Brittany Starr Bowe (born February 24, 1988) is an Americanspeed skater and formerinline skater andbasketball player. She has won eight gold, one silver, and two bronze medals from the world inline speedskating championships.[2] From her junior years, she has another 21 world championship medals.[2] She also has a gold medal from the combined sprint event inroller skating at the 2007 Pan American Games.[2]
In speed skating, she has specialized in the 500, 1000 and 1500 meters,[3] and she won the bronze medal on the 1000 meters distance in the2013 World Single Distance Championships.[4] In the2015 World Single Distance Championships, she won the gold medal on the same distance,[5][6] as well as another gold medal in the 1500 meters,[7][8][9] and the silver medal in the 500 meters.[10][11] Two weeks later, she also won the2015 World Sprint Championships, winning all four races along the way.[12] She has two bronze medals, from the 2018 and 2022 Olympics.
For her performance in the 1000 metres competition of the Single Distance Championships, Bowe was awarded the 2015Oscar Mathisen Award.[13]
Bowe is the currentworld record holder in the 1000 meters distance,[14] and has previously held the1500 meters world record,[15] in which distance she holds the American record.[16]
Bowe was born inOcala, Florida,[2][3][17] to Michael and Deborah Bowe (née Starr), and grew up practicing several sports from an early age, including basketball andsoccer. At the age of 2, she would give dribbling exhibitions at halftime of college basketball games.[18] Though making it to a statewide under-13 boys travel team in soccer, she gave that sport up, because of overlapping seasons with basketball.[18]
She attended theTrinity Catholic High School in Ocala,[19] and thenFlorida Atlantic University inBoca Raton,[3] where she played basketball for theFlorida Atlantic Owls. She graduated in 2010, majoring in sociology and social science.[3][18] Bowe has shared that she is a lesbian[20] and began dating ice hockey playerHilary Knight in 2022.[21]
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In 1996, at the age of 8, Bowe triedinline skating.[18] She competed at increasingly higher levels, ultimately participating in world championships from 2002 to 2008,[2] where she won 32 medals altogether, 11 of which came in senior championships.[17]
After the 2008 world championships in inline speed skating, Bowe focused on her basketball game,[2][18] playing as apoint guard for theFlorida Atlantic Owls.[18][19]
Source[22]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006–07 | Florida Atlantic | 30 | 161 | 32.4% | 28.1% | 56.4% | 2.2 | 0.9 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 5.4 |
| 2007–08 | Florida Atlantic | 28 | 244 | 29.2% | 26.9% | 62.5% | 3.3 | 4.1 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 8.7 |
| 2008–09 | Florida Atlantic | 29 | 316 | 33.8% | 11.4% | 72.0% | 3.9 | 3.7 | 2.1 | - | 10.9 |
| 2009–10 | Florida Atlantic | 29 | 354 | 40.3% | 12.5% | 70.0% | 4.1 | 4.7 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 12.2 |
| Career | 116 | 1075 | 34.2% | 21.7% | 67.0% | 3.3 | 3.3 | 1.6 | 0.0 | 9.3 |
Watching friends from the inline years, such asChad Hedrick andHeather Richardson, participating in the2010 Winter Olympics, Bowe decided to pause her basketball career, and moved toSalt Lake City in 2010 to take up speed skating.[2]
She soon enjoyed success, and on January 19 and 20, 2013, she earned her first podium placings in theISU Speed Skating World Cup, finishing third in both races over the 1000 metres distance at theWorld Cup stop inCalgary, Alberta, Canada.[23][24] Six weeks later, on March 3, she won her first World Cup gold medal in the 1000 metres at theWorld Cup stop inErfurt, Germany.[25][26] Overall, she finished second in thewomen's 1000 metres World Cup, after Heather Richardson.[27]
On March 23, 2013, Bowe won her first world championship medal in speed skating, a bronze, in thewomen's 1000 metres distance of theWorld Single Distance Championships, finishing behindOlga Fatkulina of Russia andIreen Wüst of the Netherlands.[4]
On November 17, 2013, Bowe set a newworld record on 1000 meters with a time of 1:12.58 in theWorld Cup stop inSalt Lake City.[28] Over the2013–14 World Cup season, she collected a total of five podium placings in the1000 metres World Cup, one gold, three silver, and one bronze medal, for an overall silver medal, behind Heather Richardson. In the1500 metres World Cup, Bowe collected one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal, for an overall bronze medal, behind Dutch skaters Ireen Wüst andLotte van Beek.
The2014 Winter Olympics inSochi, Russia, was somewhat of a disappointment, with Bowe finishing 13th in the500 metres, 8th in the1000 metres, and 14th in the1500 metres.
In the2015 World Single Distance Championships, she won gold medals in the 1000[5][6] and 1500 meters,[7][8][9] and a silver in the 500 meters.[10][11] She also won the2015 World Sprint Championships.[12]
Over the2014–15 World Cup season, Bowe collected four podium placings, three silver and one bronze, for an overall 5th place in the500 metres World Cup, five podium placings, three gold and two silver, for an overall win in1000 metres World Cup, and three podium placings, one gold and two silver, for an overall bronze medal in the1500 metres World Cup.
| Personal records[29] | ||||
| Speed skating | ||||
| Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 m | 37.03 | November 20, 2015 | Utah Olympic Oval,Salt Lake City | |
| 1000 m | 1:11.61 | March 9, 2019 | Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City | Currentworld record.[14] |
| 1500 m | 1:50.32 | March 10, 2019 | Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City | |
| 3000 m | 4:13.99 | November 2, 2012 | Pettit National Ice Center, Milwaukee | |
| World records[30] | ||||
| Speed skating | ||||
| Event | Result | Date | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1000 m | 1:12.58 | November 17, 2013 | Utah Olympic Oval,Salt Lake City | World record until beaten byHeather Richardson-Bergsma on November 14, 2015.[31] |
| 1000 m | 1:12.18 | November 22, 2015 | Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City | World record until beaten byNao Kodaira on December 10, 2017.[31] |
| 1500 m | 1:51.59 | November 15, 2015 | Olympic Oval, Calgary | World record until beaten by Heather Richardson-Bergsma on November 21, 2015.[15] |
| 1000 m | 1:11.61 | March 9, 2019 | Utah Olympic Oval, Salt Lake City | Current world record.[14] |
| Season | World Sprint | World SD | World Cup | Olympic Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011–12 | 18th | 16th2x500 m 8th1000 m | 20th500 m 10th1000 m 31st1500 m | Not held |
| 2012–13 | 8th | 14th2x500 m 1000 m | 15th500 m 1000 m28th1500 m | |
| 2013–14 | Did not participate | Not held | 11th500 m1000 m1500 m 3rdGWC | 13th2x500 m 8th1000 m 14th1500 m 6thteam pursuit |
| 2014–15 |  | 2x500 m1000 m1500 m | 5th500 m1000 m1500 m 28thmass start 3rdGWC | Not held |
| 2015–16 | | 2x500 m1000 m1500 m | ||
| 2024–25 | 15th, 7th500 m 5th, , 5th, 6th1000 m6th, 6th, 11th, 11th1500 m ,Team pursuit |
| Season | 1000 meter | Points | 1500 meter | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–2016 |  | 710 | | 590 |
| 2018–2019 | | 397 | | 378 |
| 2019–2020 | | 326 | — | |
| 2020–2021 | | 120 | | 120 |
| 2021–2022 | | 330 |  | 256 |
| 2023–2024 |  | 297 | — | |
| 2024–2025 | | 256 | ||
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Women's 1000 m speed skating world record November 17, 2013 – November 14, 2015 November 22, 2015 – December 10, 2017 March 9, 2019 – present | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Women's 1500 m speed skating world record November 15, 2015 – November 21, 2015 | Succeeded by |
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