A coach asked her if she could run the hurdles, and she gave it a try. She won the Junior Olympics in the 400-meter hurdles shortly after that, which is when her family realized that this might be more than a hobby.

“I was like, ‘OK, we might have something special,’” Brandon said.

Sonja is proud of her children, for obvious reasons, but she is especially proud of how they’ve supported each other. There are times when Brandon and Erin are thousands of miles away, in different countries or even different continents, but that never seems to matter. Erin doesn’t miss a game and Brandon doesn’t miss a meet. If they can’t watch an event live, they will watch it later.

“I’m just there to be a hype man,” Brandon said. “I’m the second-best athlete in the family.”

‘I want to go to the Olympics’

When Erin was in high school, shortly before she committed to Duke, her father, Jake, began to ask about her long-term goals. He wanted to know exactly what she set out to accomplish in track and field.

At first, she told him that she wanted to have a successful college career. It wasn’t the answer he was looking for.

“More,” he told her. “You’ve got to want more.”

So, Erin set her sights on something greater.

“I want to go to the Olympics,” she said.

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