Brittney Reese is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 long jump

Long jump

The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...

er, who competed 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...

, and is the current world champion.

Personal

Reese attended Gulf Coast Community College

Gulf Coast Community College

Gulf Coast State College, formerly known as Gulf Coast Community College, is a state college, located in Panama City, Florida, United States. The institution was founded in 1957 by the Florida Legislature. The college is a member institution of the Florida College System.This is a coeducational...

 and the University of Mississippi

University of Mississippi

The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...

. Reese was not an athletic competitor at community college.

Career

She was the NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association

The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...

 Outdoor Champion in long jump in 2007 and 2008. Reese set a personal best in the long jump of 22 feet, 9.75 inches (6.95 meters) in July 2008 in Eugene, Oregon

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

 at the U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. At the Olympics, Reese had the best qualifying jump at 6.87 meters. However, Reese placed fifth in the final, with a jump of 6.76 meters.

On May 24, 2009, in Belém

Belém

Belém is a Brazilian city, the capital and largest city of state of Pará, in the country's north region. It is the entrance gate to the Amazon with a busy port, airport and bus/coach station...

, Reese extended her personal best to 7.06 m (0.7 m/s wind). This brought her to third on the American all-time list, behind Marion Jones

Marion Jones

Marion Lois Jones , also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is a former world champion track and field athlete, and a former professional basketball player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA...

 and Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Jacqueline "Jackie" Joyner-Kersee is a retired American athlete, ranked among the all-time greatest athletes in the women's heptathlon as well as in the women's long jump. She won three gold, one silver, and two bronze Olympic medals, in those four different events...

.

At the 2009 World Athletics Championships, in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

, Reese won the long jump title with a jump of 7.10 meters, beating defending champion Tatyana Lebedeva

Tatyana Lebedeva

Tatyana Romanovna Lebedeva is a Russian athlete who competes in both the long jump and triple jump events. She is one of most successful athletes in the disciplines, having won gold medals at Olympic, world and European levels...

. Reese is the third youngest champion in the history of the event.

At the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships

The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the ASPIRE Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010.-Bidding and organisation:...

, Reese won the gold medal in the long jump with a jump of 6.70 meters.

At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics

2011 World Championships in Athletics

The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011....

, Reese successfully retained the gold medal in the long jump with a jump of 6.82 meters.

Reese is currently represented by Mark Pryor of World Express Athletic Management.

Philanthropy

On November 14, 2011, Brittney donated 100 turkeys and her time to various homeless and religious organizations in her community of Gulfpost, Mississippi as her way of "giving back" to the community that has supported her throughout her athletic career. She wanted to make Thanksgiving a little easier for those in need, in an area where there are few resources for those in need.

External links

• The official website of Brittney Reese
• USA Track & Field Profile
• NBC Olympics Bio
• Ole Miss Sports Profile
• World Express Athletic Management