Gulfport’s Brittney Reese leaping for Olympic history

Gulfport native Brittney Reese has one more hurdle to climb before she goes for Olympic history in August.

Before Reese tries to defend her gold medal in the long jump, she must qualify at the U.S. Olympic Trials, which begins Friday and concludes July 10 in Eugene, Oregon.

The Olympic trials is considered a formality as Reese pursues history at the Summer Olympics from Aug. 5-21 at Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

With another first-place finish in Brazil, Reese would become the first woman to win consecutive long jump gold medals. Heike Drechsler of Germany is the only woman to capture two gold medals in long jump, winning in 1992 and 2000.

“It would mean a lot to be part of history,” Reese said last week from San Diego. “Having two gold medals would be a tremendous honor and would mean a lot to me. It’d show how hard I worked for them. I feel that it’s reachable and something I can do.”

Reese said she hasn’t thought much about the Rio Zika virus outbreak, which forced several worldwide Olympic athletes to withdraw. Her agent, Mark Pryor of World Express Sports Management, discussed the issue.

“The media attention has us all concerned,” Pryor said. “But Brittney has tunnel vision of what she has worked so hard to achieve: winning another Olympic gold medal to cement herself as the greatest female long jumper. We will take as many precautions as possible, so it doesn't affect her, but not going has never been discussed.”

Reese, who turns 30 on Sept. 9, is coming off a second-place finish at last week’s IAAF Diamond League meet in Stockholm, Sweden. She narrowly finished second to Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic, but came away encouraged.

“Competing in Sweden was a good experience,” Reese said. “It was wet and rainy. In that meet, it took a long time to get myself ready. By the time I got myself ready, the meet was over.”

The gold medal will likely come down to Reese and Spanovic in the long jump finals.

“I feel she’s the one to beat in the long jump,” Reese said. “She’s my best competition. If I want to win another gold medal, I’ll have to beat Ivana.”

Overcoming a torn labrum

Returning to her gold medal form was a struggle for Reese the last two years. Two years ago, she tore the labrum in her hip on her jump leg. She had surgery, but it took two-and-a-half years for her to recover.

“It took longer than expected to get fully recovered,” Reese said. “I expected to bounce back quickly. It was a slow process. I couldn’t stay healthy.”

Reese regained her competitive edge through meetings with a Sports Psychologist and life coach.

“It shows the hard work I put in mentally and physically, because I was on the downside to where I was thinking I should retire,” Reese said. “A lot of people told me that’s not the way to go. I talked to people and worked real hard mentally to get where I am.”

Olympic experience

Reese’s first taste of the Olympics ended in disappointment, finishing fifth at the 2008 games in Beijing. She had the best qualifying leap at 6.87 meters, but fell short in the finals.

Falling short in the 2008 Olympics set the stage for Reese’s future greatness. She was the world’s top long jumper from 2009 to 2013, including her gold medal victory at the 2012 games in London.

Reese is drawing from her experience at the 2012 Olympics, where a leap of 7.12 was enough to win gold.

“I’m more mentally focused, more knowledgeable and more motivated for the Olympics this time,” Reese said. “I know what I need to do to win.”

Fully focused, Reese likes her chances of repeating. She has a shot to break the women’s Olympic long jump record of 7.40.

“I’m where I need to be and I feel if I just maintain everything, I should be good and ready to go,” Reese said. “I know what I’m capable of doing. I feel 100 percent. I feel ready for the Trials and the Olympics. I have to stay focused, mentally and physically prepared because I know it’s not going to be easy.”

This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Gulfport’s Brittney Reese leaping for Olympic history."