by Lee Pierre
Jenoah McKiver is humble and likes to live for experience. To meet him, you would never guess that he has accomplished so much in his 23 years. Being the youngest of eight brothers makes competition inevitable and can also build character.
“My family is very important to me. They are the closest to me; they know how I grew up and what really is the best to me. They know I’m trying to compete to the best of my ability.”
McKiver remains in close contact with his family, his mom, Monte Harrington; dad, John “JT” McKiver; stepmother, Kia McKiver (former Roanoke native), and numerous brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins, who are his strongest supporters. He grew up mostly in High Point, NC, and spent most of his summers in Dillon, SC with his godparents.
In both middle and high school, McKiver played football and basketball. He had every intention of continuing football in college, following in his dad’s footsteps. That vision changed in his junior year of high school.
His brother, Jevon, was on the track team and right before an upcoming meet, one of the runners suffered an injury. The coach asked Jevon to find out if Jenoah would be interested in helping the team. Th coach was impressed and informed Jenoah that if he really wanted to pursue football, track would help him increase his speed and agility. He stayed on the team for the remaining of the season. In his senior year, he was unable to participate in track due to the Covid restrictions. He had football offers however his heart was leaning toward track.
“With track, it felt good winning based on just my ability. I was reluctant to tell my father that I wanted to run track instead of playing football but surprisingly he took it well. He was not as familiar with track as he was with football, so he started reading about it as well as watching meets on YouTube to become more knowledgeable about it.”
After high school, he attended the University of Iowa where he participated in the 400, 600, and 800 meters races.
“My personal best for the 400 meters was 44.74, a school record that still stands,” he proudly commented.
Now that he is involved in track, his father does “long distance coaching” by phone, making sure he’s eating right, doing extra workouts, and staying focus. His brother is super supportive of him to the point that Jenoah says Jevon would be a great agent for him.
The hard work and dedication paid off during college. However, Jenoah was proved to be truly a star athlete when he became a participant in the Olympics. The 2025 World Track and Field Championships in the field, Team USA’s mixed 4x400m relay team of Bryce Deadmon, Lynna Irby-Jackson, Jenoah McKiver, and Alexis Holmes dominated in a championship record time of 3:08.80 to clinch the first gold on the track for the U.S.
After winning the gold medal for the 4×400 mixed relay with a personal time of 43.9, Jenoah modestly stated, “It feels amazing. I’m a rookie on the team and I know these guys have my back with their experience. They told me to believe in myself and believe in them, and we came out here and did our job.”
He later won a silver medal in the 2025 World Athletics Championships – Men’s 4 × 400 metres relay” men’s 4 x 400 meters relay.
Running is his game however for relaxation, Jenoah likes to walk trails, spend time in nature, hang out with his friends, and like any other young person, play video games. He also enjoys various genres of music.
His modest nature is not just for the camera. On a recent home visit, his aunt, Betsy McKiver-Davis asked him to visit his former elementary school to speak to the students. He stated that he was unaware that the school was going to have him in the auditorium instead of having him visit a class or two. He spoke to students about discipline, hard work, and chasing their dreams. During this visit, Jenoah said he reflected on himself when he was in middle school and if possible, he would have told the younger Jenoah not to worry about other people’s opinion and just do what you believe in. Don’t put too much value on people who criticize rather than encourage you.
His message to himself and others is, “Whatever you believe in, you’re capable of it. I always tell myself if I can imagine it or think of it, then it’s in my head and I just believe I’m capable of doing it. Find happiness in all you do!”
