Olympic gold medalist Brittney Reese, who graduated from Gulfport High in 2004, helped honor the school’s late athletic trainer Ross Langston last weekend.
“I haven’t been to a Gulfport football game in a long time,” Reese said. “But I saw on Twitter that they were honoring Ross and I wanted to come and pay my respect. He was a big part of my success. He was my trainer when I played basketball and ran track. It was a good opportunity for me to come here and enjoy the football game.”
Reese, who also attended Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and Ole Miss, is a five-time world champion in the long jump. Reese was recently competing in a world championship in Beijing when a back injury hindered her performance.
“When I was in China, my back started having spasms and I was having complications from a surgery I had the year prior,” she said. “It just all flared up at the wrong time and I wasn’t able to do what I can normally do. But things happen.”
After visiting her family in Gulfport, Reese will return to San Diego to train for a couple of high profile events scheduled for 2016.
“We have the Indoor World Championships in March in Oregon,” she said. “Then, the Olympics are in August, so I have a big year ahead of me. I have a lot to look forward to. My injury is much better and I’m looking forward to getting started with the training.”
Reese may have a huge year ahead of her, but is focused on the football game between her Ole Miss Rebels in Tuscaloosa against the Alabama Crimson Tide.
“I’m not going to get the opportunity to go to Ole Miss on this visit,” she said. “You know I think we are going to win. It’s a huge game with national championship implications. I wish I could go but I won’t be able to make it. I think we have a pretty decent team this year and I think we will actually make the playoffs. I’ll be watching.”
http://www.sunherald.com/2015/09/13/6412624/olympic-gold-medalist-brittney.html
