Bobbie Dennis Smith and Dennis Smith are track and field athlete Tori Bowie parents. However, the couple didn’t raise the Olympic gold medalist. Keep reading to find out more about Tori’s childhood.
She primarily participated in the long jump, 100 meters and 200 meters. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Mississippi native won bronze in the 200 m and silver in the 100 m.
At the World Championships in Athletics in 2015 and 2017, Bowie won bronze and gold in the 100 m, respectively. At the 2016 Olympic Games and the 2017 World Championships, Tori claimed gold medals in the women’s 4×400 m relays.
The talented athlete was put into foster care as an infant. She went on to become a three-time world championship winner and an Olympic gold medalist.
Sadly, The 32-year-old died unexpectedly. Tori always retained sight of her roots and acknowledged that her challenging experience helped shape the successful person she became.
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Who Are Bobbie Dennis Smith And Dennis Smith? Tori Bowie Parents And Family
Born on 27 August 1990, Tori Bowie was a native of Sand Hill, Rankin County, Mississippi. She was born to her parents, Bobbie Dennis Smith and Dennis Smith.
However, it has been reported that the late athlete was put into foster care with her sister. She was only two then, and her younger sister was eleven months old. She and her sister, Tamarra, were raised by their grandmother, Bobbie Smith.
Tori described her grandmother as her role model. As reported by Daily Mail, the three-time world championship winner
While her dad, Dennis, was ‘in and out’ of her life, she kept her mom’s name, which Bowie called ‘unfortunate.’
In the little rural community of Sand Hill, some 25 kilometers northeast of Jackson, Mississippi, her grandmother, Bobbie Smith, fought a fierce battle so that she could raise Tori and Tamarra.
The Olympic gold medalist said that people where she was from were not supposed to accomplish great things in life, referring to the area as just a crowded field.
The 32-year-old described the 20-person extended family of cousins, aunts, and uncles residing in the four houses as “so weird.” However, she had a special place for her grandmother.
Tori Bowie Grandmother Bobbie Smith
Tori Bowie said her grandmother, Bobbie Smith, was the role model of her life.
In an interview with People in 2016, in her early years before the Rio Olympics, she said, “She (her grandma) ended up fighting for us, got custody of us. We didn’t have much, but she did add character.”
“I like being from where I am. I am that. And my family never let me go too far,” she remarked in 2016 to Sports Illustrated.
The athlete’s grandmother must be in shock as she passed away unexpectedly. Moreover, Tori Bowie’s younger sister, Tamarra, followed her worldwide when she participated in different games. Tamarra called herself the annoying little sister.
The Mississippi native developed her spirit of competition by playing basketball with her male cousins, who she credited with “making me tough” by “never taking it easy…never letting me win.”
She succeeded and won back-to-back basketball state championships with her sister. But as Bowie’s first coach, Angie Reynolds, pointed out, her passion for basketball nearly ended her running career.
Besides her sports career, Tori Bowie was also a model who appeared in various magazines and fashion projects. Bowie appeared in Adidas commercial campaigns and Vogue and Sports Illustrated magazines.
Keep Reading: Did Tori Bowie Suicide? When Did Olympic Gold Medalist Depression Begin?
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