Ken Hambleton: Thompson rebuilding her life again
Ten years of running the streets, shooting up meth, dangling between life and the twilight of drug addiction can be measured in feet.
Tressa Thompson threw the shot put 48 feet, 2 inches and finished ninth at the Mount Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif., two weeks ago. That’s about 13 feet short of her career best in 1998. It’s also about six feet short of qualifying for the United States trials in late June in Eugene, Ore.
“I didn’t feel very strong and my technique wasn’t there at all, but I was throwing and I made the finals,” said Thompson, a former All-American and once the best female shot putter in the world.
It’s been six months since Thompson started the fourth rehab program for her addictions. She’s been clean, she’s changed and she’s been working since November.
The former Husker track and field star and Bloomfield High standout in track, basketball and football is wary of how she has to balance her life every day.
“I have always been able to find other screwballs like me,” said Thompson, who turned 33 a week ago. “I can’t hide who I am. I still struggle. Drugs. My sexuality. I’m like a poster child for gay and lesbian groups.
“I can talk to kids about running the streets. I’ve been there. I could be back there any time of any day.”
Thompson picked up a job with the Kratos Gym near her apartment in Irvine, Calif. She teaches high school and junior high kids how to lift weights safety and efficiently. She also helps coach the throwers on the wildly successful Dana Hill High School team in Dana Point, Calif.
“Tressa has great knowledge and some of the kids are really attracted to her personality,” said Dana Hill track coach Craig Dunn. “We keep Tressa’s background with drugs quiet because some parents are sensitive. But every day she’s here, we see kids gravitate to her.”
Thompson said she wasn’t sure she’d like working with high school kids. “There’s the get-out-of-school and mess around kids, and I was always the completely dedicated, completely focused athlete. But I’ve found I can handle the fact some kids can’t do exactly what I tell them when it comes to throwing the shot and discus.
“That’s OK. Maybe I can be there as the ‘good coach,’ as opposed to the ‘mean coach,’ who makes them run stairs and work on strength training,” she said.
As for talking about drugs, Thompson said the questions come up since her life was unveiled on the TV show “Intervention,” in January and again this week.
“I grew up with the ‘no, no, no,’ about everything bad and as a rebel or whatever, I fell into drug addiction,” she said. “But I can tell kids, look at me. Look at what can happen. I started partying. I moved onto partying with drugs and for eight years I was gone … on the street, breaking the law, lying, cheating.”
Since a couple of stories in the Journal Star in January, Thompson has also received thousands of e-mail messages, letters and phone calls from former teammates, competitors, friends, people who care, people who want to share her experiences.
“There are days I don’t even want to turn on the computer and see the messages,” she said. “But there are days when it feels good to see all the people who care or want to share.”
A TV movie producer has contacted Thompson about a project. A number of magazines, including Variety, Long and Strong, have contacted her about possible stories. TV stations in Nebraska and California have contacted her for interviews.
“I’m a media hound,” she said. “They made me a superstar when I was throwing. Now, the attention helps keep me clean.”
It’s not easy. It never will be.
Thompson is still working on rebuilding trust with her family back in Nebraska. She still finds the bad days when, back then, she would have shot up and gotten high. “Now, I keep busy enough that when I get home, I go to bed and sleep,” she said. “I try to hang with good people and tell everybody who knows me what I am going to do, what I plan to do.
“That keeps me out of trouble. I’m like a farmer. I have my own hours and I only make money when I work hard. I could let it slip and lose everything again.
“I lost everything once. I don’t have that much now. But I’ve got something to hold onto and for now, most of the time, that’s good enough.”
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.
Tressa Thompson threw the shot put 48 feet, 2 inches and finished ninth at the Mount Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif., two weeks ago. That’s about 13 feet short of her career best in 1998. It’s also about six feet short of qualifying for the United States trials in late June in Eugene, Ore.
“I didn’t feel very strong and my technique wasn’t there at all, but I was throwing and I made the finals,” said Thompson, a former All-American and once the best female shot putter in the world.
It’s been six months since Thompson started the fourth rehab program for her addictions. She’s been clean, she’s changed and she’s been working since November.
The former Husker track and field star and Bloomfield High standout in track, basketball and football is wary of how she has to balance her life every day.
“I have always been able to find other screwballs like me,” said Thompson, who turned 33 a week ago. “I can’t hide who I am. I still struggle. Drugs. My sexuality. I’m like a poster child for gay and lesbian groups.
“I can talk to kids about running the streets. I’ve been there. I could be back there any time of any day.”
Thompson picked up a job with the Kratos Gym near her apartment in Irvine, Calif. She teaches high school and junior high kids how to lift weights safety and efficiently. She also helps coach the throwers on the wildly successful Dana Hill High School team in Dana Point, Calif.
“Tressa has great knowledge and some of the kids are really attracted to her personality,” said Dana Hill track coach Craig Dunn. “We keep Tressa’s background with drugs quiet because some parents are sensitive. But every day she’s here, we see kids gravitate to her.”
Thompson said she wasn’t sure she’d like working with high school kids. “There’s the get-out-of-school and mess around kids, and I was always the completely dedicated, completely focused athlete. But I’ve found I can handle the fact some kids can’t do exactly what I tell them when it comes to throwing the shot and discus.
“That’s OK. Maybe I can be there as the ‘good coach,’ as opposed to the ‘mean coach,’ who makes them run stairs and work on strength training,” she said.
As for talking about drugs, Thompson said the questions come up since her life was unveiled on the TV show “Intervention,” in January and again this week.
“I grew up with the ‘no, no, no,’ about everything bad and as a rebel or whatever, I fell into drug addiction,” she said. “But I can tell kids, look at me. Look at what can happen. I started partying. I moved onto partying with drugs and for eight years I was gone … on the street, breaking the law, lying, cheating.”
Since a couple of stories in the Journal Star in January, Thompson has also received thousands of e-mail messages, letters and phone calls from former teammates, competitors, friends, people who care, people who want to share her experiences.
“There are days I don’t even want to turn on the computer and see the messages,” she said. “But there are days when it feels good to see all the people who care or want to share.”
A TV movie producer has contacted Thompson about a project. A number of magazines, including Variety, Long and Strong, have contacted her about possible stories. TV stations in Nebraska and California have contacted her for interviews.
“I’m a media hound,” she said. “They made me a superstar when I was throwing. Now, the attention helps keep me clean.”
It’s not easy. It never will be.
Thompson is still working on rebuilding trust with her family back in Nebraska. She still finds the bad days when, back then, she would have shot up and gotten high. “Now, I keep busy enough that when I get home, I go to bed and sleep,” she said. “I try to hang with good people and tell everybody who knows me what I am going to do, what I plan to do.
“That keeps me out of trouble. I’m like a farmer. I have my own hours and I only make money when I work hard. I could let it slip and lose everything again.
“I lost everything once. I don’t have that much now. But I’ve got something to hold onto and for now, most of the time, that’s good enough.”
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.
Copyright © 2002-2008 Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved.