page: 'This is Cindy's sister.' It's gotten to a point where she's done such great things that she's exceeded my records here at Michigan, which has been a huge blessing. If anyone's going to break your records, why not keep it in the family?"
Tiffany won three consecutive NCAA 100-meter hurdles championships (2007-09) and two straight NCAA 60-meter hurdles titles (2008-09) and was named Big Ten Indoor Track Athlete of the Year in 2009.
Both of the sisters have been greatly impacted by Wolverines women's track and field coach James Henry, who also, incidentally, predicted marriage for Jeff and Tiffany the first time he saw them together.
"He's been a huge aspect of my career," said Tiffany. "I do have a different coach now, but he still gives me pointers. He knows me and has almost been a father figure. He's a great coach and a great man, a Michigan Man."
Cindy said, "He's an amazing coach. I honestly wouldn't be who I am today without Coach Henry. He's helped me not only as an athlete but as a person. He's given me speeches and things that have stuck with me mentally."
Jeff and Tiffany also won the Big Ten Medal of Honor -- awarded annually to one male and one female member of the senior class at each conference institution who exemplifies proficiency in scholarship and athletics.
"That was so special," said Tiffany.
Tiffany graduated from the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy in 2012 and is a pharmacist for CVS in Canton, Michigan, where they live. Jeff currently is a special projects coordinator in the Michigan Athletic Department and has a master's degree from nearby Eastern Michigan University in Higher Education and Student Affairs. He's pursuing a doctorate at EMU in Higher Education Leadership.
This will almost certainly be the last Olympics for the husband and wife, but Cindy, 21, hopes to compete in 2020 and beyond.
"I'm going to be running for a while," said Cindy, who just completed her senior season at Michigan, where she majored in education.
Jeff said he'll retire after this quest, and his wife likely will, too.
"Tiffany wants to have babies," said Jeff. "She's ready to have children, and at this point, after this year, it's about that time."
Tiffany said, "To be honest, I'm probably 90-percent sure this will be my last Olympics because I am very excited to begin the next chapter of my life with starting a family and working in the pharmacy. I am a pharmacist, and I'm very passionate about that as well."
When asked where the 2040 Olympics, which might be the goal of their first child, are going to be held, Jeff said, laughing with a wide grin, "I don't know. But you can be damn sure I'll be in the stands somewhere, losing my mind.
"But Tiffany says our kids might be violinists. And I joke, that if they play piano, I'll be in the front row saying, 'Hey! That's my son! That's my daughter! They played the hell out of Mozart!' "
Tiffany laughed heartily when Jeff's comments about children were repeated.
"I'm going to be very encouraging in whatever they naturally take to and are passionate about," said Tiffany.
Their story begins with Tiffany, a freshman back in the fall of 2005, asking Jeff, a junior, to be her Facebook friend.
"She was looking to connect with the hurdlers on the team," said Jeff, "and I was one of the few. I saw this little freshman girl, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. But because I was a hurdler and she was a hurdler, we started doing more and more workouts together.
"But she couldn't stand me. She thought I was arrogant, cocky, cursed a lot and drove fast -- everything she couldn't stand. The funny thing about it is that Coach Henry would tell Tiffany, 'Hey, watch, you're going to end up marrying that guy.' Lo and behold, years later, we ended up getting married."
Tiffany added, "My freshman year, Coach Henry told me: 'You're going to marry that man.' I said, 'Coach, there ain't no way! I can't stand him. Look at us now, 11 years later! Jeff was very boisterous, but I can see the evolution of 19-year-old Jeff to 30-year-old Jeff. So, it's been quite the ride. He's grown so much into a strong, intelligent and assertive man who is doing such great things, finishing up his PhD (at EMU) and working here in the athletic department at the University.
"He juggles everything on his plate so well, and I'm his biggest cheerleader."
Jeff, a native of Somerset, New Jersey, cooked up an elaborate proposal at the iconic ice skating rink at Rockefeller Center in downtown Manhattan.
"It was Dec. 30 (2010), and I got Tiffany to come home with me to visit my family in New Jersey," said Jeff. "Unbeknownst to her, I had talked to her parents, bought the ring and made some special arrangements.
"New York City was just packed. I got tickets to see the Rockettes on Broadway, took her shopping at Macy's and took her to get her nails done. I said, 'You probably want your nails done.'"
Then it was onto Rockefeller Center, where Jeff had arranged to get the rink to themselves for a few minutes between skating sessions.
"We skated," said Jeff, "and she's having a good time. We're skating five or 10 minutes, and I'm panicking because I've got the ring in my pocket, and it's been burning a hole in my pocket all day. I'm skating around, and I see my family finally show up. They're going to take pictures and video it. This is beautiful.
"They make an announcement to clear the ice, and I tell Tiffany, 'I've made arrangements just for me and you to be on the ice.' I was saying something romantic, but it still wasn't clicking. Then she heard our song, "All My Life" by K-Ci & JoJo, on the loudspeaker, and she knew what was happening."
Jeff pulled the diamond ring out of his pocket and got down on one knee.
"I proposed to her," he said, "and the crowd went wild. My family was there, and we had dinner reservations afterward. We took the train back to New Jersey and made the Channel 7 Action News that night. Somebody called and said, 'Congratulations! We just saw it on the news.' "
Tiffany said, "It was awesome. I remember being confused, like, 'Jeffrey, why are we still on the ice?' Then he got down on one knee, and we're the only people on the ice. He was being very sentimental, talking about his father before he passed and I was so excited that I nearly fell on the ice. It was a really, really cool moment."
"I will never find another lover sweeter than you,
Sweeter than you
And I will never find another lover more precious than you
More precious than you
Girl you are close to me you're like my mother,
Close to me you're like my father,
Close to me you're like my sister,
Close to me you're like my brother
You are the only one, my everything, and for you this song I sing."
"It's our song," said Jeff Porter, who proposed to his wife, Tiffany, with it playing on the loudspeakers at the Rockefeller Center ice rink in Manhattan.
They were married May 7, 2011, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, and Tiffany wears a diamond wedding ring on her left hand and a gold ring comprised of five rings connected like the Olympic rings on her right hand.
"Cindy was my maid of honor," said Tiffany.
Cindy added, "The wedding reception was so much fun. The whole day was awesome."
They are connected in life, track and one another's hearts.
"Every time I watch my sister or Jeff run," said Cindy, "my heart pounds even more than it does in my own races.
"I want to see us all do well. It's like we're the same person."
Tomorrow: Read MGoBlue.com Tuesday (June 21) for Part II of the feature on Jeff and Tiffany Porter and Cindy Ofili. The husband and wife will relive the 2012 Olympics and discuss their athletic families along with Cindy, while Jeff tells of the powerful connection he maintains with his late father, especially while running in the Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon.
Players Mentioned
