Olympic gold medalist and world champion Tori Bowie has died

Track and field athlete Tori Bowie reportedly died in her Florida home this week according to her management agency. Bowie was a three-time Olympic medalist in 2016, and is the last American woman to win the 100-meter race on an international stage, which she accomplished at the 2017 World Championships in London.

Bowie was a Sand Hill native and graduated from Pisgah high school in Rankin County. Principal Craig Yates says that Bowie is immortalized in many ways at Pisgah.

"I think her legacy will be one that kids can look up to and know that no matter where they're from, even if they're from a small town like Sand Hill, Mississippi, you know, they can go places." he said. "The sky is the limit."

Bowie attended the University of Southern Mississippi, where she was a National Indoor Track Champion and the 2011 C-USA conference female athlete of the year. Athletic Director Jeremy McClain says that Bowie was in "a league of her own."

"To have someone who's worn the black and gold... compete at an elite level just on a world stage like that, it's just, it's just a major, major accomplishment." he said. "It's just something that doesn't happen that often."

Bowie was inducted into the USM Athletic Hall of Fame last year.