There’s isn’t too much LaShinda Demus (2002-2004) didn’t achieve in her track and field career. Now, the 11-time former South Carolina All-American and Olympic medalist gets to share her latest honor with her husband and four sons when she is inducted into the University’s Athletics Hall of Fame later this month.
“I was so happy and excited when I found out,” said Demus, who lives in Los Angeles, California. “I’m excited that my kids get to experience this with me.”
Demus and her husband, Jamel Mayrant, have twin fifteen-year-old sons (Dontay and Duaine), as well as three-year-old (Syre) and two-year-old (Sincere) sons.
Demus was a two-time SEC Champion and four-time NCAA champion for the Gamecocks, winning NCAA titles in the indoor 400 meters in 2003, indoor 4×400-meter relay in 2002, outdoor 400-meter hurdles in 2002, and the outdoor 4×400-meter relay in 2002. She was also a big part of the Gamecock National Champion team in 2002.
“It was a lot of fun,” Demus said of her time on campus. “Just being the first team in the school’s history to win a national title was a really cool experience. That was a good time. There was a great culture on the track team that was promoted. If you had the right mentality, and if you were talented, you were going to be a champion. The culture was created before I got there. That was something that (head) coach Curtis Frye was so good at creating. He created a culture and a mindset of champions.
“My favorite event will always be the one I was best at: the 400-meter hurdles.”
Demus also qualified for two Olympic Games, once while she was still a student at South Carolina in 2004, and another eight years later when she earned a silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles in 2012. She was also the World Champion in the event in 2011.
“The top memory for me with that was the Olympic Games in 2012 because I was able to take the twins with me,” Demus recalled. “They were about five years old. They were in the stands when I was competing. My whole family was out there. That was a really fun time.”
She officially hung up her running spikes in 2017, and now the mother of four splits time working as clinical research associate for Innovaderm and also coaches track part time at a local high school in L.A. Both pursuits bring her a lot of enjoyment.
“I always said I would stay with track and field and give back the best way that I can,” Demus said. “So far it has been at the high…