R.I.P. Tori Bowie, 3-time track and field Olympic medalist

The track and field world was rocked on Wednesday morning with an announcement from Team USA that three-time Olympic medalist Tori Bowie had died at the age of 32.

Born in Sand Hill, Mississippi in 1990, Bowie competed at Southern Mississippi university where she was a two-time NCAA champion in the long jump, before shifting her focus to sprinting in 2015, where she really rose to stardom.

Bowie, who retired from international competition in 2019, was one of the brightest stars in track and field. In 2017 she won gold in the 100m at the World Championships in London, which remains the most-recent gold medal a woman from the United States has won.

Tori Bowie’s competitive peak came in 2016, when the sprinter blitzed the competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, winning gold in the 4×100 relay, silver in the 100m, and bronze in the 200m.

A shining star in the world of international track and field, Bowie seemed destined to cement herself as the next “great one,” but unfortunately lost form entering the 2019 World Championship in Doha, where she finished 22nd in the 100m and 4th in the long jump. Still, her career left an indelible mark both on track and field, and a permanent lesson in perseverance against the odds.

In 2016 the Clarion Ledger in her home state of Mississippi did a profile on the Olympian, outlining how Tori and her sister Tamarra were left in foster care as infants until they were legally adopted by their paternal grandmother, Bobbie Smith. Smith made it her life’s work to ensure her grandchildren had happy childhoods, ultimately adopting six of her own grandchildren. Tori went on to earn a scholarship to Southern Mississippi before turning pro in 2013.

Our thoughts are with Tori Bowie’s family, and the entire track and field community.