Former FAU star earns bronze

The fourth time was a charm for Brittany Bowe at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The former Florida Atlantic basketball star, 29, who had already posted top-five finishes in the women’s 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters longtrack speedskating events in South Korea, earned her first Olympic medal Wednesday as the USA’s four-skater group earned bronze in the 6-lap team pursuit.

Bowe teamed with Heather Bergsma, Mia Manganello and Carlijn Schoutens to nip Canada by 0.45 seconds in the B Final race at Gangneung Ice Arena. The Japanese team topped the Netherlands to take the gold.

The bronze medal was not just the first long-track speedskating medal for the U.S. in these Winter Games — it was the first women’s medal in the sport in 16 years.

“We’ve obviously been medal-less for quite some time now,” Bowe said following the race. “To be able to bring this home for not just ourselves, but US Speedskating and for the U.S. Olympic Committee means a ton because they’ve put in a ton of time and resources to help us be as successful as possible.”

After a concussion sustained in a July 2016 training crash knocked her out of competition for about a year, Bowe, a native of Ocala and an Olympian four years ago in Sochi, had returned to these Games as one of the favorites in the individual races. But fifth-places finishes in the 1,500 and 500 meters, coupled with a fourth in the 1,000 meters, threatened to send the former competitive inline skater home without a podium finish.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to lace the skates back up,” Bowe said.