Former Olympic athlete Shevon Nieto received a standing ovation from all four judges – not for her athleticism, but for her vocals. The 37-year-old was born in Jamaica, raised in New York and currently lives in California. Shevon is a two-time Olympic athlete who retired in 2016 after her husband, an Olympic high jumper, became paralyzed. “Welcome to the Olympics of Talent,” Howie Mandel announced as she stepped onto the stage.
Shevon wrote an original song titled “Through The Good And Bad” for her husband, a powerful story about love and perseverance. It was after his accident that she first began to feel “comfortable in music”. Howie, Simon Cowell, Sofia Vergara and guest judge Eric Stonestreet all stood up at the end of their performances, some of them in tears.
She told her heartbreaking story in front of the camera. “In 2016, I received a phone call that changed my life. Jamie was coaching Olympic hopefuls and Jamie’s foot slipped during one of his jumps,” she recalls. “Me and Jamie had been dating for about three years at the time and we were discussing kids and getting married. I was really getting ready for my third Olympics,” after Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008. She continued, “When I got to the hospital, he was already lying there and unable to move. They said he was paralyzed. Walking is not in the equation. Jamie just kept saying, ‘I’m sorry.’ He felt as though he had ruined our dreams… But I said, “I’m used to challenges.”
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