(Photo courtesy of University of Miami Sports Information/JC Ridley)
Since graduating from the University of Miami in 2011, T'erea Brown has been doing nothing but training. The five-time All-American hurdler is used to hard work, and now it has all paid off-- she's on her way to represent the United States in the London Olympics.
This will be Brown's first Olympic games, and she's trying to stay focused
"You know, it's the Olympics; everybody wants the gold medal at the end of that day," she said. "But I'm very realistic...I know what I'm struggling at and I know where I'm fit, and so from now until the Olympics I'm just trying to work on my race."
Brown wants to get her time for the 400-meter hurdles below 54 seconds, and the intensity of her daily practices is ever increasing. As her race gets stronger, her training gets tougher. Luckily, she will be working with some familiar faces in London. The head women's track coach for the Team USA is Amy Deem, the head women's coach for UM.
"She knows what it takes to get to that level...Just being at UM and getting her to actually train me has prepared me," Brown said about Deem.
Aside from her coach and teammates, Brown has found support from her fan base throughout the stress of the trials.
"Out of my whole running career, that has been the most stressful week of my life," she said.
"Twitter helped a whole lot. I didn't really expect to have a lot of people behind me, even though I knew I did. But the amount of support I got from a lot of my fans and people on Twitter and Facebook, and everyone sending me encouraging words and saying prayers for me -- all that just motivated me."
After falling ill the last two days of the trials, Brown needed the extra support and motivation. Even though she was a favorite to make the team, she wasn't so sure about it.
"I still felt like an underdog at some points. There's always that doubt in your mind that something could go wrong," she said.
Fortunately, nothing did go wrong. Now that the trials are behind her, she'll be heading to London next week to compete in two races before her first Olympic race on August 5.
"I'm actually very very excited to go over to Europe. One thing people don't realize is that track is huge in Europe. We get treated like we're NBA or NFL players over there. They love us; the support is very overwhelming," she said.
Americans will have their chance to show their own love and support of Brown and the Team USA track team August 3-12. Perhaps after her extensive training and long stay in Europe, Brown will return to her home country with medals from a successful first Olympic experience.Since graduating from the University of Miami in 2011, T'erea Brown has been doing nothing but training. The five-time All-American hurdler is used to hard work, and now it has all paid off-- she's on her way to represent the United States in the London Olympics.
This will be Brown's first Olympic games, and she's trying to stay focused
"You know, it's the Olympics; everybody wants the gold medal at the end of that day," she said. "But I'm very realistic...I know what I'm struggling at and I know where I'm fit, and so from now until the Olympics I'm just trying to work on my race."
Brown wants to get her time for the 400-meter hurdles below 54 seconds, and the intensity of her daily practices is ever increasing. As her race gets stronger, her training gets tougher. Luckily, she will be working with some familiar faces in London. The head women's track coach for the Team USA is Amy Deem, the head women's coach for UM.
"She knows what it takes to get to that level...Just being at UM and getting her to actually train me has prepared me," Brown said about Deem.
Aside from her coach and teammates, Brown has found support from her fan base throughout the stress of the trials.
"Out of my whole running career, that has been the most stressful week of my life," she said.
"Twitter helped a whole lot. I didn't really expect to have a lot of people behind me, even though I knew I did. But the amount of support I got from a lot of my fans and people on Twitter and Facebook, and everyone sending me encouraging words and saying prayers for me -- all that just motivated me."
After falling ill the last two days of the trials, Brown needed the extra support and motivation. Even though she was a favorite to make the team, she wasn't so sure about it.
"I still felt like an underdog at some points. There's always that doubt in your mind that something could go wrong," she said.
Fortunately, nothing did go wrong. Now that the trials are behind her, she'll be heading to London next week to compete in two races before her first Olympic race on August 5.
"I'm actually very very excited to go over to Europe. One thing people don't realize is that track is huge in Europe. We get treated like we're NBA or NFL players over there. They love us; the support is very overwhelming," she said.
Americans will have their chance to show their own love and support of Brown and the Team USA track team August 3-12. Perhaps after her extensive training and long stay in Europe, Brown will return to her home country with medals from a successful first Olympic experience.