How Gulfport’s Brittney Reese plans to bring out her ‘inner beast’ in final Olympics
Entering her fourth and final Olympics in Tokyo, Gulfport native Brittney Reese is feeling as strong as she has been at any point in her career.
For the rest of the field in the women’s long jump, that’s bad news.
At 34 years old, Reese cruised to a bid to the 2021 Games by finishing first in the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, with a jump of 7.13 meters (23.39 feet).
From Gulfport High School to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College to Ole Miss to international star, Reese has never been lacking in confidence.
Headed into her final Olympics, nothing has changed for Reese.
“I still feel like I’m the favorite,” Reese said. “I can jump 7 meters pretty easily right now. I feel like 7 meters is that mark that every athlete wants to achieve. For me, I feel like 7 meters is the mark I need again to win.
“I’m in 7-meters shape. I’ve just got to go out and execute. All I’ve got to do is do my job.”
At the end of competition in London in 2012, she stood atop the podium for her first gold medal thanks to a jump of 7.12 meters.
In the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, she earned the silver when her teammate, Tianna Bartoletta, barely edged Reese out for the top spot with a jump of 7.17 meters. Reese’s best leap was 7.15.
As she prepares to head to Tokyo, there would be no better way to close out her Olympic career than earning her second career gold medal and third overall. Reese is joined in Tokyo by two other Americans who qualified in the long jump — Quanesha Burks and up-and-coming star Tara Davis.
Brittney Reese has built a durable legacy
The fact that Reese is jumping not that far off from her personal record of 7.31 meters from 2016 is one more reason to marvel at her longevity in the sport.
She is the 13-time U.S. champion in the long jump and a seven-time world champion.
“I credit that to my team, my family,” Reese said of her durability. “I’ve been blessed to have a great team, a great coach, a great agent and the ability to train at the Olympic center. I’ve been getting massages, and I’ve been able to talk to a psychologist. I definitely have to credit them for my longevity. It doesn’t happen for everybody.”
Reese’s main competition in Tokyo appears to be defending world champion Malaika Mihambo of Germany and her U.S. teammate, Davis. Mihambo won the 2019 world title with a jump of 7.30 meters. Davis was the second-place finisher in the U.S. Olympic trials, leaping 7.04 meters.
“I see these athletes all the time,” she said. “It’s not like I’m competing against someone I’ve never competed against. The field will most likely be the same.
“I have to keep an eye out, but I know what shape I’m in.”
Olympics will have no spectators in Tokyo
As she enters her final Olympic Games, Reese isn’t treating this as an emotional trip down memory lane.
It’s all about coming home with gold.
“As of right now, my emotions are in check,” she said. “I don’t think I’ll have any other type of response emotionally until I get there.
“The hard part is already done, and that was making the team.”
While Reese is trying to take a business-like approach, there will be a very different atmosphere in Tokyo after playing in front of packed stadiums in Beijing, London and Rio.
Officials in Japan have decided to not allow spectators to attend competitions with the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to cause problems worldwide.
The long jump is one of the track and field events that gets fans most involved with competitors clapping their hands to urge spectators to cheer them on before they start their sprint.
The toughest part for Reese is that her mother, Carla Young, won’t travel to the Olympics for the first time to watch Reese, who has been training in California.
“It’s a sad situation,” Reese said. “They had been saying they were just going to let their fans come, so at least we were going to have somebody in the stands. Now … we’ll just have to find a way to bring that energy another way.”
Reese always brings plenty of swagger to the long jump, and she doesn’t see that stopping in Tokyo.
“I think it’s just me being mentally prepared,” she said. “I have to bring out the inner beast. I can bring it out in practice, and now I’ll just have to do it without anybody watching. I just have to go do it, basically.”
Competition in the women’s long jump starts on Aug. 1, and the finals are set for Aug. 3 in Tokyo.
This story was originally published July 21, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
