“For the past couple of years, it’s been very hard mentally because I’ve had a loss in my family and I’m just recovering.” Junelle Bromfield had admitted this during a post-race interview with the Inside Lane. She had just qualified for her first-ever individual Olympic event after a second-place finish at the 400m in the Olympic trials. However, even in that moment, her mind wandered around the huge loss she had faced in her life three years ago. A loss from which she is still struggling to recover from.

Junelle’s mother passed away just before her Tokyo Olympics campaign started. She was suffering from cervical cancer during her final days, causing her demise. It was tough for Junelle, who was barely 22 at that time. While she did end up winning a bronze medal in the competition, she had to first overcome a huge turmoil in her personal life.

Junelle Bromfield talks about losing her mother before the Tokyo Olympics

On the Sim Soul Sessions show, Bromfield talked about how her mother was a huge support system to her. This is why it was a huge blow when she lost her in 2021. She said, “She was a person who would be the only person that would show up to my track meets and everything.” Junelle further went on to say that while she had started running to give herself a better standard of living, she always had her mother in the back of her mind.

This was because she was a single mother with eight children. However, even when she was at her worst, she always protected her children from the situation she was in. Junelle Bromfield said, “I did not know that I was poor until I started living a different life. That’s how great she did. I wasn’t missing school because she was also a person who wasn’t afraid to ask for help.” Thus, her mother was like a guardian angel to her, as she would protect her during any circumstance. However, tragedy struck suddenly in 2021.

It was during the year of the Olympics, and Bromfield believed that she was having one of the best training years of her life. “One of my best training years, and then in a blink of an eye she was gone.” It was really difficult for Junelle to recover from her death with the Olympics very much around the corner.

But Junelle Bromfield persevered through and went on to win a bronze at the 4×400 relay race. However, the wound from the tragic incident has still remained with her. This was because she used to protect Junelle a lot from reality.

Bromfield’s mother protected her from the reality of their situation

In the same interview, Junelle Bromfield talked about the tough circumstances she was surrounded by while growing up. She was part of a poor community called the George’s Valley. During her childhood, she believed that being a teacher was the biggest thing one could aspire to be. However, she was kept largely unaware of how poor her family really was. She said, “So growing up, I would say my mom did a pretty amazing job of not letting us know that we were poor because we all never went to bed hungry or anything.” The athlete shared a memory from her younger days.

During days when her mother would struggle to make ends meet, she could only manage to make oatmeal. But Junelle treasured eating that. “It tasted so good because she used to put in like nutmeg and everything, and it was good.” But the oatmeal sometimes would become a bit rummy, leading the young Junelle to believe that this is how oatmeals were made. She continued that belief until she was eight and someone served her thick oatmeal and realized this was how the food was supposed to be made.

Thus, Junelle Bromfield’s mother protected her from every problem the world threw at her. Thus, it was bound to hurt when she passed away, as she had to now face every situation alone. However, it seems like she has found another supportive character in her boyfriend.

Junelle admitted that her boyfriend, Noah Lyles, has been a huge help to her. She said, “I have a strong support team around me now, um, my boyfriend Noah; he’s very supportive, and he’s very big on mental health… don’t think I’m crying in my sleep now.” Noah has always been a vocal champion for mental health rights. He wants him and his loved ones to have good mental health.

Junelle Bromfield has also admitted that Noah Lyles’ habit of radiating confidence around her helped give her mental strength to deal with her problems. Thus, while Noah’s confidence might make some people dislike him, it has really helped his close family. Hopefully, this helps Junelle recover fully and make a great comeback on the track!