Seattle native, SportsCenter star pushes for 2024 Paris Olympics

SEATTLE - "To be able to represent Washington and Seattle and go to the Olympics. It would mean the world."

In Feb. 2024, Ray Wells, Jr. was on top of the world. He ran a blazing 6.48-second finish in the 60-meter dash at an invitational in Spokane, the fastest finish in the world at the time.

"Personally, if you’re running at any point and I can remember the race, I’m not running fast enough. But whenever I get to the finish line so fast, and I blank out and blur out; anybody who watches that video can see it. I get to the mat, I hit it, I sort of snap out of a daze because it was so fast, it was a blur," said Ray.

Wells is trying to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team in the 100-meter dash and compete at this summer’s games in Paris. He’s already familiar with the spotlight — there’s a video of him clearing a 55-inch jump while on the track team at Washington State University that made SportsCenter and got millions of views. He made that seem like nothing a few months later when he jumped 61 inches.

Attempting those kinds of athletic feats and striving for the Olympics requires a different level of belief.

"So I heard a quote one time [that] changed my life: ‘Sometimes you have to borrow the belief others have in you until you establish your own,’" recalled Ray.

No one has poured more of it into Ray than his father, Emmanuel Wells, Sr.

"He’s believed in me so much, all my life. I would win a state championship, I would win a Pac-12 Conference Championship, and he was like ‘Go get more.’"

But when Ray turned 11, it was his father who needed to borrow belief from his son.

"He was first diagnosed in 2008 with pancreatic cancer, and he was fortunate enough to beat it the first time, but then it returned two times after that. He’s a fighter and I got a lot of my mentality from him, so I know God’s plan, I trust it all," said Ray.

In 201, Ray tore his Achilles tendon, extinguishing his Tokyo Olympics hopes. As he pushes for Paris, three words embroidered on his back represent his injury recovery, and the training company that uplifts the Rainier Beach and South Seattle community.

"It’s called GLF — it stands for ‘God, loyalty, family,’" Ray explained. "There’s a hand sign, you know, something the team can rep. We train track, football, basketball, soccer, all sports. We have diet and nutrition support, teaching people how to eat healthy, there’s mental-mind guidance."

"First impressions, I definitely thought practice was hard," said Rainier Beach High School student-athlete Eyoub Endris. "I was praying for my life, but he’s pushed me to be a better person in general."

"He’s coaching us what he’s doing right now, so it’s like, we can really trust that," said fellow student-athlete James Siva.

A front row seat to watch someone from their hometown chase an Olympic dream. Someone they believe in.

"Oh yeah, for sure, no doubt in my mind he could make it to Paris," said Endris.

Reymani Lopez, UW freshman, is in complete agreement: "For sure, definitely make the Olympics for sure."

"He would make the whole town proud, he would make Seattle, even just Washington proud," said Endris. "He would make me proud for sure."

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