Brittany Brown had a quiet road to her first Olympic Games, where she won a bronze medal in the 200 meters. Pursuing a professional career without a sponsor for the first few years after college, she didn’t speak much to the press, and she maintained a relatively low profile, even after winning a silver medal in the 200 meters at the 2019 World Championships in Athletics (and signing with Adidas and later Nike).
But 2024 will undoubtedly be Brown’s breakout year. After wowing track and field fans by winning the 2024 Oslo Diamond League 200 meters in May (beating an established champion like Sherika Jackson), she then ran a personal best of 21.90 in the same event at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June, placing second to track phenom Gabby Thomas and securing a spot in the Paris Olympics.
Brown’s arrival on the podium was clearly met with fanfare. Mike Jay, the Olympic Trials announcer, said The Des Moines Register About Brown: “She doesn’t want the spotlight, but she deserves it.” Read on to find out more about this rising track star, and join us in rooting for Brown.
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
1. Her path to success in the sport was unexpected.
Brown’s path to becoming an Olympic sprinter wasn’t straightforward. She wrote to X After her impressive performance at the trials, she never won a title in track and field, never went to a “big track school,” never won an NCAA title, and never graduated from college to sign with a shoe company. By that time, she had certainly stood out as a good athlete, but it wasn’t entirely clear just how great she had become. “Nobody saw all this when I was younger,” she said. said Citius Mag“I just worked so hard to get here. Despite everything that was going on, I worked so hard to get here.”
2. Brown made his mark on the University of Iowa’s history.
Brown, who won the bronze medal in the women’s 200 meters on Tuesday, became the first woman from the University of Iowa to win an Olympic medal in an individual track and field event. Post to X from the University of Iowa track and field team. Like the medal itself, this achievement was not a given. Sure, Brown was an 11-time All-American and set school records in both the 100 and 200 meters, but he never won an NCAA title and didn’t plan on running professionally during the first few years of his collegiate career.
It wasn’t until Brown’s senior year of high school that she got a glimpse of her future, when she had the chance to race and win against the pros. She said on the platform: Unknown Athletes“I was like, ‘OK, I’m just plain good,'” she wrote in January of this year. But even then, professional success seemed elusive for her. In fact, a few years later, Brown finished last in her first professional overseas tournament, in Switzerland. It’s almost hard to believe now. Those uncertain beginnings make it all the more impressive to see how she found her groove.
3. She has endometriosis and is an advocate for other women with the same disease.
Brown also revealed for the first time this year that she has endometriosis, a condition in which uterus-like tissue grows outside the uterus. When that tissue thickens and tries to shed like the lining of the uterus with each period, it can cause severe pelvic pain, excessive bleeding, and gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhea and nausea. Brown said She’s also had experiences like this in the midst of her athletics career: “Sometimes I feel like this body I was given is literally trying to attack me,” she wrote on Instagram, “But at the same time, I love my body because it somehow finds a way to show up.”
