Champions: A rare breed. The future generations depend on them to lead the way. They are the world’s most celebrated icons. From iconic giants to masters of height, speed, and distance, these extraordinary athletes, with their incredible physicality and mental capacity, pave a path marked by footprints for others to follow. This is the journey of Leevan 'Superman' Sands, a 4x Olympian and Olympic medalist whose path took a new trajectory after a life-changing injury that forever impacted his journey. He returned and came back to claim his territory in a different way. Emerging as a dynamic mentor and coach, he will secure the future of his species. As an expert in the triple jump and long jump, Sands continues to pursue the same goal he holds as both an athlete and coach—to win.
“Becoming a top athlete requires grit, grind, hard work, dedication, and commitment. It takes overcoming numerous adversities. There are countless challenges and potholes on the path to becoming a top athlete. Every great athlete has a similar story of how they reached a place of triumph. It takes disappointments, falling down, getting back up, and refusing to give up. There will be days when hard times hit, and you’ll feel like giving up. Many times I wanted to give up, but when you set a goal and truly believe in your goals and dreams, you continue to push through those tough times.”
Having started track and field at the age of five Sands has had an exceptional athletic journey and an equally dynamic coaching journey. He shares what it was like starting out as well as some of the challenges he faced at a young age.
"I started track and field at a very young age, beginning when I was just five years old with the KFC Striders Track Club. I wasn’t the best at the time, but I developed into one of the fastest elementary sprinters. I later attended Temple Christian High School on a track scholarship. This was a challenging period for me, as I was competing against older athletes and wasn’t the fastest. Some parents complained that their faster kids weren’t receiving scholarships. I’ll never forget being told that my scholarship might be taken away due to that situation. I started seeking a coach to help me improve my sprinting and eventually came across Coach Henry Rolle while he was at St. John’s High School. At the time, I was tall and lanky so he suggested training me for the jumps. That was when I first tried the triple jump, and I went 44 feet as an eighth grader. I continued to sprint, but during that time, I became known as a long jumper, triple jumper, and high jumper."
Leevan "Superman" Sands shown with father the late Leevan Sands Sr. and mother Elaine Sands.
Sands gave a deeper dive into his years as an athlete where he competed globally.
“At my first CARIFTA Games, I won a gold medal in the triple jump, which inspired me to focus more on both the triple jump and long jump. After winning that gold medal, I received a full scholarship offer from Florida Air Academy (FAA) in Melbourne, Florida. At Florida Air Academy, I excelled academically and athletically in basketball and track and field. I won state titles in three events: long jump, triple jump, and high jump. Additionally, I was named Gatorade Athlete of the Year. In the same year, I set a new U.S. national record.
I then advanced to junior college, where I became the JUCO Champion in both long jump and triple jump, breaking the JUCO record, which still stands from 2002. Additionally, I broke the Bahamian national record at the JUCO nationals, a record previously held by Frank Rutherford, the first Bahamian to win an Olympic bronze medal. That same year, I competed in the Commonwealth Games and won a bronze medal.
In 2003, at 21 years old, I competed in my first World Championships and won a bronze medal while I was still a junior at Auburn University. During my time at Auburn, I became a multiple-time All-American and NCAA champion in both the long jump and triple jump.”
Sands’ adventurous spirit and dynamic performances paved the way to achieving the ultimate goal—the Olympics.
"My first Olympics was in 2004, and it wasn’t the greatest. I didn’t have a good meet and didn’t make the finals. Four years later, though, I won a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympic Games. I went on to the 2012 Olympics, where I blew out my right knee. I ruptured my patella tendon on the fourth attempt in the finals and I had to leave the field on a stretcher, finishing fifth overall. It was a devastating knee injury. I had to attend rehab for two years before returning to competition back in 2015, which was my first year triple jumping since the 2012 games. That season, I won a silver medal at the Pan American Games and made the World Championship team in Beijing, where I made the finals! That summer I also qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics. I believe I finished 17th or 18th in the world that summer. In total, I competed in four Olympic Games and nine World Championships."
Armed with lots of experience as an athlete, Sands has also experienced the Olympics as a coach. He shares what it’s like to experience the Olympics from both athletic and coaching perspectives.
"Pursuing the Olympics as an athlete felt easier to me in a way because I approached it like a regular meet. I didn’t let it overwhelm me. The difference between being an athlete and a coach is that, as an athlete, I had more control over my performances. As a coach, it’s more nerve-wracking because I have zero control. I can prepare my athletes, guide them with workouts, but ultimately, it’s up to them to handle the pressure of the world’s most prestigious event—the Olympic Games."
As an athlete Sands was talented in both long jump and triple jump. He shares what made him specialize.
“I mainly did long jump and high jump when I was younger until I started triple jumping. I was actually good in all three but I would say I was better at both the long and the triple jump. I became a Carifta double gold medalist a couple of times and earned double bronze my first year in the under-20 category. When I went on to college, I did well in both events. It wasn’t until after I graduated from Auburn University that I decided to stick with the triple jump because it felt easier for me to win medals, based on the distances I was reaching at the time. I ended up winning most of my medals in triple jump, so I focused more on that event. Even though I loved long jump, I would say triple jump was my specialty event.”
After he was injured Sands’ career took a turn. He shares what it was like transitioning from being an athlete to becoming a coach.
“My coaching career began back in 2015. While I was recovering from my knee injury, I began private coaching, and that’s when everything took off. I formed a track club called Sands Pro Athletics Club and it wasn’t too long after this when lots of kids wanted to train with me. I also began working with a few professional athletes. During the time of coaching the club, believe it or not, I’ve applied for a few college coaching positions but was turned down due to me not having any college coaching experience. That surprised me, given my background and the fact that I did volunteer coaching at Auburn too. After that, I just decided to focus on coaching my club athletes, and they all did very well, which started attracting lots of attention from other colleges. Schools like Southern Mississippi and Northern Colorado reached out, and I accepted an offer from Northern Colorado. During my two years there, I helped two athletes qualify for the regional championship held in college station Texas at Texas A&M, marking a historic achievement for the school. From there, I was offered a position at Florida State University, where I’ve coached the last three years and have had great success.”
He shared that his passion for developing and shaping young athletes into great success stories is a passion he enjoys.
“I have had a NCAA runner up a few times and multiple all Americans ACC champions. I’ve had multiple jumpers score at the indoor and Outdoor ACC championships! This year my jumpers contributed 33 points indooors and 46 points at Outdoors ACC championships . In addition, one of my athletes at Florida State also went to the 2024 USA Olympic trials and won. He became my first college athlete to make it to the Olympics. I now consider myself an Olympic coach. I also coached Bahamian National Champion, Charisma Taylor, who also made this year’s Olympic team for the Bahamas. So, I coached two athletes at the Paris Olympic Games this season. I am very excited to see what the future holds. I love developing kids and that’s my thing. I will always say I don’t have to have the best athlete in the nation, I don’t have to recruit the best athlete, but I want to recruit people who see what I’m doing and want to be great. Those are the type of kids I want to develop.”
Sands’ gives a closer look at what it is like for his athletes.
“I bring a lot of excitement. I get excited, I’m loud, and I’m all in at practice and competitions. I love seeing the kids progress and watching them win. The biggest thing, though, isn’t always about winning; it’s about fighting, setting goals, dreaming big, and following those dreams. That’s what I’m all about—helping my athletes set a goal, writing it down, and checking in mid-season to see if we’re on track. Let’s shoot for the sky and go for it! I fully support whatever they believe they can achieve, and that’s exactly what happens.”
He also shares, “I’m looking forward to much more success. Sports is like a roller coaster ride. You have winning seasons, and then sometimes you have losing seasons. Once you understand that you will have losing seasons, then you will be okay. You just keep pushing through all those down times, and eventually, you will be back on top. Once you understand that there will be roadblocks and disappointments, you have to be ready for them, take them as they come, and be thankful for another opportunity to do it again. Even now, as a coach, I face challenges. We had a headcoach change in July and I was one of the coaches that wasn’t retained. But hey, there is absolutely nothing I haven’t experienced in my career and all of this I’ve realized is a part of life. Once you stay positive and remain faithful, there are always greater things ahead.”
He gives this advice for those wanting to pursue the same path.
“For anyone wanting to pursue a career in coaching, I would say go for it, as long as you’re passionate about it, like helping people, are a team player, love developing kids, and enjoy what you’re doing. That applies to any field or industry. From a young age, I’ve learned by watching my parents, uncles, family members, and people in general who have been committed to jobs they don’t love. I’ve always told myself that I would do the job I love. I don’t want to hate going to work every day. I’m a firm believer that you should go to work every day with a smile on your face and can’t wait to get there. That’s how I feel about coaching.”
History is not what happens today. It is what happened yesterday. But, what you do today becomes history. Sands influenced history in a major way as an athlete and is continuing to influence in a major way as a coach. The impact he has made and is continuing to make is one that is both inspiring and motivating. He brings dynamic meaning to the popular hash tag you will often see within his posts, “#ZEROEXCUSES, ONLYRESULTS.” The way he adapts and overcomes challenge shows us that with the right mindset, even a career changing injury can be transformed into an opportunity to grow and impact history in a major way.
Comments