Ja’Quan Lavender now enters the waiting period. Just don’t plan on him sitting around while he does it.
No, you will find Lavender putting in work, whether at the track or in the gym.
This is a young man with dreams, and he’s rising early to make them happen.
Lavender recently competed in a virtual combine to earn an invitation to an Olympic rookie camp in Lake Placid, N.Y.
For what sport? Skeleton.
You know skeleton, right? The event where powerful athletes set off sprinting on ice before jumping headfirst onto a sled that rockets toward the bottom of the track at speeds upwards of 70 miles per hour.
It requires speed, strength, and nerve, two of which were tested on the track below Harding Stadium in Steubenville.
Lavender participated in a similar event last summer, finishing with the third most points in his combine with 435. In the sprint portion, he was the fastest to 45 meters. COVID-19 axed the in-person combine this time around, so Lavender invited family and friends to cheer him on as he was timed and tested.
If his results are high enough, he’ll be invited to a 50-athlete rookie camp at Lake Placid. There, the work of learning to pilot the skeleton, maintaining control in the turns, and improving his times will begin in hopes of earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team for the 2022 Olympics.
He also holds aspirations of a spot in the Summer Olympics. That dream was delayed until 2021, also thanks to coronavirus. His event of choice there is the 400-meter-dash.
You can follow the former Big Red, Point Park and Tiffin athlete on his Instagram and Facebook pages.
How did the virtual combine go? Were there benchmarks you were hoping to hit in each event? When do you expect to learn the next step in the journey?
The virtual combine went really well. I actually shocked myself with the results. My goal was to score 100 points on each event, I always keep my standards high when I compete. By next week or the week after I should have more clarity about the next step going forward.
In terms of the winter Olympics, what appealed to you more about the skeleton? What about the bobsled or luge events? Does skeleton take better advantage of your skill set?
Well when I was in Utah last year, I was talking to a coach and told him I wanted to do bobsled, but you have to be a certain weight about 185-215 pounds. I’m only 165 pounds, so the coach said I have the perfect build, speed, and size for skeleton. Skeleton is definitely a skill set, to be able to sprint down the ice and jump on a board is a skill that has to be taught.
Lavender got to train a bit with American sprinter and gold medalist English Gardner at the Michael Johnson Performance center in McKinney, Texas 
He also got to meet and talk with Johnson, one of America’s most decorated track and field athletes and a childhood hero to Lavender.
Would working out at the Olympic training center be your first choice and opportunity to hit the track and go down the ice? Or have you ready had the opportunity to do so?
The Olympic Center in Lake Placid would be my first choice; that is the headquarters for the winter sports where winter athletes train. I also train at Park City, Utah, which is another place where they have a bobsled and skeleton track as well other training facilities for the winter athletes. I haven’t been down the ice yet, but my time is coming very soon. I’m very excited to start.
Training has to take up a lot of your time, both in track work, in the gym improving your strength, and maintaining a strict diet for optimum performance. But you’re also a young man on the cusp of getting his life started. Is it tough to balance these two aspects? Or is it easy for you to remain singularly focused on this and allow all the other stuff to wait?
Yes, it’s tough, I take it day by day and ask God daily to provide me with the strength and confidence to get through my training sessions. It’s easy for me to stay focused because God made me self-driven and motivated. So every day I’m locked in on the mission. This wait has made me a better athlete; I’m faster, stronger, and more powerful. God made this happen for a reason and it’s working out for my good.
In a perfect world, you qualify both for 2021 and 2022. But if you had to choose one event to represent yourself, Steubenville, and the country in, would you rather it be skeleton or the 400?
I would take the 400m, because I’ve been running the 400 for 10 years, so I’m more experienced in the event. God willing, I will be competing in both Olympics, that I speak that into existence with faith and to continue to keep working hard daily. God will provide for me as I continue my journey to the Olympics. #TheJourneyToGoldContinues
