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US sprinter Brittany Brown is making waves after walking away with a whopping $85,000 from Athlos, having stunned the likes of Gabby Thomas but her journey to the top was not easy.
American sprinter Brittany Brown was the biggest winner at Athlos NYC, the women’s-only track event held in New York on Thursday as she won the 200m before finishing second in 100m.
That effectively saw her claim a total of $85,000 in just one day, an amount some athletes did not even earn in the course of the season.
Brown floored Gabby Thomas to claim the 200m race in 21.18 to earn the winner’s prize of $60,000 before she finished second behind Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith in 100m for $25,000 that went to the second placed finishers.
It was a remarkable end to the season for Brown who has been impressive in 2024 and it will give her confidence heading into 2025.
Having stunned Gabby Thomas in New York, it appeared many were not familiar with her game. So, who is Brittany Brown?
Early days
Born in Fontana, California on April 18, 1995, Brown began running during her days at Claremont High School.
Brown went to the University of Iowa where set the all-time 100m school record with a time of 11.49s (+2.2w) and the wind legal school record of 11.59s (+1.7) both of which still stand. Going alongside her 100m school records, she also set the all-time 200m record with a time of 23.68s (+3.1w) and the wind legal record of 23.79s (+0.6).
However, she never won a NCAA title, nor did she even have intentions of running professionally during her first couple years of school until she got chance to race with pros whom she beat.
Caregiver for people with dementia
Brittany Brown did not get a contract with any of the major shoe companies until 2020 when she signed with Adidas, a four year-deal that ended in July this year, after which she joined Nike.
During the years when she was not signed, she did multiple jobs and one of them was a caregiving role at a facility for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s.
In a past interview with athletics blog Spikes, she said that she was inspired to get into this field after witnessing one of her grandmother’s experience dementia.
World Championships silver
Brittany Brown is now an experienced American sprinter who has featured at the World Championships twice.
The 29-year-old made her debut at the 2019 World Championships in Doha where she won a silver medal in 200m in a personal best time of 22.22 seconds behind Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith.
She would also qualify for the 2023 Worlds in Budapest, Hungary, this time in 100m, and she reached the final but could only manage seventh place.
Debut Olympics
Brittany Brown missed the 2020 Olympics but she was on the plane to the 2024 Games in Paris after finishing second behind Gabby Thomas at the US Olympics trials in 200m, having clocked a new personal best of 21.90 seconds.
At the Paris Olympics, Brown won bronze in 22.20 seconds after finishing third behind Thomas, who won the race and Julien Alfred, who managed silver.
Maiden Diamond League Trophy
Brittany Brown also claimed her first Diamond League title in 2024 after flooring her opponents in the 200m at the season finale in Brussels this month.
She featured in two Diamond League meetings over the course of the season, winning in Oslo and Rome, before her victory in Brussels.
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