The Tragic Fate of Olympic Champion Tori Bowie: An American Dream and Mental Health in Sports

2023-05-07 12:00:00

It is a tragic fate. Triple medalist at the Rio Olympics in 2016, world champion in the 100m in London in 2017, Tori Bowie was found dead at her home in Florida on May 3 at the age of 32. The American sprinter, whose memory has been honored by many tributes in the world of athletics, has experienced a dizzying rise, before slowly disappearing from the radar since 2019.

“She was young, talented, a great champion and a priori suffering from depression”, engages the former French sprinter Alyodele Ikuesan (37), who met Bowie on the slopes. Rumors of suicide have thus been spread in the American press, but the causes of his death have not been officially announced. Before being found dead, she had not given any sign of life for several days and her death was not considered “suspicious” by the local authorities. A tragic epilogue for Bowie, who experienced a long crossing of the desert following having familiarized with the summits. “It’s sad to think that she was so recognized, popular but alone in the face of the evil that was eating away at her,” continues Ikuesan.

She embodied the American dream

This acme, the young athlete from Mississippi reached it in 2017, at the London World Championships, by winning gold in the 100m and 4x100m. “Yes, I’m the fastest!” “, she laughed, almost incredulous, in front of the cameras following her victorious sprint. A year earlier, she had also been part of the Olympic champion 4x100m relay in Rio. A consecration for the American, only professional since 2013 and who set a personal best at 10″78 over 100m shortly before the Games. Coming from a modest background, raised in a foster family and then by her grandmother, Bowie, who hatched at the top level thanks to obtaining a scholarship to integrate the University of Southern Mississippi, was then the heroine of a success story that America loves.

“All my life, my grandmother told me that I might do whatever I wanted,” she confided following winning her first international charm, with silver in the 100m at the Beijing Worlds in 2015. “ My life has been a struggle from day one. From where I come from, a small town in Mississippi without even a red light, you are not supposed to succeed in life, ”she further explained.

“His story revives the subject of mental health in sport”

But the prodigy, first through basketball, did not stay long on her pedestal. After the Doha Worlds in 2019 punctuated by a 4th place in the long jump, the athlete saw his media exposure decrease significantly. A few months earlier, she was embroiled in a bickering with the US Olympic Training Center, which had prevented her from training there because of an alleged debt of 6,000 dollars, which she assured on Twitter that she ignored. ‘origin. Subsequently, Bowie did not participate in the qualifications for the Tokyo Olympics and took part in only one meeting in 2022, in June, finished with a modest time.

Subject to rumors of depression, Tori Bowie has gradually withdrawn from social networks. “Once the career is over, you have the impression that no one hears from anyone, despite the titles and medals obtained, admits Ikuesan, silver medalist in the 4x100m with the French team at the French championships. Europe in Zurich in 2014. Its history unfortunately reminds us of this once more and revives the subject of mental health in high-level sport, which is still little discussed. »

1683464373
#face #evil #gnawed #tragic #Tori #Bowie #shooting #star #sprint