Marvin Bracy, the former Boone High speedster who left professional track after his 2016 Olympics appearance to try out for the NFL, ran himself right back into contention for the 2020 Tokyo Games on Saturday.
Bracy, who failed to make an NFL roster in his nearly three years away from track (2017-19), ran the fastest 100-meter dash of his life in his final race before this month’s U.S. Olympic Trials. His second-place time of 9.85 seconds in Saturday’s NACAC New Life Invitational makes him second fastest in the world this year and sixth best in American history.
That time sent some shockwaves across the track world and was a pleasant surprise even for Bracy.
“I truly believe I’m as fit as I’ve been in my career,” he said in a phone interview with the Orlando Sentinel on Monday. “I knew that if I executed, it could be a great day. I didn’t know it would be that great.”
Bracy had slipped to No. 36 in the WorldAthletics.org 100 rankings and had not run a time under 10 seconds since he clocked a 9.98 to finish third in the 2016 Olympic Trials to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Games — where he ran a 10.08 semifinal and missed advancing to the final.
The current world leader is Bracy’s training partner, Trayvon Bromell, the winner of Saturday’s NACAC race in Miramar with his own personal best time of 9.77. That is the new No. 1 for 2021, bettering Bromell’s 9.88 from April, and is No. 4 on the all-time U.S. list and No. 7 on the world all-time list.
Bracy sped into a tie for sixth on the American all-time list with former world-record holder Leroy Burrell — ahead of nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, whose 100 best was 9.86.
The top five are Tyson Gay (9.69), Justin Gatlin (9.74), Christian Coleman (9.76), Bromell and Maurice Green (9.79).
“I just put everything together. It was honestly the best I’ve ran in my life,” Bracy said. “The great ones are able to be relaxed and make it feel like practice on race day. This was the first time in a while that I’ve been able to do that.”
After competing in just one post-Olympiad 100 in 2017, Bracy left track to chase a dream of running routes as a football pro. He participated in NFL preseason camps but was cut by the Indianapolis Colts in 2017 and Seattle Seahawks in 2018. He played briefly for the short-lived Orlando Apollos franchise of the Alliance of American Football in 2019 until a shoulder injury in the season opener ended his football career.
Bracy was billed as America’s fastest high school player coming out of Boone in 2012 but did not play a down of college football. He signed with FSU as a football recruit but redshirted as a freshman before turning pro for track in 2013.
“I had total confidence in myself as a football player. I didn’t know that getting into the door in the NFL would be that hard,” Bracy said. “It’s easier to stay in than to get in, from my personal opinion.
“Two years of being in training camp I got probably two minutes of actual [preseason] game time. I didn’t really get a chance to show what I could do.”
Bracy has put that disappointment behind him.
“It was an itch I needed to scratch,” he said of his foray into football. “I did walk away from track and give up some years. It didn’t work out. I’m back where I get to be. And I feel like I came back just in time to make an Olympic team.”
Bracy actually benefitted, at least in track terms, when the 2020 Olympic Games were postponed to this year due to the COVID-19 epidemic. It gave him more time to get back in the groove, and his performance Saturday shows the rust may be off.
“My indoor season [January and February], running 60 meters, was not so hot and that’s supposed to be my best event,” said Bracy, who was the U.S. 60 champ in 2014, 2015 and 2016, and the world silver medalist indoors in 2016.
His confidence was boosted when he ran a 10.01 prelim and 10.11 final in what amounted to a home meet at the University of North Florida last Monday ahead of the NACAC race.
Bracy, who previously trained in Clermont, has called Jacksonville home for about a year. He works out with Bromell and a stable of sprinters in the Tumbleweed Track Club under the direction of renowned coach Rana Reider.
“I’m pushing myself next to great training partners,” Bracy said. “Seeing times like Trayvon was running when it came to meets actually gave me reason to believe. That told me I am at least in the ballpark.”
The Olympic Trials’ 100 will have first-round races on June 19 and semifinals and the final on June 20 in Eugene, Oregon. Bracy believes he is ready to roll.
“I was already optimistic. I’ve been in this situation before,” he said. “I wasn’t slated to make the team in 2016. I’ll be going in there with an underdog mentality again.”
This story was first published at OrlandoSentinel.com. Varsity Content Editor can be reached by email at @bcollings@orlandosentinel.com.
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