speed skating

Speed Skater Brittany Bowe Also a ‘Ridiculously Skilled' Basketball Player

On top of speed skating, Bowe is also a stellar basketball player

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Before Brittany Bowe was breaking records on the ice, she was breaking ankles on the hardwood.

The Team USA speed skater is a “ridiculously skilled” basketball player, according to Apolo Anton Ohno.

“She’s an amazing basketball player,” he said on “My New Favorite Olympian.” “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen her play basketball before, but she’s ridiculous.”

The stats back up what Ohno is saying. Bowe played four years of Division I collegiate basketball at Florida Atlantic from 2006 to 2010.

The Owls steadily improved throughout Bowe’s collegiate career. The team went from 6-25 her freshman year to 14-15 her senior season. In that senior season, Bowe averaged 12.2 points and 4.7 assists while playing 33.3 minutes per game and making all 29 starts.

“She was just tough,” Breana Koné. Bowe’s teammate at Florida Atlantic, said. “I mean, she was probably closer to a Diana Taurasi where she was just she would bully people to the basket. She would love to get her teammates open. She was fearless in every sense of the game where, you know, if we were in a tough spot, we knew who we wanted to have the ball in their hands.”

Bowe has since devoted her professional athletic career to speed skating. She set world records in both the women’s 1000m and 1500m and has an Olympic bronze medal from the team pursuit at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.

Bowe is competing in her third Olympics. Her 2022 Winter Olympics journey begins on Monday with the 1500m, an event where she placed fifth in 2018. According to Ohno, Bowe is primed for a much better result in Beijing.

“Brittany, if she can stay healthy and race a great race, she’s gonna win,” he said.

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