Stephanie Brown Trafton
Encyclopedia
Stephanie Brown Trafton (born December 1, 1979) is an American track and field
athlete who won the discus throw
ing gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics
in Beijing. She was a somewhat unusual modern athlete in that she had become a two-time Olympian before she had competed at a World Championships
. Her first World Championships in 2009
ended with a sub-par performance in the discus final
.
perform in the 1984 Summer Olympics
.
After a youth of attempting several different sports, she eventually divided her time between athletics and basketball
. She competed in the discus and shot put
at Arroyo Grande High School
, and was the California State high school
champion in shot put in 1996. After placing second in 1997, she recaptured the California shot put title in 1998. At the same meet, she added the California discus title to her resume. As of 2008, her 181.25 feet (55.2 m) throw to secure victory remains one of the 10 best American high school discus throws in history.
Nevertheless, she seemed to be headed towards a career in basketball
, after being awarded a scholarship for both basketball and track and field to Cal Poly-SLO
. Her career was ended in that sport prematurely by a torn anterior cruciate ligament
. Thereafter, she concentrated on track and field
. She competed at the collegiate level in shot put
and discus from 1999 to 2003, but missed 2000, while recovering from the knee injury. Brown-Trafton was named as an NCAA All-American 6 times in her college career, two times during the indoor season as a shot putter and four times in the outdoor season for discus and shot put. Her highest finishes at the NCAA Division I national championships were second in discus in 2003 and fourth in shot put in 2003.
In August 2004, Stephanie Brown competed at the Athens Games
, and her best mark in the qualifying round failed to advance her to the finals. She placed 22nd with a throw of 192 feet even (58.54 m), under her 203 feet 1 inch (61.90 m) personal best at the time. She has expressed contentment with her performance there, saying, "2004 gave me an awesome experience. I came to the Olympics just out of college."
She began 2008 with a personal best that was unchanged from 2004. However, she improved that mark in March, April and May 2008. Coming into the Beijing Olympics, her personal best was 217 feet 1 inch (66.17 m), achieved at the Hartnell
Throwers Meet in Salinas, California
.
Until a June 21, 2008 mark of 218 feet 1 inch (66.51 m) by Romanian
Nicoleta Grasu
,
this throw stood as the longest on record anywhere in the world in 2008. Moreover, it was the third-best American throw of all time, behind efforts by Suzy Powell
and Becky Breisch
.
Prior to Beijing, she had placed third at the U.S. trials with a throw of 205 feet 5 inches (62.63 m).
Asked to explain her dramatic improvement, Brown Trafton pointed to a key difference in her training regimen. Unusually for her, she did not take time off between the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Instead, she spent what would have normally been the season hiatus working on the "supplemental training" of "balance, agility and flexibility" with Tony Mikia, a physical therapist/sports performance trainer at Sacramento-based Results Physical Therapy and Sports Performance.
The first of her six throws displayed her progress to her competitors in Beijing. At 212 feet 5 inches (64.74 m), it bettered the field by almost two meters. She threw into the net on her second and third throws, then posted a 191 feet 7 inches (58.39) and a 201 feet 1 inch (61.30). By the sixth round, it was unnecessary for her to throw to win the gold medal, as the two remaining competitors had not bettered her initial mark. In the end, no one got within a meter of her first throw.
first track and field gold medal of the 2008 Olympics, after a few initial days of failure. But Brown Trafton's gold medal in Beijing was more broadly notable for being the first American
gold in the event for 76 years.
It was only the second American medal in women's discus at a fully attended Olympiad, along with Lillian Copeland
's silver medal at the 1928 Games in Amsterdam
.
It was the second American gold in the event, after Copeland's gold at the Depression
-handicapped 1932 Summer Olympics
. It was the fourth medal in American history, behind Leslie Deniz
' silver won at the politically boycotted 1984 Summer Olympics
. Additionally, it was the first American medal in the sport won outside the city of Los Angeles
since Copeland's silver medal in Amsterdam
.
, as Copeland's gold had been in 1932. And it failed to approach Gabriele Reinsch
's 1988 world record
of 251 feet 11 inches (76.80 m). In fact, not only was Leslie Deniz' 24-year-old silver medal-winning throw longer than any throw of the 2008 Olympics, but no gold medalist since Lia Manoliu
in the 1968 games
had posted a shorter winning distance. Only 2 of the 12 finalists at the Beijing Olympics had a personal best under Brown Trafton's winning throw, and the average personal best of the field was 219 feet even (66.75 m). However, she was peaking when most of the field was in personal decline. When viewed against the prism of 2008-only performances, the only members of the field other than Brown Trafton to better the winning 212 feet 5 inches (64.74 m) mark were Aretha Thurmond
, Nicoleta Grasu
and Yarelis Barrios
. In fact, only six women other than Brown Trafton had thrown better in 2008, and they were not all present in Beijing.
Matters were not helped, as one commentator noted, by the Beijing weather. The windless, humid conditions on the evening of the competition were hardly ideal for discus throwing. And maybe, as Brown Trafton herself remarked, the competition was "a little more open" thanks to the banning of the prohibitive favorite, Russian Darya Pishchalnikova
, for suspicion of doping.
for an environmental consulting firm in Sacramento
, California
called Sycamore Environmental Consultants, Inc.
Upon returning to her residence in Galt, California after her gold medal performance, Brown Trafton was presented with the key to the City of Galt by Mayor Andrew Meredith.
She and her husband are both recreational hunters. She quipped to reporters that the downside of the Beijing Olympics was that they occurred just as hunting season
opened in California
.
immediately after winning in Beijing. Noting the difficulties her sport has had with doping, she set a personal goal for the future of being "the first world-record holder that's a clean world record".
The following season, she won her first national title in the discus, and as a result she qualified for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
.
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
athlete who won the discus throw
Discus throw
The discus throw is an event in track and field athletics competition, in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than his or her competitors. It is an ancient sport, as evidenced by the 5th century BC Myron statue, Discobolus...
ing gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in Beijing. She was a somewhat unusual modern athlete in that she had become a two-time Olympian before she had competed at a World Championships
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...
. Her first World Championships in 2009
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
ended with a sub-par performance in the discus final
2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's discus throw
The women's discus throw at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on August 19 and August 21.Reigning Olympic champion Stephanie Brown Trafton was the favourite for the gold. She had set a career best and had the four longest throws of any athlete that season,...
.
Pre-Olympic career
Brown Trafton has said she was inspired to become an Olympian as a 4-year-old watching Mary Lou RettonMary Lou Retton
Mary Lou Retton is an American gymnast and Olympic gold medalist. She was the first female gymnast from outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title, after 14 Eastern Bloc countries boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.-Personal life:Retton was born in Fairmont, West...
perform in the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
.
After a youth of attempting several different sports, she eventually divided her time between athletics and basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. She competed in the discus and shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
at Arroyo Grande High School
Arroyo Grande High School
Arroyo Grande High School is an American public high school located in Arroyo Grande, California. It serves grades 9-12 as part of the Lucia Mar Unified School District .-Campus:...
, and was the California State high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
champion in shot put in 1996. After placing second in 1997, she recaptured the California shot put title in 1998. At the same meet, she added the California discus title to her resume. As of 2008, her 181.25 feet (55.2 m) throw to secure victory remains one of the 10 best American high school discus throws in history.
Nevertheless, she seemed to be headed towards a career in basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, after being awarded a scholarship for both basketball and track and field to Cal Poly-SLO
California Polytechnic State University
California Polytechnic State University, or Cal Poly, is a public university located in San Luis Obispo, California, United States. The university is one of two polytechnic campuses in the 23-member California State University system....
. Her career was ended in that sport prematurely by a torn anterior cruciate ligament
Anterior cruciate ligament
The anterior cruciate ligament is a cruciate ligament which is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee. In the quadruped stifle , based on its anatomical position, it is referred to as the cranial cruciate ligament.The ACL originates from deep within the notch of the distal femur...
. Thereafter, she concentrated on track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
. She competed at the collegiate level in shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
and discus from 1999 to 2003, but missed 2000, while recovering from the knee injury. Brown-Trafton was named as an NCAA All-American 6 times in her college career, two times during the indoor season as a shot putter and four times in the outdoor season for discus and shot put. Her highest finishes at the NCAA Division I national championships were second in discus in 2003 and fourth in shot put in 2003.
2004 Olympics
Stephanie competed in the 2004 Olympic Trials in Sacramento, CA in both the shot put and the discus throw. Her best throw coming in to the discus competition was 192 feet. In the first throw of the discus final, Brown threw a 9 foot personal best of 201 feet 3 inches, surpassing the international A-standard mark, and qualified for her first Olympic team.In August 2004, Stephanie Brown competed at the Athens Games
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...
, and her best mark in the qualifying round failed to advance her to the finals. She placed 22nd with a throw of 192 feet even (58.54 m), under her 203 feet 1 inch (61.90 m) personal best at the time. She has expressed contentment with her performance there, saying, "2004 gave me an awesome experience. I came to the Olympics just out of college."
The 2008 Season
In the run-up to the Beijing Olympics, Brown Trafton made what observers called "stunning improvement".She began 2008 with a personal best that was unchanged from 2004. However, she improved that mark in March, April and May 2008. Coming into the Beijing Olympics, her personal best was 217 feet 1 inch (66.17 m), achieved at the Hartnell
Hartnell College
Hartnell Community College is a 2-year community college in Salinas, California, USA. It was founded in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, and renamed in 1948 for William Edward Petty Hartnell...
Throwers Meet in Salinas, California
Salinas, California
Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...
.
Until a June 21, 2008 mark of 218 feet 1 inch (66.51 m) by Romanian
Romania at the 2008 Summer Olympics
Romania competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, be held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. Romania intended to send 104 competitors to Beijing, although the delegation was reduced to 102 when two Romanian athletes were suspended for doping before the start of the...
Nicoleta Grasu
Nicoleta Grasu
Lenuţa Nicoleta Grasu is a Romanian discus thrower. She was born on 11 September 1971 in Secuieni as Nicoleta Grădinaru, but took a new surname when she married fellow discus thrower Costel Grasu....
,
this throw stood as the longest on record anywhere in the world in 2008. Moreover, it was the third-best American throw of all time, behind efforts by Suzy Powell
Suzy Powell
Suzanne Powell-Roos is a female discus thrower from the United States., who represented her native country in the women's discus throw event at three Summer Olympics, 1996 , 2000 and 2008 .She is the current American record holder in the Discus Throw, that record of...
and Becky Breisch
Becky Breisch
Becky Breisch is an American track and field athlete who competes in the discus throw. She has represented the United States in the event at three consecutive World Championships in Athletics from 2005 to 2009...
.
Prior to Beijing, she had placed third at the U.S. trials with a throw of 205 feet 5 inches (62.63 m).
Asked to explain her dramatic improvement, Brown Trafton pointed to a key difference in her training regimen. Unusually for her, she did not take time off between the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Instead, she spent what would have normally been the season hiatus working on the "supplemental training" of "balance, agility and flexibility" with Tony Mikia, a physical therapist/sports performance trainer at Sacramento-based Results Physical Therapy and Sports Performance.
Performance
Although called by the mainstream American sports press "an unlikely savior of U.S. pride" and a "field filler more than a medal contender", a radically improved Brown Trafton actually came to Beijing with a reasonable possibility of winning. She had executed the second-best throw posted in the sport in 2008. And she had progressively upped her personal best by over 4 m across several meets during the 2008 season.The first of her six throws displayed her progress to her competitors in Beijing. At 212 feet 5 inches (64.74 m), it bettered the field by almost two meters. She threw into the net on her second and third throws, then posted a 191 feet 7 inches (58.39) and a 201 feet 1 inch (61.30). By the sixth round, it was unnecessary for her to throw to win the gold medal, as the two remaining competitors had not bettered her initial mark. In the end, no one got within a meter of her first throw.
An American breakthrough
On a personal level, her victory in Beijing was the culmination of a number of months of steady improvement for the athlete, after years of steady progress but nonetheless inconsistent throws above the 60 m mark. It was also the United States'United States at the Olympics
The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games, except the 1980 Summer Olympics, which it boycotted.The United States Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee for the United States....
first track and field gold medal of the 2008 Olympics, after a few initial days of failure. But Brown Trafton's gold medal in Beijing was more broadly notable for being the first American
United States at the Olympics
The United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Olympic Games, except the 1980 Summer Olympics, which it boycotted.The United States Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee for the United States....
gold in the event for 76 years.
It was only the second American medal in women's discus at a fully attended Olympiad, along with Lillian Copeland
Lillian Copeland
Lillian Copeland was an American athlete, who excelled in weight throwing. She has been called "the most successful female discus thrower in U.S...
's silver medal at the 1928 Games in Amsterdam
Athletics at the 1928 Summer Olympics
At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, 27 athletics events were contested. The competition was held on a 400 meter track and would become the standard for athletics tracks in the future. For the first time, women's events in athletics were included in the Olympic Games program...
.
It was the second American gold in the event, after Copeland's gold at the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
-handicapped 1932 Summer Olympics
Athletics at the 1932 Summer Olympics
At the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, 29 athletics events were contested, 23 for men and 6 for women. It was the first time the 50 kilometre walk appeared in the men's athletics at the Games. This was only the second time women's events in athletics were included in the Olympic Games program...
. It was the fourth medal in American history, behind Leslie Deniz
Leslie Deniz
Leslie Jean Deniz is an American athlete who competed mainly in the women's discus throw event....
' silver won at the politically boycotted 1984 Summer Olympics
Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics
At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, 41 events in athletics were contested, 24 events by men and 17 by women. There were a total number of 1273 participating athletes from 124 countries.-Men's events:-Women's events:...
. Additionally, it was the first American medal in the sport won outside the city of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
since Copeland's silver medal in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
.
Global perspective
Despite the significance of the victory to the US Track and Field program, Brown Trafton's winning distance of 212 feet 5 inches (64.74 m) caused one track and field reporter to label Beijing a "low-standard competition". It wasn't a personal best for the athlete. Nor was it an Olympic recordOlympic record
Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games...
, as Copeland's gold had been in 1932. And it failed to approach Gabriele Reinsch
Gabriele Reinsch
Gabriele Reinsch is a German track and field athlete. She represented East Germany in the Olympic games in the discus throw....
's 1988 world record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
of 251 feet 11 inches (76.80 m). In fact, not only was Leslie Deniz' 24-year-old silver medal-winning throw longer than any throw of the 2008 Olympics, but no gold medalist since Lia Manoliu
Lia Manoliu
Lia Manoliu was a Romanian discus thrower who won three Olympic medals, including one gold. She was the first Track & Field athlete to compete at six Olympics....
in the 1968 games
Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics
At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, 36 athletics events were contested, 24 for men and 12 for women. There were a total number of 1031 participating athletes from 93 countries....
had posted a shorter winning distance. Only 2 of the 12 finalists at the Beijing Olympics had a personal best under Brown Trafton's winning throw, and the average personal best of the field was 219 feet even (66.75 m). However, she was peaking when most of the field was in personal decline. When viewed against the prism of 2008-only performances, the only members of the field other than Brown Trafton to better the winning 212 feet 5 inches (64.74 m) mark were Aretha Thurmond
Aretha Thurmond
Aretha Thurmond, née Hill is an American discus thrower, whose personal best distance is 65.86 metres, achieved in March 2004 in Marietta.-Achievements:-External links:...
, Nicoleta Grasu
Nicoleta Grasu
Lenuţa Nicoleta Grasu is a Romanian discus thrower. She was born on 11 September 1971 in Secuieni as Nicoleta Grădinaru, but took a new surname when she married fellow discus thrower Costel Grasu....
and Yarelis Barrios
Yarelis Barrios
Yarelys Barrios Castañeda is a female discus thrower from Cuba. Her personal best throw is 66.13 metres, achieved in July 2008.-Achievements:-References:*...
. In fact, only six women other than Brown Trafton had thrown better in 2008, and they were not all present in Beijing.
Matters were not helped, as one commentator noted, by the Beijing weather. The windless, humid conditions on the evening of the competition were hardly ideal for discus throwing. And maybe, as Brown Trafton herself remarked, the competition was "a little more open" thanks to the banning of the prohibitive favorite, Russian Darya Pishchalnikova
Darya Pishchalnikova
Darya Vitalyevna Pishchalnikova is a female discus thrower from Russia. Her personal best throw is 65.78 metres, achieved when she won the silver medal at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, August 2007....
, for suspicion of doping.
Impact on personal life
Unlike many 21st century American Olympians, Brown Trafton had a day job as she prepared for the Beijing Games. Using skills rooted in her undergraduate degree from Cal Poly-SLO, she worked as a computer-assisted designerComputer-aided design
Computer-aided design , also known as computer-aided design and drafting , is the use of computer technology for the process of design and design-documentation. Computer Aided Drafting describes the process of drafting with a computer...
for an environmental consulting firm in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
called Sycamore Environmental Consultants, Inc.
Upon returning to her residence in Galt, California after her gold medal performance, Brown Trafton was presented with the key to the City of Galt by Mayor Andrew Meredith.
She and her husband are both recreational hunters. She quipped to reporters that the downside of the Beijing Olympics was that they occurred just as hunting season
Hunting season
A hunting season is the time when it is legal to hunt and kill a particular species.In the United States, each state has primary responsibility and authority over the hunting of wildlife that resides within state boundaries. State wildlife agencies that sell hunting licenses are the best source of...
opened in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Post-Olympics
Brown Trafton confirmed her intention to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...
immediately after winning in Beijing. Noting the difficulties her sport has had with doping, she set a personal goal for the future of being "the first world-record holder that's a clean world record".
The following season, she won her first national title in the discus, and as a result she qualified for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics
2009 World Championships in Athletics
The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....
.