Anna Cockrell already has an Olympic silver medal. Now she wants two golds, and she knows exactly where she wants to win them.
She wants to stand on the top of the podium inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the former USC track and field superstar spent countless Saturdays cheering on the Trojans. Cockrell hopes to write the next chapter of her remarkable career when the Games return to Los Angeles in 2028.
In an exclusive interview with the California Post ahead of Nike’s sold-out After Dark Tour half- marathon in Redondo Beach last Saturday, the 29-year-old revealed that she’s targeting Olympic gold in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and the 4×400 meter relay at LA28.
“Of course I want gold,” Cockrell said. “And on top of that, like, I want to be on the relay, too. So I got to get my flat 400 time down because I don’t want one, I want two. We’re trying to double up next time.”
It’s an ambitious declaration from an athlete who has already conquered adversity, battled her own demons and climbed onto an Olympic podium.
But perhaps the most intriguing part of Cockrell’s pursuit of gold isn’t the destination. It’s the road that brought her back to Los Angeles.
When Cockrell first arrived at USC from North Carolina a decade ago, she wasn’t exactly enamored with the City of Angels.
“This is blasphemous to say now, but when I first arrived at USC, I didn’t love LA,” Cockrell admitted. “Because LA is just so big.”
She had dreamed of leaving home and making a name for herself in a major city. Once she arrived, however, the reality was considerably more intimidating.
Eventually, she found her footing, her friends and her family away from home.
She also became one of the most decorated hurdlers in USC history, winning three individual NCAA championships, including a historic sweep of the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles in 2021.
But her college experience wasn’t all championships and celebrations.
“As many wins as I had, there were big losses I had as well,” Cockrell said. “And I had a timeline in my mind of how my career would go, especially in college. And it took me longer than I expected.”
Those struggles helped shape the athlete who eventually won silver at the 2024 Paris Olympics, running a personal-best 51.87 seconds in the 400 hurdles behind American teammate Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone.
Now, with the Olympics returning to Southern California, the possibility of competing inside the Coliseum feels almost too perfect.
“I spent so many Saturdays at football games at the Coliseum,” Cockrell said. “So to be able to run in the Coliseum, for them to bring a track back, would be full circle.”
The irony isn’t lost on her.
When she committed to USC, Los Angeles hadn’t even been awarded the 2028 Olympics. Now, the city that initially overwhelmed her could become the setting for the crowning achievement of her career.
And Cockrell isn’t afraid to admit how badly she wants it.
In fact, she believes modern society has become far too obsessed with pretending not to care.
“I am nervous for every single race that I run. To this day, I’ve never not been nervous,” Cockrell said.
She even joked that the day she stops feeling anxious at the starting line might be the day she knows it’s time to retire.
For Cockrell, nerves aren’t a sign of weakness. They’re evidence that the stakes matter.
“Stoicism sucks. Like, show that you care. Be cringy,” she said.
It’s a refreshingly unfiltered philosophy in a sports culture that often celebrates athletes who make extraordinary accomplishments look effortless. But Cockrell has no interest in pretending greatness comes easily.
“I’ve always said I’m not cool because I am not effortless enough to be cool,” she said. “I try hard, and I love that.”
That message resonated particularly well Saturday as Cockrell joined Nike’s After Dark Tour, which brought about 12,000 women together for a sold-out 13.1-mile race through Redondo Beach, Torrance and Hermosa Beach.
Some runners were chasing personal records. Others were attempting their first half-marathon.
Cockrell’s advice to both groups was simple: embrace the fear because even Olympic medalists get scared.
“Some of my best races have been when I was running for my life, scared out of my mind,” she said.
Of course, wanting two gold medals and actually winning them are two entirely different propositions.
After dealing with a back injury in 2025, she has made the unglamorous work of recovery and preparation a daily priority. Deep-core exercises, diaphragmatic breathing and countless repetitive movements have become essential parts of her training regimen.
Her former USC coach, Caryl Smith Gilbert, instilled a philosophy that Cockrell still carries with her to this day.
“You got to do 99 things you don’t want to do to do the one thing you do want to do,” Cockrell recalled.
For an athlete chasing two Olympic gold medals, that means embracing hundreds of ordinary, often tedious tasks long before stepping onto the biggest stage in sports.
Off the track, Cockrell is also reaching great heights. She revealed to The Post that she’s getting married before the 2028 Olympics, another major milestone she refuses to overlook.
“I think one thing I’ve really been working on is being where my feet are and being present and not counting down to the next big moment,” she said.
It’s a lesson learned through years of sacrifice, setbacks and success.
The young woman who once questioned whether she belonged in Los Angeles now returns whenever possible, visiting old friends, training at USC and reminiscing about the coffee shop on Wilshire Boulevard that she credits with helping fuel her first Olympic appearance.
“USC is … it is home to me,” Cockrell said. “I feel like I became a real adult in California, in Los Angeles.”
In less than two years, she hopes to return to that home wearing red, white and blue, with two gold medals around her neck.
