Stephanie Brown Trafton

Stephanie Brown Trafton

Brown Trafton competing in the 2010 Diamond League
Personal information
Nationality	United States
Born	(1979-12-01) December 1, 1979 (age 37) San Luis Obispo, California
Residence	Galt, California
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
College team	Cal Poly
Club	Nike
Medal record Women's athletics Representing the  United States Olympic Games 2008 Beijing Discus throw

Stephanie Brown Trafton (born December 1, 1979) is an American track and field athlete who won the discus throwing gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. She is thus one of only two American women to have ever won the event, and the only one since the Great Depression.

She was a somewhat unusual athlete in that she had become a two-time Olympian before she had competed at a World Championships in Athletics. Her first World Championships in 2009 ended with a sub-par performance in the discus final, but in 2011, she placed sixth. In 2012, she secured her third trip to the Olympics, after a definitive performance at that year's American Olympic trials. Still, the best-performing American of 2012 finished off the medals podium in London in seventh place.

Brown Trafton has said she was inspired to become an Olympian as a 4-year-old watching Mary Lou Retton perform in the 1984 Summer Olympics. After a youth of attempting several different sports, she eventually divided her time between athletics and basketball. She competed in the discus and shot put at Arroyo Grande High School, and was the CIF California State Meet high school champion in shot put in 1996. After placing second in 1997, she recaptured the California shot put title in 1998. At the same meet, she added the California discus title to her resume. As of 2008, her 181.25-foot (55.25 m) throw to secure victory remains one of the 10 best American high school discus throws in history.