On Wednesday, a management company confirmed the death of former Olympic sprinter and world champion Tori Bowie at the age of 32.
“My heart breaks for the family of Tori Bowie,” wrote the three-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce on Twitter. “A great competitor and source of light. Your energy and smile will always be with me. Rest in peace.”
Bowie was found dead at her Orlando, Florida home after the local sheriff’s department said they were “inquiring into the well-being of a woman in her 30s who has not been seen or heard from for several days.”
The American won three gold medals on the world stage. The first came as part of the US 4x100m relay team at the 2016 Olympics.
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In 2017 she was even more successful, adding another gold medal at the IAAF World Championships in London, winning individual gold in the 100m by beating Marie-José Ivory Coast’s Ta Lou defeated Coast at the end of the photo.
“I had no idea. All I knew was I wanted to give it everything I’ve got,” Bowie said after her victory. “Am I a world champion?”
Bowie was born and raised in Mississippi. She played basketball as a girl before her talent became apparent on the track, winning state titles in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, and long jump.
She had more success in college after earning an athletic scholarship to the University of Southern Mississippi, where she won national titles in the indoor and outdoor long jump in 2011.
She focused on this discipline after graduating before her phenomenal speed convinced her to focus on the sprint in 2014. Bowie returned to long jumping in 2019, finishing fourth at the World Championships. She did not attempt to qualify for the US team at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics.
Bowie was raised by her grandmother in the town of Sand Hill, which had fewer than 100 residents, but her talent catapulted her onto the world stage.