2025 USATF Outdoors: Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry Is Building Her Own Way Back to the Top

2025 USATF Outdoors: Twanisha “TeeTee” Terry Is Building Her Own Way Back to the Top!

Twanisha Terry doesn’t get the applause that many of the established sprinters in the game do. She has been a part of some of the most successful women’s 4x100m teams, winning Gold at the last two global championships. However, making the individual team for the women’s 100m is where it gets dicey. The woman known to fans as “TeeTee” has been here before, under the pressure of the U.S. Trials, under the weight of expectations, as she looks to make another U.S. team. She has stood on global podiums. She has also felt the sting of finishing off the podium in an Olympic final, where she placed fifth in Paris last year.

Now, with the 2025 U.S. Trials days away, Terry enters as the second-fastest American this season, behind only Melissa Jefferson-Wooden. Her buildup this season hasn’t been perfect, but it has been productive. She’s run 10.85 with legal wind and clocked a 10.83 with a +2.6 assist, both at the Star Athletics Sprint Series in Florida. Even her less sharp races, like the 11.17 at the Prefontaine Classic, were moments she used to stay grounded, not reasons to panic.

Terry is very competitive, but she is also clear-minded. She’s learned how to filter out noise and focus on what matters. That clarity helped her qualify individually for last year’s Olympic team in the 100m, a milestone that confirmed her place among America’s elite. “To make the team individually, not just as a relay runner, showed me I was stronger than I thought,” she said.

For many athletes, medals shape the narrative. But for Terry, it’s the behind-the-scenes growth that counts. She talks about being a role model, about showing younger girls that it’s possible to push through doubt, injury, and long days when motivation is low. She smiles at the idea that people know her name now. When she started running, she did it because she liked it. No one pushed her onto the track. She chose it for herself.

Terry is still refining the parts of her race she believes need more attention. She talks about small muscles, strength, and getting the most out of every step. Competing against the top athletes, such as Sha’Carri Richardson, Julien Alfred, Jefferson-Wooden, means showing up sharp every time. “Nothing is given to…