"I felt overlooked"- Brittany Brown opens up on receiving support after sharing her story from being an unsigned athlete to winning an Olympic medal

By Muskan Sharma

Modified Sep 16, 2024 00:17 GMT

American athlete Brittany Brown recently opened up about receiving support after she shared her story. The 29-year-old athlete, who grabbed the 200m gold medal at Brussels on Saturday, September 14, shared the ups and downs of her athletic career earlier this year. Brown was an unsigned athlete in the first year of her professional career in 2019. However, now she is an Olympic athlete who bagged the bronze medal in the 200m at the Paris Games.

Brown’s athletic journey has not been conventional. While pursuing sponsorship deals as a professional athlete, she worked as a caregiver at an organization for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients. Eventually, she got signed by Adidas in 2020 which sponsored her till the US Olympic Track and Field Trials in June, where she came second in the 200m. Ahead of the Paris Olympics, Brown joined hands with Nike as her new sponsorship deal.

In an interview with Citus Mag, Brittany Brown shared the support she received from fans after sharing her journey. The athlete expressed that she channeled everyone’s support into her motivation. She also shared how people resonated with her story and confided theirs in her.

“I felt overlooked and I felt you know like my situation my environment wasn't conducive to me and it was hard and they're like you know seeing your story made me want to keep going and make something out of make beauty out of ashes make beauty out of broken pieces," Brown said.

“I just really felt inspired by the athletes non athlet the women and I carry those stories with me I carry those DMs I look at them all I mean I resonate to everybody but I look and I read them all and I just really appreciate everyone that has been resonating me with my story and like just saying that like we're not alone and I hope people don't feel alone when they hear my story,” she added.

Brittany Brown bagged the gold medal in the 200m race at the Diamond League Finale in Brussels, clocking 22.20s.

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Brittany Brown’s struggle with endometriosis

Athletics - Olympic Games Paris 2024: Day 11 - Source: Getty

Besides her long wait as an unsigned athlete, Brittany Brown also endured her struggle with endometriosis, a condition in which tissue similar to the uterus lining grows outside the uterus, causing acute pain, bleeding, and infertility.

In 2023, Brown was diagnosed with endometriosis. Following this, she learned about the severity of the condition and the number of women suffering from it.

She wrote on Instagram in April:

“At times it feels like this body I’ve been given is literally trying to attack me,” she said, “but at the same time I love my body because it figures out a way to show up.”

Brown decided to advocate and spread awareness about the condition by joining Endo Black, a non-profit organization run by women to support black women with endometriosis.