by Mick Rhodes | editor@claremont-courier.com

Wednesday, October 2 will be a full circle day for Brittany Brown.

The 29-year-old 2013 Claremont High graduate, who won a bronze medal in the women’s 200 meters at last month’s 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, will return to the town that helped set her on her path for a parade in her honor. The 4:45 p.m. procession begins at city hall before winding its way up Indian Hill Boulevard, culminating with a celebration at her alma mater.

“It’s definitely a surreal moment,” Brown said when she spoke to the Courier last week. “Indian Hill is the spot, all the way down to the Village. I walked up and down Indian Hill from the Village to Claremont in high school. And now there’s going to be a parade in my city. It’s exciting.”

Speaking of excitement, let’s talk about Paris. On August 6, Brown was competing in her first Olympic games against the best athletes in the world in the 200m final. There were 77,000 people in Stade de France, and more than 30 million were watching around the globe.

The starting gun sounded and the field of eight exploded out of the blocks. Just after the halfway mark, Brown’s U.S. teammate Gabby Thomas pulled ahead to stay. With 50 meters left Saint Lucia’s Julien Alfred looked to be a lock for silver. The race was now between Brown and Great Britian’s Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita Asher-Smith for the bronze medal.

“I had to come back from a deficit,” Brown said. “In the race I’m thinking, OK Brittany, you have to make a move to get on the podium. You may not win first, but you’ve got to make a move. That last 20, 30 meters I remember thinking, dig deep.”

Thomas won gold, finishing in 21.83 seconds, Alfred the silver at 22.08.

Brown, Asher-Smith, and Neita crossed the finish line in an apparent dead heat. Then, after an excruciating 45 second wait for the judges to post the scores, it was official: Brown 22.20, Asher-Smith 22.22, Neita 22.23.

She was an Olympic bronze medalist.

Brittany Brown and her twin brother Brandon with the ribbons they won as fourth graders at Vista Del Valle Elementary School’s annual track meet. Photo/courtesy of Brittany Brown

“I got myself on that podium, regardless of how I started,” Brown said. “I told myself I’m going to be proud of myself for that, because I could have easily been like, OK I’m not in the race, I can just give up. But I didn’t do that. I kept going and I pressed harder, and I got a medal.”

Brown had won big before, at world championships and countless other meets, but this was by far her biggest platform and greatest professional moment. She’d been working toward it for more than a decade, and she was going to enjoy it.

“I definitely lived in the moment,” Brown said. “I partook in all the media events. I partook in all the stuff you do after. And my family was there, and we spent some time together after.”

Later, she took a little time for herself, walking around Paris on her own, soaking in where she was, what she’d accomplished, and how far she’d come.

“It’s been a long year,” Brown said. “I’ve dealt with a lot of stuff this year. I’m just celebrating myself a little more, because I feel like sometimes as athletes we don’t do that. We’re always on to the next thing, the next year, the next track meet, the next world championship, the next four years.”

Since Paris, dozens of TV, radio, podcast, and streaming interviewers have asked her the same question: who are you, and where are you from?

Brown moved around a lot as a kid. Born in Fontana, she lived in Pomona, Chino, La Verne, and Perris while attending Claremont schools. And though she’s competed around the world and lived all over the U.S. since her days at CHS, throughout that journey — from speedy elementary schooler winning at Vista Del Valle’s annual track meet, where she was introduced to and promptly “fell in love” with track, to the Olympic medal podium on August 6 — her roots have been on her mind.

“I’m from all these cities,” Brown said. “I take these little pieces and little experiences I’ve got from every city, and I carry it with me. I carry it with me on the track. I carry it with me when I meet people, and how I talk to people. I have been getting that question a lot, and I feel very, very connected to the I.E., to Claremont, to Pomona.”

Brittany Brown celebrates at Paris’ Stade de France on August 6, shortly after winning a bronze medal in the women’s 200 meters at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games. Photo/courtesy of Brittany Brown

Brown graduated from the University of Iowa in 2018, where she was an 11-time All American, a Big Ten champion, and set school records in the 100- and 200-meters. She’s been ascendant in her sport for a decade. And though her star has risen consistently over that time, it hasn’t always been easy. Earlier in her career she suffered from fairly acute race anxiety. She now has both a therapist and a performance coach. Taking ownership over her mental health has been “life-changing,” she said. She praised the brilliant gymnast Simone Biles, who won three gold and a silver in Paris, and who has been open about prioritizing her mental health and taking breaks from competition when needed.

“I think it’s important to have women like Simone Biles speak up and say, ‘Yeah, sometimes I do need a little break,’” Brown said. “I love that she is exploring and speaking her truth and sharing her story of what works for her, and what she likes, and what she will do and what she won’t do.”

Future Olympic bronze medalist Brittany Brown in an undated photo during her time as a Claremont Unified School District student. Photo/courtesy of Brittany Brown

And Brown herself has become a young icon of sorts for Black women’s health. In 2023, after nearly a decade of crippling period pain, heavy bleeding, debilitating fatigue, and multiple misdiagnoses, she was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the inner lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus. After the relief of a diagnosis and finding treatment, she then had to decide if it was something she would share with others, which she recently began doing.

“To know that I am now a part of that, and I can share my story to help bring awareness to it, it feels good,” Brown said. “It feels like I am connected to something bigger.”

Brown will be 33 when the 2028 Summer Olympics come to Los Angeles. The question is obvious, but truth be told she’d first like a moment to enjoy her recent success.

“Obviously people now know that I’m from California. And they’re all, ‘Alright! LA 2028! Are you excited about that?’ And I’m like, ‘I just won my medal today! Can’t we talk about that?’”

Brown appears to be at the top of her game. On September 14 she won the Diamond League 200 meter final in Brussels. This week she will compete in the 100- and 200-meter races at Athlos, a first of its kind all female event in New York City with the biggest prize money ever offered to female track athletes, and including a concert by Megan Thee Stallion. The tagline for the event sets the tone: “The world’s fastest women blaze a trail through the world’s greatest city for an electrifying night of grace, speed, and sound.”

“I’m just excited to be a part of it and to see how it goes,” Brown said of Athlos. “I think it’s important for women’s sports to go out and try something. Especially in track. We’ve got to get a way for people to watch outside the Olympics. I’m all for trying different stuff.”

She’s winning. She’s in a good place mentally and physically. All this begs the question …

“It’s definitely on my radar,” Brown said of LA 2028. “Some way, in some capacity, I’ll be there, and hopefully it’s there running. A lot of people are still running past their 30s. And I think with technology, and me staying healthy … count me in!”

More information about the City of Claremont’s 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, October 2 parade in honor of Brown is available at ci.claremont.ca.us, by phone at (909) 399-5490 or via email to specialevents@ci.claremont.ca.us.