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Sports
St. Pete’s Trayvon Bromell Places 2nd In Olympic Trials 100 Meters
EUGENE — After qualify- ing for the Olympics in the biggest race of his life, Trayvon Bromell pulled on a gray New Balance shirt with "Go Trayvon" on the front and bent the bill of his cap backwards. Then the 20-year- old sprinter of slight stature realized he had made good on a childhood goal.
"I said in the third grade that I wanted to be an Olympian and people laughed at me," Bromell said. "Now I'm here."
Determination overcame doubt as Bromell was sec- ond to cross the finish line in the men's 100-meter race Sunday at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials. The top- three finish earned the Florida native and former Baylor star a spot on Team USA and a trip to Rio de Janeiro.
Bromell is native of St. Pe- tersburg where he attended Gibbs High School. After
graduation, he attended Bay- lor University, where he joined alumnus, Michael Johnson, as a track and field legend.
He'll join veteran Justin Gatlin and fellow newcomer Marvin Bracy in the 100- meter Olympic field. Gatlin ran 9.80 Sunday to claim the trials crown. It was the fastest time in the world this year.
The 34-year-old Gatlin is headed back to the Games 12 years after he won the 100 gold in Athens. While a posi- tive test for performance-en- hancing drugs kept Gatlin out of the 2008 Olympics, he's in good shape to build off his bronze finish at the 2012 Lon- don Games.
"I'm crying inside," Gatlin said. "Joy on the outside, but when I got down on one knee after crossing the finish line it was relief."
More than a decade sepa- rates Gatlin and Bromell,
Marvin Bracy, Trayvon Bromell, and Justin Gatlin.
American record-holder in the event finished fifth in the trials final, knowing his last Olympics is behind him.
Gay and Gatlin carried men's American sprinting through the last decade, and while Gatlin still hasn't sur- rendered his spikes, Bromell is in the lead lane for the fu- ture.
"Growing up I always watched them," Bromell said. "I just feel like they're real good guys. They walked me through this whole path and passed the baton down to me."
Bromell has at least one thing to do before he heads to Rio. He's already got an ex- tensive collection of tattoos, he doesn't know how many, but there's room for one more on his back.
The Olympic rings.
A reminder to himself when
others didn't believe.
but they'll be the American fa- vorites to unseat Jamaican Usain Bolt, if healthy, from his throne.
Speed is a shared quality, but stature and age aren't. Gatlin is bigger, 6-foot-1 to Bromell's 5-9, and can't hide his sprinkled gray hairs next to Bromell's youthful ap- pearance. But in a month they'll both be sporting red,
white and blue.
"It's a new era of sprinters
that's coming along," Gatlin said. "These guys got a lot of heart, got a lot of guts and got a lot of grit. When it's time for me to leave, I'm rest assured that Trayvon, Marvin Bracy and them guys are going to handle business."
The new era won't include 33-year-old Tyson Gay. The
Former High School Football Star To Host Back To School Event
Growing up in the Clair Mel City area, Ryan Davis re- called briefly being a part of the “Brooks Bunch” organiza- tion, but he and his friends never got the benefit of having professional athletes come to the area to visit.
“I attended Dowdell Middle School, then went on to Howard W. Blake. After Blake, I attended Bethune Cookman University, and in 2012, I was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars.”
On Friday, July 15th at Dowdell, Davis will be host-
RYAN DAVIS
ing his second annual “Back to School Bash.”
“It means a great deal to me to do this. I’ve always wanted to do something for the kids,
especially in the Clair Mel/Palm River area.”
Davis will be off to training camp in a couple of weeks, but said it’s important for him to give back to the community that looked out for him when he was growing up.
“It would be great if all the professional athletes from Tampa could get together, and host a really big event for all the children in Tampa.
“Playing in your home state is a blessing, especially being only 3 hours from home. It makes it easy for family mem- bers to travel, and it makes it easy for me to go home during breaks in training camp and during the season.”
Davis said his bash will start at 4 p.m. and go on until 8 p.m., and he will be handing out 550 book bags full of sup- plies to some lucky kids.
The bash will also feature plenty of free food, a DJ, and a helicopter from the Hillsbor- ough County Sheriff’s Office.
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