By: Harvey Shen

Tori Bowie was once the fastest woman runner in the world. So when she was found dead at only 32 years old, it surprised the track and field world.

“Bowie, whose career highlights include three Olympic medals, one of them gold,” was found dead in a bed alone.

“The great athlete died from natural causes, Associate Medical Examiner Chantel Njiwaji wrote in her autopsy report, citing evidence of Bowie undergoing labor when she died. The toxicology report came back negative.”

Black women have a higher chance of dying earlier, which could be reason why Bowie died early.

In 2021, an average of about 70 Black women died early, which is 2.6 times higher than the rate for White women.

Women athletes becoming mothers could be pretty challenging.

“Just last year, Allyson Felix, the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete in history, described the desperation and fear she felt in 2018 when she worked out in darkness in 4 a.m., so no one would know about her pregnancy.

“I was six months pregnant, and I was scared enough to train in the dark so that no one would see the life that was growing inside of me,” Felix said.

Bowie faced obstacles that were beyond her control. When she was two years old, her mom placed her and her sister into foster care before her grandmother later gained guardianship and instilled life lessons in Bowie.

In an interview with Women’s Running in 2018, Bowie discussed what it was like with her grandmother.

“My grandmother’s number-one rule was that once you start something, you don’t quit,” Bowie said. “From a young age, she never let me give up on anything.”

The professional athlete is dead, but people won’t forget her.