*

Offering running tips and encouragement to the boys and girls who look up to her comes as naturally to U.S. Olympic hopeful Chanelle Price as running itself.

“I started track at a young age, and any way that I can give back, whether it’s helping a kid with their form or talking with someone and trying to motivate them, I just love it,” said Chanelle, an Easton native and gold medalist in the 800 meters at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Chanelle will have plenty of opportunity to give back as a St. Luke’s Sports Ambassador.

“Chanelle Price is another Olympic caliber athlete joining our St. Luke’s sports medicine and performance team,” said John Hauth, Senior Network Administrator, Sports Medicine Relations, for St. Luke’s.

“She’s going to be an ambassador for our Fit For Life program,” he said. “Obviously having a world champion track and field athlete and Olympic hopeful out there motivating and inspiring young people to be physically fit is incredibly exciting for St. Luke’s. We are especially excited about her ability to encourage young women to engage in physical activity in the sport or activity they love, or just adopt a healthy and Fit For Life lifestyle.”

The homegrown Price is thrilled to advocate for healthy activity in the Lehigh Valley and beyond.

“I’m from Easton and my family lives here,” said Chanelle, who is living in Eugene, Oregon while preparing for the U.S. Olympic Trials in late June, training with other world class athletes from around the globe. “Any way I can give back to the Lehigh Valley is important.”

Price will use her social media presence to alert the Lehigh Valley – as well as her fans from around the world – about the importance of leading an active, fit and healthy life – including a video series with St. Luke’s called “Doing the Small Things Right,” focusing on often overlooked aspects such as nutrition and sleep.

“As a St. Luke’s ambassador, I will be taking everyone along on my journey of what it looks like to train and prepare for something as big and important as the Olympic Games.”

Price, 29, has a personal-best of 1:59.10 in the 800 meters. In 2008, she ran at that time what had been the second best-ever 800 for an American high school runner and was selected as Gatorade’s High School Player of the Year.

She attended the University of Tennessee where she helped break the world records for the indoor distance medley and the outdoor 4 x 1500m, won two NCAA championships in the indoor distance medley, and placed in the top three of the 800 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She was part of the 4 x 800m team that set a U.S. outdoor record.

Internationally, she represented the U.S. at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics, was a silver medalist in the 2009 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, and a gold medalist at the  2012 NACAC Under-23 Championships in 2014.

She represented Team USA at the World Relays on the gold medal-winning 4 x 800m in 2014, 2015 and 2017, setting the U.S. record in 2015.

She also competed as a Nike pro athlete on the prestigious international Diamond League circuit of World Athletics that features the top track and field athletes in the world.

“The Easton community and school district have formed a great partnership with St. Luke’s, and that was very important to Chanelle,” Hauth said. “Having someone like Chanelle who is homegrown and such a big part of the Easton community showcases our relationship with the community.”

Chanelle is one of three female Olympic hopefuls representing St. Luke’s as community ambassadors. The others include Mandy Marquardt in track cycling, and Jillian Seamon in weightlifting.