Family watches Atlanta native bring home bronze in women's 100-meter hurdle

ATLANTA — Eugene and Gwen Castlin held each other tightly in the minutes ahead of their granddaughter’s moment on the Olympic track field. From Southwest Atlanta, they joined dozens of supporters in the 656 Sports Bar Grille watching the big screen showing Rio.

This was Kristi Castlin’s big moment.

“This is part of history for Atlanta tonight,” Eugene Castlin said, beaming.

As deafening cheers filled the room, Castlin became the third American runner to round out winners for the women’s 100-meter hurdle finals. The 28-year-old Chapel Hill High School grad took home the bronze in a super-tight race that came down to a screen grab of her torso crossing the finish line.

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“Jesus, we’re so proud!” exclaimed Gwen Castlin.

The Villa Rica couple has always known their granddaughter was special. They’ve got a mound of stories to tell.

“When she was a little girl about 4, 5 she used to come over to the house,” said Eugene Castlin. "She used to run up the stairs and I told my wife, ‘Babe, one day this girl is going to run track,’ and she did.”

“She did,” Gwen Castlin echoed.

“It came to life,” added Eugene.

Life hasn’t always been easy for Kristi Castlin, who became acquainted with gun violence at an early age. When she was 12, her father Rodney was gunned down during a robbery at a Cobb County hotel he managed. Castlin was also a student at Virginia Tech in 2007, during the infamous massacre.%

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When she ran in Rio, she ran on the platform of combating gun violence.

“We really need to come together for peace,” Castlin told Channel 2’s Tom Jones in an interview ahead of the Olympics.

“She’s dedicating this to her father,” said Gwen Castlin. “Every time she walks out on the field, he’s looking over her.”

Cox Media Group