Track and Field Career: She is the fastest woman in the world.
Bowie’s ascent to the world’s fastest woman began on a basketball court in Sandhill, Miss.
Pisgah High School was too small to field separate basketball and track teams, so if Bowie wanted to play basketball, he had to run track, too. He helped his track team win state titles, competing in the 100 meters, 200 meters, 4×100-meter relay and long jump.
When he was recruited by the University of Southern Mississippi, he said he would compete in track and field if he could try to walk on to the basketball team. He ended up staying on track.
When he turned pro in 2013, Bowie’s greatest potential seemed to be in the long jump. But he quickly switched to sprinting, and his success soared. Bowie became a three-time Olympic medalist at the 2016 Rio Olympics before claiming the title of fastest woman in the world with a win in the 100 meters at the world championships a year later.
He was generous with his success, said his friend Antoine Preudhomme, and would visit foster homes throughout Florida and Mississippi three to four times a year to deliver gifts and spend time with children.
His Last Years: He turned inward.
Over the past few years, Bowie, always private, has become more introverted and lost touch with many of the coaches who were part of his journey to the top of the sport.
“He even left me,” his longtime agent, Kimberly N. Holland, said on the day of his funeral. “But he always finds his way back because of our unity.”
She was excited about the pregnancy, Holland said. The two spoke on the phone a few weeks before he died.
“This is one of the best conversations we’ve had in a long time,” Holland said by phone Monday. “We just laughed like schoolgirls, we laughed so hard my stomach hurt.”
Bowie agreed to come to Atlanta so Holland could help raise the baby. They were both so happy, Holland said, “I could just hear the joy.” That was the last time they spoke.
