Recovering From a Grave Injury, 18-Year-Old Track and Field Prodigy Opens Up About Her Challenging Journey of Comeback – ‘Just Coping’

Amid international-level athletes eyeing the 2024 Paris Games, track and field high schoolers are no less in terms of expertise. The Oregon native Mia Brahe-Pederson, a senior at Lake Oswego High School, has bagged three gold medals from the NACAC U23 Championships recently. Fresh off these wins, she made her debut performance at the VA Showcase count as well.

Running a phenomenal 7.28s in the 60m, MBP edged out fellow sprinter Adaejah Hodge. Even in the final dash, the duo replicated the same feat, but the winner, though finishing in 7.22s, faced a hamstring injury on touching the finish line. This came as a hard blow to her, and her close ones, but that wouldn’t stop her from flourishing.

Track and field young buck looking forward to a renaissance

Dye Stat’s X post reads, “Just months after suffering an injury at the VA Showcase in the 60m, @mbrahepedersen has her eyes set on a big comeback this outdoor season”. In the second week of January, alongside stellar high schoolers like Quincy Wilson and Hodge, Pedersen stepped foot on the holy track. But as she was decelerating towards the finish line, her physical difficulty was coming to light. “…a lot of people were saying like if she had just kept running in that 60, it could have been sub 11. And I honestly agreed. And so just kind of coping with the idea that I did that and then it was just over and I had to kind of reset”. 

Despite having an “incredible opener”, the injury struck her out of the upcoming track and field indoor season, thus inviting slight sarcasm from fans. But immense support from coaches and family helped her “cope” and handle the situation calmly. Now, as she girds up for an outdoor meet at the Pepsi Florida Relays on March 29-30, let’s take a look at her career.

MBP’s robust track career is her guiding light

At the World Athletics U20 Championships in 2022, the 18-year-old clocked in at 22.95s (PR) in the 200m semi-finals but missed the podium in the finals. At the New Mexico Don Kirby Invitational in 2023 February, the 18-year-old made history by clocking in at 22.89s (an all-time best HS record). Further on, Oregon Relays saw her smash the long-standing 100-yard record of Chandra Cheeseborough (an Olympian).

She’s behind Allyson Felix in the 200m high-school record list. At the Outdoor National High School Championships and NACAC U23 Championships, she walked home with 3 golds (100m, 200m and 4x100m relay) from each. Now, the new brand partner of Nike has become the first HS track and field athlete to gain from NIL.

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