Trayvon Bromell is no stranger to adversity. That’s why one of the track and field star’s favorite mantras is to “keep pushing, keep pushing.”
The 25-year-old sprinter has overcome a string of injuries over the past five years, including two Achilles surgeries. The affirming words served him well again in the final of the men’s 100-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic trials earlier this month, as he left his competitors in the dust.
Bromell’s time in the final, 9.80 seconds, was the fourth-fastest 100 in the world since the Rio Olympics, which he left in a wheelchair after waking up with a heel injury. He was phenomenal, but it’s not enough to pacify him as he looks to Tokyo.
“I feel with confidence sometimes comes complacency. And for me, I don’t like to get complacent,” Bromell said in another interview. “For me, I’m still going to go home and train as if I’m not being talked about at all.”
Bromell was once a prodigy in high school, winning the Florida Gatorade Track and Field Athlete of the Year in 2013. He then went on to become a star athlete at Baylor and ss a freshman won the 100 meters at the NCAA championships.
In 2015, he placed first in the 200 at the NCAA indoor championships with the second-best time in the college’s history. After two years competing in Waco, he elected to begin his professional career.
The aforementioned injury is still a sore spot for the masterful athlete.
Bromell was second at the 2016 Olympic Trials and finished eighth in Rio. He anchored the 4x100m team to what was thought to be a bronze medal until the U.S. was disqualified for an exchange violation.
In an effort to secure that medal, though, Bromell tumbled across the track at the finish, activating some heel pain caused by a bone spur that was growing by his Achilles.
Ultimately Bromell had to be wheeled away.
Bromell underwent two other surgeries after the Rio Games. After going two years between races, an adductor muscle in his upper leg was also ruptured in his first meet back in 2019. This challenged Bromell beyond his imagination.
He even said he’d gotten to a point when he questioned whether he wanted to continue living.
But through his faith in God, he was able to pull through. “I’m a spiritual runner, who competes with the message that God is real.”
His recent successes, he says are attributed to not only his beliefs but his training as well.
“I really want people to understand this, doctors, people who wait years learning about this stuff, told me I will not be able to run,” Bromell said in another interview. “All I had was my faith. All I had was my strength, perseverance.”
The biggest lesson he’s learned during the challenging five-year journey is, “Understanding that internally I’m not as strong, and understanding that I need people and I need my faith to be able to do what y’all saw today,” he said in another interview. “We’re human, we break down easily. We’re not as strong as we think we are, and that’s one thing I had to realize.”
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