Oglethorpe University

Iona Wynter Parks joined Oglethorpe in 2012 as a French instructor and faculty athletics representative. She is well known for not only her career in athletics, but her academic credentials as well. Wynter Parks has held teaching, coaching and administrative positions at the high school and university level.

Prior to Oglethorpe
Most recently, Wynter Parks served Goldeneye Resort in Oracabessa, Jamaica as the director of spa and education where she developed their spa programs and aided in the expansion of the hotel and its community outreach programs. Wynter Parks was no stranger to Atlanta when she came to Oglethorpe, having served as a teacher and swimming and cross-country coach for Woodward Academy from 2001 to 2007. Her first experience with teaching was at her old high school in Kingston, Jamaica, a position she held until competing in the 2000 Olympics. 

Athletic Career
Wynter Parks competed in the first Olympic triathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics, representing Jamaica. She then shifted her focus to cycling, and rode for Genesis-Scuba, helping to build it until it became the No. 1 team in the United States. She continued competitive cycling while teaching and coaching full time. Wynter Parks rode with the U.S. professional female cycling team for four years, and became their director after retiring from active competition.

Wynter Parks won the Central American and Caribbean Road Race Championships in 2002 and in 2006 became the scratch race champion in the same Games. She has competed in the Pan American Games and the Commonwealth Games in triathlon and on the road and the track in World Cups and World Championships.

Wynter Parks served on the Jamaica Cycling Federation board as vice president. She is passionate about helping people to lift themselves through projects in the areas of sports and education.

Education | Personal

Wynter Parks earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from Université Laval in Quebec City, Canada. She went on to earn a Master of Arts in French and linguistics from Georgia State University, and a Doctorate of Philosophy - Romance Languages and French literature from the University of Georgia. 

Wynter Parks married her husband Clay Parks in 2005, an attorney and fellow cyclist. At Oglethorpe, she enjoys everything about training and working with these student-athletes, except them trying to convince her that chocolate and peanut butter are acceptable combinations!

An Olympian in Our Midst: Iona Wynter Parks