How U.S. Runner Trayvon Bromell Relied on Faith to go from Potential Career-Ending Injuries to Tokyo Olympics Frontrunner
By Movieguide® Staff
For the first time in 13 years, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt will not compete in the Olympic men’s 100-meter event. The current frontrunner is U.S. athlete Trayvon Bromell.
Bromell currently holds the fastest time in the event for 2021, worldwide. However, two years ago, many were uncertain whether Bromell could compete after tearing his Achilles. Bromell revealed that he relied on his faith in God.
But Bromell, who ran his first race at the age of 6, was no stranger to potentially life-altering injuries. Bromell grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, while his mother worked 12-hour days. For Bromell, track and field was where he found peace.
However, from 8th grade to 10th grade, Bromell suffered a broken left knee, a broken right knee, and a broken hip.
“To this day, we don’t know how it happened, but I was running the 100 meters at our first track meet of the season,” Bromell told Flotrack. “I’m driving, I’m driving, I come up out of my drive phase. I started to lift and next thing you know, I go from lane five to the grass. I tried to stand up and walk, it didn’t happen.”
“My mom and I didn’t have the finances to do physical therapy,” Bromell added. “We went to physical therapy one day and we were like, ‘We can’t, we can’t afford it.’ My mom said, ‘I’m not going to give up on you.’”
Despite the many setbacks, encouragement from his mother helped Bromell continue to pursue his dream to run.
“It’s crazy when I tell this story. As soon as I got back from the hospital, we were on the stationary bike, that whole night. She was like, ‘We got to keep going, we got to get this leg right.’ Growing up in the neighborhood that I was in, I wasn’t the person that I am now. When these injuries happened, I was like, ‘I’m never going to walk again, run again. I just want to give up.’ My mom wouldn’t let that happen. We were at the park every day. We had parachutes, we found some way to make something. If that meant going to yard sales and building contraptions of crazy things to help my leg get its strength back, we did,” Bromell said.
“Those injuries took three years of running out of my life,” Bromell added. “There’s not too many people in the history of track and field who can say they went three years without running and made it. God showed me that I have to have patience, I have to have humility.”
As Bromell had his eyes set on the Olympics, he crushed the competition in high school. Bromell also won two NCAA titles while at Baylor University. However, just before the 2016 Olympics in London, Bromell tore his Achilles diving across the finish line.
However, Bromell’s past injuries had taught him work ethic and to rely on his faith in God to recover.
People telling me to hold my head up…👀👀😂 do y'all not know the God we serve, I will never hold my head down. God is great! #Blessed
— IamTrayvonBromell (@TrayvonBromell) August 15, 2016
“We made some steps to be able to be an athlete and not a rehab project,” Rana Reider, Bromell’s coach, told NBC Sports. “I think he can run faster than he’s ever run.”
“This isn’t about athletics. It’s a greater stage, a greater calling that God called us for,” Bromell wrote in an Instagram post in February. “This is about the building blocks of Faith. His presence is before us. Isaiah 40:29 says that He gives power to the weak. Let me tell you, whatever you’re going through, God walks beside you. Whatever pain you feel, the tears will be blown away. Because His power is made perfect in weakness. Don’t grow weary. The power lives within you.”
Since Bromell’s recovery, he earned a spot in the Tokyo Olympics with a victory in the 100m event during the Olympic Trials on June 22.
“It’s a blessing,” Bromell said. “Like I’ve been telling people all year, it’s God’s work. I don’t know how much more I have to tell people that for them to understand and believe. I have so much faith. I know His plan is what it’s going to be at the end of the day.”
The men’s 100m event is set to start on Friday, July 30, and the final will take place on Sunday.
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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
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