Goal attainment never ends for four-time Olympian Martha Watson

Martha Watson is not a braggart. She certainly has earned bragging rights, but that's not her style.

"Everybody is good at something," said the likable Las Vegan, a four-time Olympian.

Martha competed in the long jump first in 1964 in Tokyo when she was 17, in 1968 in Mexico City, in 1972 in Munich, where the murder of 11 Israeli athletes and coaches by terrorists overwhelmed the event, and finally in 1976 in Montreal.

The closest she came to an Olympic medal was coming in eighth in the long jump in 1968. But even without Olympic medals, Martha was, and is, a champion.

During those years, Martha was viewed as the best U.S. long jumper. Twice, she broke the U.S. record in the long jump, the last time in 1974 when she jumped a phenomenal 21 feet, 71/2 inches outdoors.

She also ran on the 400-meter relay team in the 1972 and 1976 Olympics.

U.S.A. Track and Field put her in the Hall of Fame in 1987, and to check out all of her impressive statistics and see an intense photo of her, go to http://www.usatf.org/HallOfFame/TF/showBio.asp?HOFIDs=179

Now 62, she moved to Las Vegas in 1978 to work as a dealer at Caesars Palace, while she was still competing. The job was arranged by the Olympic Committee as a flexible job opportunity for Olympians, with the understanding she would be gone for events. Although she stopped competing in 1982, she stayed at the casino until 2001.

But while we're told Olympians focus on sports to the exclusion of everything else, Martha made room for another love -- acting. She was in the 1982 movie "Personal Best" about women striving to make a national team in track and field, sort of a natural for her. She also became involved in community theater productions.

On Friday night, she's one of five performers in the Rainbow Company production of "Mark Twain's Nevada," a 45-minute musical romp at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center opening for a two-weekend run. After that, the show plays over a four-month period at elementary schools.

From athlete to actor isn't as long a jump as it seems. Both require speed, technique and concentration.

"When I perform, the adrenaline is the same as being on the blocks, ready to begin," she said during an interview before the show's first dress rehearsal Monday. She plays 13 roles, sings and dances in the show.

This is Martha's fifth year with the Rainbow Company, an award-winning youth theater group in its 32nd year. She must be talented because the Review-Journal's theater critic, the notoriously picky Anthony Del Valle, has praised her past performances.

When the shows go to elementary schools, afterward during the Q and A, others in the cast will ask the schoolchildren: Do you know this woman at one time could jump farther than any woman in the United States?

The kids are impressed. And she has a message to share with them: "If you have a goal, you need to go for it. You have a better life if you have a goal than if you don't."

Martha has worked with youngsters, as a coach, teacher and recreation director. She tutors high school students in math.

Martha started high jumping with her baby brother. At 4-foot-11 at age 14, she could jump her height. Then she switched to the long jump, which demands a fast sprint before the jump.

But in high school, where she was only one of two black students, there were no formal track and field programs for girls. So parents coached at first and she learned a lot by watching the boys long jump.

Looking back at that 14-year-old girl, Martha said, "I would have pushed her a little more. My parents let me do it because I liked it, but I could have been a little better."

With her goal of being the best she can be, no matter what the task, Martha Watson shares that spirit with kids at the acting company, at her tutorials and wherever she volunteers as a coach.

Actor, athlete, coach, tutor -- Martha Watson shares with children what she's learned instead of bragging about what she's done.

The not-so-smart Michael Phelps could learn from her.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison/.