Background

From the first time Michael Tinsley jumped a hurdle, in the eighth grade, he knew he was a natural. (“I tried to start with the 800, but that didn’t really work out,” he recalls.) A standout career at Pulaski Robinson High School in Little Rock led to a scholarship offer from Jackson State, where in 2006 Michael became the first athlete in the school’s history to win an outdoor national title. Five days later, the school hosted “Michael Tinsley Day,” where he was presented with a certificate from the governor, handed keys to the city by the mayor, and shown the banner bearing his name to hang in the athletics center. Afterward, he sat for hours signing hundreds of commemorative posters. “I was just trying to keep my composure, sitting up there (during the ceremony), looking out into the audience and seeing my mom crying,” he said afterward. “We’ve been through so much. It’s truly a blessing.”

Michael finished the 2006 season ranked #10 in the world, breaking into the world rankings for the first time.