Claressa Shields laughs joyfully as she recalls the good things that have happened this past year. As the Olympic gold medalist boxer talks about her recent endorsements, her qualification for the 2016 Games in Rio and her movie deal with Universal Pictures, there's a rhapsodic inflection in her voice that expresses her genuine contentment with life this year.
"I've been doing a lot of press and getting a lot of recognition," Shields said. "Everybody kind of complains, like, 'Oh, you should've gotten this in 2012.' Yes, I should've, but this time around, it makes me a little more thankful for it."
After she won middleweight gold in the 2012 London Olympics, life could've played out very differently for the then-17-year-old. Her hometown of Flint, Michigan, was undoubtedly proud of her hard work, new title and gold medal, and Shields did a smattering of interviews here and there. But after the Games, she didn't experience the pomp and circumstance bestowed on many other American gold-medal Olympians.
With little attention on her feat -- and the rapid deterioration of her relationship with her longtime coach, which Shields still can't fully explain -- the Flint native struggled to find her focus. She wanted to do well for her family and friends, for her city and for herself, and she aspired to be a role model. However, circumstances in her hometown made it difficult for many to find hope in a situation that had no end in sight.
Almost two years after her gold-medal win, the city of Flint switched its main water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River, and residents started experiencing side effects from elevated levels of lead in their drinking water. In December 2015, Flint's mayor, Karen Weaver, declared a state of emergency in response to the man-made water disaster, and by January, President Barack Obama had declared it a federal emergency.
"My family is still using bottled water," Shields said. "My younger sister, Briana, has her own apartment now. She's still using bottled water also. I believe that everybody is doing fine, though.
"You can't let bad things in Flint consume you. You have to live there to know how good Flint is, but if you're from the outside looking in, and you watch the news all the time, it looks pretty bad. I just want to tell [the residents of Flint] to look out for each other and try to motivate and uplift each other."
With the Summer Games in Rio coming in less than three months, Shields now lives at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She has learned to balance her schedule, and the facility gives Shields the discipline she lacked four years ago. She has gotten much more attention in 2016 than she ever did in 2012, including landing endorsement deals with Powerade and Dick's Sporting Goods. She believes her calm demeanor and newly polished image made her more appealing to sponsors.
"I actually care about how I wear my hair, how I dress and how I speak now," Shields said. "Back [in 2012], I really didn't care. I'm still who I am now, but I have a different way of carrying myself."
When she isn't resting from training, Shields is fulfilling interview requests and negotiating media deals.
"I've grown as a person, so I'm able to handle all these interviews and all these magazine shoots and all these commercial shoots -- and still be able to focus on boxing and know that boxing comes first," she said. "I think at 17, it would've been a bit overwhelming. I'm kind of glad it's happening now."
She said she welcomes small breaks when she can go home to see her friends and family.
"It's a release to me because I'm always strictly in training mode [in Colorado]," she said. "When I actually go home and see [my family], it always makes me feel like, 'OK, I'm still involved with my family. I still know everything that's going on. I still can help them. I'm still their sense of pride and hope.' I like the fact that I let them know that I haven't forgotten about them, no matter how big I get, no matter how many commercials I do, whatever. I still always try to make time for my family, and I always think about them."
In March, on her 21st birthday, Shields qualified for the Summer Olympics by defeating the Dominican Republic's Yenebier Guillen in her final bout at the AIBA American Olympic Qualification Tournament in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Previously, in 2012, she had qualified for London after a boxer she lost to, Savannah Marshall, won the Women's World Championships in Qinhuangdao, China, which ranked Shields behind her.
"[Qualifying on my own] felt great," Shields said. "I fought against some girls who are really good fighters, and it let me know that I've grown as a fighter, I'm smarter and that I don't feel pressure anymore when I fight. I'm just excited when I get ready to fight. I get ready to handle business."
Shields continues to train hard, incorporating what she learned under the tutelage of her former coach with techniques taught by new coaches.
She hopes to add acting to her growing list of accomplishments, and she plans to be more involved in her hometown's community by donating her time and money to the children of Flint.
"I'm going to join programs in Flint so kids can actually have programs to go to every day that will teach them lifelong lessons and help them learn coping methods to help them deal with death," she said. "There are so many kids in Flint who deal with losing their parents and losing their siblings to gun violence and stuff like that. I think people in Flint deal with pain differently, and that's what makes it so bad."
Shields is most proud of her growth as not only a fighter but also a woman. She is a lot calmer and no longer one to respond to negativity. Her focus remains on becoming a two-time Olympic gold medalist and making her family, friends and fans proud.
To Shields, the biggest lesson is that everything happens exactly when it is supposed to.
"If I could tell something to my 17-year-old self, I would tell her good things come to those who wait," Shields said. "God didn't bring you this far to turn around on you. That's what I would tell her."
See more of Claressa Shields' story in an episode of E:60, Tuesday, May 10, at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.
