By Timothy R. Olsen ’09, MBA ’18

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She was in shock.

Shuddering, as tears streamed down her face, Chari Hawkins could not comprehend what had just happened.

“No, no, no,” she gasped, shaking her head in disbelief before collapsing into the barrier at the Stade de France.

The then 33-year-old heptathlete had just no-heighted in the high jump during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Traditionally one of her strongest events, she had never no-heighted in it before. But after failing to clear the bar during the first two attempts at her starting height of 1.71 meters (5-feet, 6-inches), she just grazed the bar on her third and final attempt, knocking it off and earning zero points — effectively ending her competition.

The realization was immediate, heartbreaking, and public — the camera just inches away from Hawkins’ face, though, she was too stunned to notice.

“I remember, the first thing I did is ran down next to her coach and gave her a hug and just let her know that everything was going to be OK,” recalls CJ O’Neal, Chari’s husband and a 2015 Utah State grad. “It was like a bad dream and you wake up, but it was real life and it was happening. It was really tough.”

At that point, Hawkins says she had two choices — pull out of the competition, leaving her viral moment as her lasting Olympic impression, or continue on despite no hope of medaling. She chose the latter.

“I decided I wanted to show the younger version of me who would have never even been able to dream that she would go to the Olympics what true Olympic spirit looked like,” Hawkins says. “I wanted to show up for her and especially the versions of me who didn’t make it in 2016 and 2021 — they were devastated, and they would have given anything to be in the Olympics. And I was here, I was doing it. I was at the Olympics.

“So, it was one of those things where I had the opportunity to show up and be grateful and thankful and be happy to be there, even when I was really dying inside.”

For someone who had made great strides with her mental health — after struggling for many years with anxiety, panic attacks, and self-worth tied to performance — it’s a moment that could have stripped away that positive momentum. Instead, Hawkins has used that negative experience as an opportunity to inspire others and propel her own self forward.

The former Aggie All-American and 2015 graduate has a robust following on social media with 1.1 million followers on Instagram and nearly that same amount on TikTok. Within days of her stumble in Paris she posted a video, set to Taylor Swift’s I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, chronicling the moment of heartbreak followed by her perseverance in completing the remaining events.

That spirit of determination resonated, evidenced by the thousands of comments of encouragement, comfort, and affirmation. And it’s a story she’s continued to tell through podcasts, speaking engagements, and social media.

“The only thing that really matters at the end of the day is how you leave people. I’ve been able to tell my story, and it’s honestly been such a blessing,” Hawkins shares. “The most I’ve been home in a month is like two weeks — and I don’t think in a row either — just sporadically, because I’ve been traveling and telling my story. It’s been really cool.”

RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

Leading up to the Paris Olympics, Hawkins followed a very regimented schedule. She’d wake up at 8:30 a.m., spend three minutes in an ice bath up to her neck, eat a breakfast consisting of eggs and ground beef, take supplements, and then go through a series of stretches.

Then, with lunch packed, it was off to the track for six hours of practice, followed by physical therapy and a weight training circuit, before a hyperbaric chamber visit and some red light therapy. After this, it was back home, where she’d cook and eat dinner, spend time in Normatec boots — air compression massage boots that boost circulation and accelerate recovery — or her recovery room. More stretches, more supplements, then in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 10 p.m. to get her required 10 hours of sleep.

This was Hawkins’ life for 10 years — day after day. Well, except for Wednesdays when she was able to swap out practice for extra PT. Sundays were a complete day off where she says she was “basically just rotting in bed, trying to recover for the next day as much as I possibly could.”

“That was the extent. It was like, ‘Oh, there’s a birthday party? I can’t go. Oh, there’s this? I can’t go.’ I just didn’t have the time or the energy to do anything. It is a lot,” Hawkins says.

For now, though, Hawkins has put a pin in any decisions on her future — things like prepping for the LA28 Olympics, transitioning to a Winter Olympic sport, or potentially starting a family. She and O’Neal are enjoying living in the moment. And while their schedule is less regimented these days, it’s certainly a bit more hectic.

Not one to sit around and wait for the next challenge, Hawkins leapt right back into training. However, she wasn’t jumping over hurdles or throwing a javelin — at least not daily. Instead, she signed up to run her first marathon. O’Neal was in as well, and the couple began training shortly after returning from Paris. They completed the 2025 London Marathon where Hawkins finished the 26.2-mile jaunt in 4 hours, 14 minutes and 30 seconds, while O’Neal crossed the line in 04:22:20.

“With the heptathlon and track, she’s done it for so long she kind of has that Ph.D. level education and experience,” says O’Neal, who was a jumper on the USU Track & Field team when the pair met. “To learn something new together — try new shoes, run routes, wake up and go run five miles and have conversations — being able to be a part of it was cool.”

Just a couple months later Hawkins was on to a new challenge, competing in the iFIT Trainer Games for the opportunity to earn a $250,000 contract and a place among iFIT’s trainer team. Though filmed in June 2025, the competition premiered on Amazon Prime in January 2026. Out of 10 contestants, she was one of four that made it to the final episode.

“The final challenge was like a 36-hour nonstop race. It was insane,” Hawkins recalls. “They had us do 100 burpees, 100 split jumps, 100 up-downs in the prone position, and then sprint up a 2-mile mountain and then sprint back down in the winter winds.

“I would have never believed you if you’d told me that I was just going to work out for 36 hours and survive — like ever. It was pretty amazing. It’s just so crazy how much you’re truly capable of when you decide that you’re going to try.”

It’s clear that whatever the pursuit, Hawkins seems to be just scratching the surface of what she’s capable of.

However, when she’s not training for the Olympics, a marathon, or televised fitness competitions, she and O’Neal really enjoy cooking together. O’Neal says due to Hawkins’ Family Consumer Science Education background at USU, and their decade-long regimented lifestyle, the kitchen is often where they carved out time to spend together.

“Chari is a phenomenal cook, and cooking together is something that we love to do,” O’Neal says. “We have so much fun just cooking together and trying different foods and different appetizers and different recipes … that’s kind of like our happy place.”

Traveling is also something the couple, who recently relocated from San Diego to Herriman, enjoys. Though they’ve been dozens of places for over the years for competitions, this is the first time they’ve really had the opportunity to venture outside the hotel or stadium grounds for any length of time.

The past 18 months have given Hawkins a glimpse into what a post-competition future could look like — and it’s a future both her and O’Neal are comfortable with and excited for. But the recently-turned 35-year-old isn’t quite ready to commit to turning the page on the Olympic chapter of her life just yet.

“I know what the mountain looks like. I just have to decide if I want to climb it,” says Hawkins regarding a push for the LA28 Olympic Games. “It’s a big climb, and it’s a climb that’s possible. I know how to do it. I know what the algorithm is and what the formula is. But do I want to do it?”

It’s a question only Hawkins can answer. In the meantime, though, she will continue to use her voice to help others, pushing herself to reach new heights along the way.