Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The scene is one that stays with you if you document sporting events and performances as a career.

In June 2019 on the final night of the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships, the competition was over and the athletes, their coaches and families gathered on the track at the University of Texas to watch the closing ceremonies. Gators senior Grant Holloway was the star of the night, breaking the NCAA record in the 110-meter hurdles that former NFL receiver Renaldo Nehemiah had owned for 40 years.

Holloway's record-breaking performance received significant coverage, deservedly so. Meanwhile, his teammate on the UF team, sophomore sprinter Hakim Sani Brown, was surrounded by more than a dozen reporters from Japan for what he did.

Sani Brown finished third in the 100-meter dash, setting a then-Japanese record, and third in the 200, posting the second-best time in Japanese history. With the Tokyo Olympics a year away at the time, Sani Brown was already a budding star in his homeland as evidenced by Japanese media visiting UF to cover Sani Brown on the road to the Olympics.

Of course, a lot has happened since then. The Tokyo Games were postponed for a year due to the global coronavirus pandemic and Sani Brown, who missed out on an opportunity at the 2016 Rio Games because of injuries, has been nursing a leg injury heading into the start of the long-awaited 2020 Summer Games later this month.

While others may have passed Sani Brown on Japan's roster of medal hopefuls, he made the team in the 200-meter dash and seeks to give his homeland a memorable performance.

"I will do my best to keep myself in good condition for the next month so that I can bring cheer to my hometown Tokyo,'' Sani Brown posted on Twitter this week. "I look forward to seeing you soon!"  

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AT A GLANCE
 

SPORT: Track & Field 

EVENT: 200-meter dash

HOW HE QUALIFIED: Sani Brown was named to the team by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations to run the 200. He will replace Yuki Koike in the 200 after Koike was selected to run the 4x100 relay. Sani Brown pulled out of the 200 at the Japan National Championships last month due to discomfort in his left thigh according to Japanese news reports. He finished sixth in the 100 at the national championship, but with a time of 20.24 in the 200 earlier this season, Sani Brown is well under the Olympic qualifying time and ahead of Koike's 20.46 winning time last month.

TOKYO SCHEDULE: Round 1 of men's 200 begins during morning session on Aug. 3; Olympic Final will be held during evening session on Aug. 4. 

UF CAREER: In his final season at UF in 2019, Sani Brown ran second leg for Florida's NCAA title-winning and collegiate record-breaking 4x100 relay team (37.97 seconds) at outdoor nationals. He was a two-time NCAA Outdoor bronze medalist in 100 (9.97) and 200 (20.08).

NEED TO KNOW: Sani Brown shot to national fame at home in 2015 when he won the 100 and 200 at the World Youth Championships in Cali, Colombia. He broke Usain Bolt's meet record in the 200 to establish himself as one of the world's top up-and-coming sprinters.

QUOTE OF NOTE:  "I want to give back to Japanese children the fun and value of taking on overseas challenges in sports. As a result, I hope it will lead to the spread and improvement of the level of competition." -- Sani Brown to UDNSports.com on coming to the U.S. and attending Florida
 

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Previously: "Gators in the Olympics" Series
June 26: Cory McGee  
June 27: Michelle Moultrie 
June 28: Natalie Hinds 
June 29: Adriana Leon
June 30: Enzo Martinez-Scarpe
July 1: Kieran Smith 
July 2: Genevieve LaCaze Gregson
July 3: Will Claye 
July 4: Mark Kolozsvary
July 5: Marife Torres 
July 6: Aubree Munro
July 7: Leanne Wong