7-year-old Dakota White makes history in Junior Olympics as the 'fastest kid in the nation'

The "fastest kid in the nation" is a seven-year-old African American girl named Dakota White from Dallas, Texas. She recently broke a Junior Olympics national record when she helped her team at the AAU Junior Olympics win a title. Dakota ran her part in 59.08 seconds and set a new record. This led her team from Fort Worth's Xpress Track Club to break the previous record for the girls' eight and under 100-meter relay. When asked how Dakota does it, she said, "I just run really hard," according to Fox News.

Dakota is proud of her achievements and has found her role model who she looks up to as she dreams of her future as an athlete. “I want to run in the Olympics one day, just like Sha’Carri,” Dakota said. She has displayed the medals she has won over the years in her room next to images of her idol, North Texas native and LSU track star Sha'Carri Richardson. "When I see them it’s like 100 to me," she grinned speaking about the many medals in her room. Apart from her long-term goal of running in the Olympics, Dakota's current goal is to be able to run at the college her idol ran in. “I want to run at Sha’Carri’s college,” Dakota said, beaming at Sha'Carri's name.

Cam White, Dakota's father and a former wide receiver for TCU started training Dakota when she was only three years old when he saw the potential in her. "She just had form, like crazy form. It wasn’t fast, but her form was already perfect. So then as she progressed, we started getting her different trainers," he explained. The proud dad shared that Dakota was winning all of her races by the time she turned 6 years old. "She’s just excelling in a sport that she loves now," he told Fox News.

Her father said that the secret is a lot of hydration and a lot of water. "Cut down on different snacks and foods, eating pretty healthy. As a kid, you know they like to eat a lot of junk food. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t take a lot away from her, but we limited what she could eat," he said. "She trains hard." Sonja Franklin-Johnson, White’s sprint coach described the young superwoman as a "competitive phenom," but one who makes sure fun is included during workouts.

Both Dakota's parents, Cam and Danielle White agree that she inspires them to be better and that the realization of her dream is entirely hers. "Go talk to her," Cam White urged Dallas Weekly. "That's what she wanted to do; don't blame me — one thing I won't do is force my kids to participate in any sport."

Dakota recently shared her motto, "No Days Off," in a video on social media. She claimed that she didn't take a single off, even in this summer's heat. Danielle White stated, "She even pushes me. 'Come on mom, let's go to the gym park,' she says. We have a park with an outdoor gym nearby, so I'm thinking, 'OK, let me get back in shape.'"

“She works harder than me,” Cam said. “I didn’t have that work ethic at six or seven years old where I am going to training sessions developing my craft. She puts a lot of work ethic in me,” he continues. “If my daughter can do it, there’s no reason why I can’t do certain things. It makes us more driven as parents.”

Prior to this, Dakota had received widespread media coverage last year after TikTok videos of her competing in a track meet went viral.