Trayvon Bromell’s inspiring journey from sprinting phenom to World Championship medalist
Trayvon Bromell is without a doubt one of the most talented sprinters in the world. After winning the NCAA championship as a freshman at Baylor, he has become an Olympian in 2016. He has become the world leader in the 100 meter dash more times than almost anyone, but does not have an individual gold medal at the Olympics or the World Championships. So how is a sprinter who is so good that almost nobody in the world can catch him, missing the only hardware that most people ever pay attention to? The truth is that Trayvon Bromell is one of the best sprinting phenoms of his generation. But he has had to overcome more adversity in his track career than almost anyone in the game right now. We already know that he is capable of running faster than anyone in the world. So the question is no longer can he win a world title, but will he do it? And this is why.
Trayvon Bromell is a true sprinting phenom
To understand Trayvon Bromell you have to go beyond the fast times because he is not just another professional sprinter. In high school, way back in 2013 he was the fastest high schooler in all of America in the 100 meter dash. In college he won an NCAA championship immediately thereafter as a freshman in that event. He stayed in college for two years and lost as a sophomore, but the man who beat him is an Olympic Gold medalist in the 200 meter dash, and a bronze medalist in the 100, in Andre De Grasse. Which makes the loss suddenly seem not so bad. Furthermore when Trayvon turned professional everything went according to plan. He won the world indoor championship in the 60 meter dash running 6.47 seconds. Then followed it up by running 9.84 to make the Olympic team in the 100 meter dash. Things only fell apart for him, literally in the Olympics because he got severely injured.That moment is what changed his career forever.
Trayvon’s injury could have been career ending
Since that moment at his first Olympics, Trayvon Bromell has battled his way back to being the sprinter he once was. He tore his Achilles and had surgery to repair it. As someone who has actually come back from the same injury, it is a full year recovery, just go get back to basic athletic activity! So 2017 was going to be a wash for Trayvon, and 2018 basically was as well as he learned how to train again. The fact that he was back under 10 seconds by 2020 is not only remarkable but honestly a miracle. But make no mistake, Trayvon Bromell had the type of injury that will stay with him for the rest of his life, not just his career, and he feels it every morning when he rolls out of bed. By 2021 Trayvon was not just back, but he was an Olympian again and the world leader in the 100 meter dash, but he underachieved in the semifinals of the 100 at the games. So we really never got to see what he could do.
Trayvon continues to show flashes of brilliance
At this point Trayvon Bromell is officially back but the only thing that keeps us from witnessing his true greatness is his body. He was a world championship medalist in the 100 meter dash, finally in 2022, but any real fan knows he is better than that. He ran 6.42 in the 60 meter dash in March of 2023. A new PR in an event that he already won a world championship in! But shortly thereafter his Achilles injury flared up and he flew halfway across the world to Germany in order to properly diagnose the issue. He was absent from the track for quite some time after that and didn’t run any races for nearly three months, after being unable to train. Even after months without training he rain 10.10 wind legal in his first race back!
The Bottom Line
Trayvon Bromell is one of the most talented sprinters of a generation with a whole lot of them. The only reason he doesn’t have all the medals to show for it, is that his Achilles is still catching up to the rest of him. There is no way to know how his body will respond from here on out. But Trayvon has always been the best almost wherever he ran, in high school, college, and beyond. What holds him back is something that he cannot control. Yet if his body can finally submit to the will power that it is clear he already has, than Trayvon Bromell should take his rightful place on the throne, as the king of the 100 meter dash. It is unlikely that anyone in the world can stop him from doing it but himself.
KNOW THE GAME. WIN THE GAME.
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