#225 - Brittney Reese at SXSW 2022

Olympic gold medalist Brittney Reese chats with Trey Elling, prior to her appearance at SXSW 2022. Reese won a gold and two silver medals in long jump during her four Olympic performances for the US. The conversation includes: Speaking at South By as part of a panel on serving as a brand ambassador while staying true to yourself (1:15) Growing up in Mississippi (2:21) The importance of her grandfather, beginning in childhood (3:41) When she realized she was good enough at track to pursue it in college and as a professional (4:56) Getting back into track after initially choosing to play basketball in college (6:12) Why she eventually decided to focus strictly on long jump (8:21) Lessons learned from falling short of the goal during her first Olympics in 2008 (10:25) Winning gold at the 2012 Olympics (12:00) Her happiest moment away from the track (13:52) Setting the American indoor long jump record (14:54) Settling for silver at the 2016 Olympics (15:50) The weirdness surrounding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (17:39) Whether she's dealing with the void that arises for a lot of athletes, after they retire (19:10) What fuels her numerous humanitarian efforts (20:09)