Brittni Mason

Started: She took up athletics at age 10, and began to compete in Para athletics in 2019. "I didn't know that I qualified at all, so I entered the game pretty late - I was 21 years old. A lot of people had been running well before that, because they knew about it." (popsugar.com, 02 Oct 2023; Athlete, 06 Nov 2019; teamusa.org, 12 Nov 2019) Reason: She took part in multiple sports when she was growing up to improve the range of motion in her shoulder and arm. "Originally, track was not my number one sport. Honestly, growing up, my favourite thing about running was the uniforms. I thought they were so cute. I'm very girly - hair, nails, bling - and people are always talking about my style. Even growing up, it was, 'Look good, run good'. I always thought the outfits were super cute. That's a weird thing to love about the sport, but that really piqued my interest." (popsugar.com, 02 Oct 2023; news5cleveland.com, 18 Jul 2021; emueagles.com, 01 Oct 2019) Ambition: To compete at the Paralympic Games in 2024 and 2028. (popsugar.com, 02 Oct 2023; Instagram profile, 14 Jan 2022) Awards: She was named Women's Para Athlete of the Year for 2023 by USA Track & Field. (usparatf.org, 10 Jan 2024) While representing Eastern Michigan University in the United States of America, she received the Mid-American Conference [MAC] Women's Outdoor Athletics Distinguished Scholar Athlete award for 2018/19. (keeonsports.com, 10 Jul 2019) Additional Info: LOOK GOOD, RUN GOOD One of her mottos is 'look good, run good', and she dedicates time to self-care and her appearance ahead of competitions. "My favourite look so far has to be [at the 2023 World Championships in Paris, France]. My roommate and I, we bedazzled our faces with the USA colours, put hearts and stars on our faces. My hair was blue and black, our uniforms were red, white, and blue, my nails were blue with little rhinestones on them, and then I had 'USA' written across my face in bling. I loved it. And that helps with dealing with the pressure of it, too. I'm always making sure I have self-care time, I always make it a point. I believe that pedicures help me run faster, they help my feet. Massages, they make me run faster, my body feels great. Those are things I am doing every two to three weeks - I'm always getting massages, I'm always getting my hands and my feet done and making myself feel good." (popsugar.com, 02 Oct 2023; Team USA Instagram profile, 13 Jul 2023) FURTHER EDUCATION In 2022 she graduated with two master's degrees, one in sports management from Eastern Michigan University, and another in business administration and management from DeVry University's Keller Graduate School of Management. "Some of the classes overlapped, and instead of just taking one at a time I decided to just double up and take on the heavy workload so I can be done with both of them within a year and a half. At a very young age, my parents instilled in me that having a great work ethic is what separates the good from the great. Education has always been important to me, which is why I decided to further my education and obtain my master's." (LinkedIn profile, 29 Apr 2024; springrose.co, 16 Feb 2024; teamusa.com, 14 Jul 2023, 23 Apr 2021; Instagram profile, 15 Jun 2022)