Bill Text: MS SC519 | 2018 | Regular Session | Enrolled


Bill Title: Recognize Southern Mississippi Alum Tori Bowie for spectacular win of two Gold Medals in the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2018-02-05 - Enrolled Bill Signed [SC519 Detail]

Download: Mississippi-2018-SC519-Enrolled.html

MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2018 Regular Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Fillingane, Barnett, Caughman, Chassaniol, Dearing, DeBar, Frazier, Hopson, Jackson (11th), Jackson (32nd), Kirby, McMahan, Norwood, Simmons (12th), Witherspoon

Senate Concurrent Resolution 519

(As Adopted by Senate and House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING FORMER UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI TRACK-AND-FIELD STANDOUT AND SANDHILL NATIVE TORI BOWIE FOR WINNING TWO GOLD MEDALS IN THE 2017 IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS IN LONDON, ENGLAND.

     WHEREAS, 26-year-old Tori Bowie, former University of Southern Mississippi Track-and-Field Standout, ended her impressive IAAF World Championships run with two Gold Medals when she anchored Team USA to victory in the 4x100-Meter Relay on August 12, 2017.  Tori Bowie of Sandhill, Mississippi, became the first double Gold Medallist at the IAAF World Athletic Championships, winning the Relay Title ahead of Britain and Jamaica; and

     WHEREAS, the team of Aaliyah Brown, Allyson Felix, Morolake Akinosun, and Bowie beat Great Britain for Gold with a winning time of 41.82, a current world lead.  Bowie's performance took place after she dove to the finish line to edge out Marie-Josée Ta Lou to win the 100-Meter Final.  She returned to lead the Americans to victory once again.  Team USA's performance took place one year after winning Gold at the 2016 Olympic Games; and

     WHEREAS, "I knew that I wanted to leave everything on the line," said Bowie, who leaned hard at the finish to defeat Marie-Josée Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast by one hundredth of a second, in 10.85.  "The dive doesn't feel too good now, but it has saved me at championships in the past.  I was trying to do a modest lean, but for some reason I lost control of my body.  I thought I was a medallist, but I had no idea until the result appeared on the scoreboard."  It was the strangest of finals, one expected to be dominated by Elaine Thompson but instead heralding Bowie's arrival as a major force in sprinting.  Only three years prior she was still a specialist long jumper, until a sense of restlessness persuaded her to switch disciplines.  On this evidence, as she left the best in the world flailing in her wake, the decision could hardly have been better timed; and

     WHEREAS, with her performances at this year's IAAF World Championships, Bowie established herself as one of the greatest and most accomplished athletes to ever call themselves a Golden Eagle; and

     WHEREAS, Tori Bowie was a three-time All-American Track-and-Field Athlete at The University of Southern Mississippi.  She has carried the title "Fastest Woman in the World" on and off for the last two years and earned three medals in her debut Olympic Games in 2016.  Tori Bowie entered a league of her own August 19, 2016, where she anchored the United States 40x100-Meter Relay Team's victory in Rio de Janeiro Olympics, becoming the first Southern Miss Alum to win an Olympic Gold Medal.  Bowie had already captured the Silver and Bronze Medals in the 100 and 200 Meter, respectively; and

     WHEREAS, one of America's great treasures was immortalized in Black and Gold as the Southern Miss Department of Athletics and the City of Hattiesburg proclaimed November 25, to forever be Tori Bowie Day, celebrating the accomplishments of the former Golden Eagle Track-and-Field Standout; and

     WHEREAS, we join the Southern Mississippi community in recognizing a legendary Mississippi athlete who has brought honor to her hometown, her university and to the State of Mississippi:

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby recognize former University of Southern Mississippi Track-and-Field Standout and Sandhill native Tori Bowie for winning two Gold Medals in the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London, England, and extend our best wishes to Tori on this auspicious occasion.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Tori Bowie and her family, forwarded to the President of The University of Southern Mississippi, the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the Principal of Pisgah High School, and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.

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