Frentorish "Tori" Bowie (August 27, 1990 – April 23, 2023) was an American track and field athlete, who primarily competed in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, 100 meters, and

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

. She won the silver medal in the 100 m and bronze in the 200 m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, bronze and gold in the 100 m at the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and 2017 World Championships, respectively, and also earned gold medals as part of U.S. women's 4 × 100 m relays at both the 2016 Olympic Games and 2017 World Championships. Bowie competed collegiately for the

University of Southern Mississippi The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bac ...

and was a two-time

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

champion, winning indoors and outdoors in 2011. After the 2014 World Indoor Championships, where she made her international debut competing in the long jump, she switched her focus to the sprints. She took eight elite

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

sprint victories. Bowie died in 2023 from complications of childbirth.

Early life and education

Bowie was born on August 27, 1990, in Sand Hill, Rankin County, Mississippi.Tori Bowie, an elite Olympic athlete, died of complications from childbirth
''

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'', Bill Chappell, June 13, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023. When she was two years old, her mother placed Bowie and her sister into foster care. Her grandmother gained guardianship over her, becoming caretaker, instilling in Bowie a work ethic about which she recounted, "My grandmother's number-one rule was that once you start something, you don't quit...She never let me give up on anything." She attended Pisgah High School where she competed in basketball and track and field. As a junior in 2007, Bowie won Mississippi state high school championships in the 100 m and the long jump; as a senior in 2008, she won state championships in the 100 m, 200 m, and long jump. She also won three state titles in the 4 × 100 m relay, as well as competing on the state team in

women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It was first played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large parts via women's college compet ...

. Bowie gained an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to attend the

, doing an interdisciplinary degree in psychology and social work. She represented the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and Lady Eagles in

competitions. Doing both sprints and jumps, she had her best results in the long jump during her freshman year, coming third at the

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

indoors, second at the Conference USA outdoors and reaching the NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship, where she jumped in qualifying only.Tori Bowie
''

''. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. In her second year of collegiate competition, she set her indoor best of in the long jump and was the Conference USA indoor runner-up. At the outdoor Conference USA meet, she came third in the long jump and also made the 100 m final. She finished sixth in the long jump at the NCAA outdoor championship with a mark of in that meet. She also jumped nationally at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, claiming eighth place overall.Tori Bowie
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. During her junior year in 2011, Bowie won both of her two collegiate national titles. She won the long jump at the Conference USA indoor championship, where she was also runner-up in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

. A jump of was enough to win Bowie her first college title in the long jump at the NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships, also setting a school record. She was second in both horizontal jumps at the Conference USA Outdoors, then won the NCAA outdoor long jump title with another school record mark of . For her achievements she was named the conference female athlete of the year. In her final year of college at the University of Southern Mississippi, she began with a triple jump win at the Conference USA indoor championships with a mark of , a personal record for the event. She also took second place in the long jump. Bowie competed in both jumps at the NCAA indoor championship, but was out of the top eight in both events. Outdoors, she significantly improved her 100 m best that year, dropping from 11.76 to 11.28 seconds. At the Conference USA outdoor championship meet, she finished first in the long jump with a new school record of , as well as third in the 100 m, fifth in the triple jump, and her team finished seventh in the 4 × 100 m relay. In her last major outing for Southern Miss she tried to repeat her NCAA outdoor title in the long jump, but finished second to

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private university, private research university in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison Clark, Addison and Randolph Clark as the AddRan Male & Female College. It i ...

's Whitney Gipson. Bowie earned her degree in interdisciplinary studies from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2012.

Professional career

Bowie began competing in track and field professionally in 2013. At the USATF Championships that year, she was a 100 m semi-finalist and narrowly missed the long jump team for the Moscow World Championships after finishing fourth in that event. She also competed on the

circuit for the first time, long jumping at the Adidas Grand Prix and Herculis meets. Bowie continued to improve at the start of 2014. She jumped in

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is a southwestern suburb of Chicago located west of the city on the DuPage River. As of the 2020 United State ...

, won the long jump at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

and set an indoor best of 7.14 seconds in the 60 m dash for second at the Millrose Games in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Her runner-up finish in the long jump at the USATF Indoor Championships gained Bowie a spot on team for the World Indoor Championships in

Sopot Sopot (; or ) is a seaside resort city in Pomerelia on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in northern Poland, with a population of approximately 40,000. It is located in Pomeranian Voivodeship, Pomerania Province and has the City with powiat ri ...

, Poland. She faltered in the qualifying and was eliminated, coming 14th overall. 100 m women podium Beijing 2015

In May 2014, she won her first

race with a 200 m victory at the Prefontaine Classic in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

. To everyone's surprise, she outsprinted Blessing Okagbare and the renowned

Allyson Felix Allyson Michelle Felix (born November 18, 1985) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 meter ...

with a time of 22.18 s. Bowie then claimed wins in the 100 m races at the

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

Diamond League meets, clocking a swift 10.80 seconds at the latter. Bowie won the 100 m with a time of 10.81 s at the 2015 USATF Championships ( windy 10.72 s in the semifinals) to earn a spot for the Beijing World Championships in Athletics, where she went on to take the bronze medal in a time of 10.86 s. The following year, at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, she placed third in the 100 m with a time of 10.78 seconds. At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Bowie won the silver medal in the 100 m event with a time of 10.83 s. She then earned bronze in the 200 m, clocking 22.15 s. She added the gold medal while anchoring the women's 4 × 100 m relay team. At the

2017 World Athletics Championships The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

in London, Bowie won the gold medal in the 100-meter dash, achieving a time of 10.85 seconds, with a .01 second margin of victory. In April 2019 at the Robison Invitational in

Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Utah County, Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front, and lies between the cities of Orem, Utah, Orem to the north and Springville, Utah, Springville to the south ...

, Bowie jumped the entry standard for the Doha World Championships in Qatar with a leap of . She finished fourth in Doha, jumping in the final.

Death

On May 2, 2023, after Bowie had not been seen or heard from for several days, authorities performed a wellness check at her home in

Orange County, Florida Orange County is a county located in the central part of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,429,908, making it the fifth-most populous county in Florida and the List of ...

, where she was found dead. She was 32 years old, and had been pregnant. Her obituary stipulated her date of death as April 23, 2023. According to the results of an

autopsy An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...

, Bowie died as a result of complications related to childbirth, among which were

eclampsia Eclampsia is the onset of seizures (convulsions) in a pregnant woman with pre-eclampsia. Pre-eclampsia is a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy that presents with three main features: new onset of high blood pressure, large amounts of proteinuria ...

respiratory distress Shortness of breath (SOB), known as dyspnea (in AmE) or dyspnoea (in BrE), is an uncomfortable feeling of not being able to breathe well enough. The American Thoracic Society defines it as "a subjective experience of breathing discomfort that c ...

and

high blood pressure Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms itself. It is, however, a major ri ...

. Her premature child was apparently stillborn. The weight of her body upon discovery was only , below her weight in competition. Toxicology reports were negative.

Achievements

All information taken from

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

profile.

International competitions

¹Did not start in the semifinals.

Personal bests

60 meters 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

indoor – 7.11 (

Portland, OR Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

2016) * 100 meters – 10.78 (+1.0 m/s, Eugene, OR 2016) *

– 21.77 (+1.5 m/s, Eugene, OR 2017) *

Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

– (+1.0 m/s,

Los Angeles, CA Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3,878,704 residents within the city ...

2013) ** Long jump indoor – ( Naperville, IL 2014) *

Triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down the tr ...

– (0.0 m/s,

New Orleans, LA New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

2012) ** Triple jump indoor – ( Birmingham, AL 2012)

Circuit wins

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

: Eugene Prefontaine Classic (200 m), Rome Golden Gala (100 m), New York Grand Prix (100 m), Monaco Herculis (100 m) **

: New York (200 m) **

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

: Doha Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix (100 m), Eugene (200 m) **

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

: Eugene (200 m)

National and NCAA titles

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

* NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships **

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

* NCAA Division I Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships ** Long jump:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bowie, Tori 1990 births 2023 deaths American female long jumpers American female sprinters American female triple jumpers African-American track and field athletes Deaths in childbirth Southern Miss Golden Eagles women's track and field athletes People from Rankin County, Mississippi World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes from Mississippi World Athletics Championships winners USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century African-American sportswomen 21st-century American sportswomen Deaths of competitors in athletics NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Diamond League winners