Carthage’s Buzzy Brown seeks Olympic dream

 

Charles Brown III, better known as Buzzy, was never one to hold himself back.

“I don’t see a point of being a mediocre version of myself,” said Buzzy Brown.

The 33-year-old former Carthage All-American Track & Field athlete has been working towards reaching his full potential since graduating from Carthage in 2010. Not even tearing his Achilles on June 27th, 2020 has stopped him from seeking his goals.

“Once I got out of my feelings, I realized I had just enough time to honestly create a pretty cool testimony,” said Brown.

Buzzy is training for the postponed 2020 Olympic in Tokyo. He hopes to make the Olympic Trials held in Eugene, OR from June 18-27. One of three siblings, Buzzy trains with his younger brother Cale at Carthage. To qualify, Buzzy has to clear 8.00 Meters in any jump or have one of the Top 24 scores in the country before the June 13th deadline.

“I’ve had jumps that I fouled by a centimeter. And it was 8.20, 8.15, 8.25. Those types of jumps are putting you top 10 in the world. That’s what keeps me going,” said Buzzy.

“He’s so determined. More determined than probably anyone I’ve ever worked with that it's nice to actually see someone that is really trying to manifest their dreams. If you can do that, then anything is possible,” said Cale, who was a track athlete at Carthage and is now a graduate assistant coach. “That’s the hardest part, is actually believing that you can do it and the rest of it is kinda just working hard.”

When he’s not training almost six days a week, Buzzy teaches at Doerfler Elementary in Milwaukee as well as at various dance studios in southeast Wisconsin and Illinois. The Naperville, Illinois native wants to inspire his students as well.

“A lot of times they don’t have the confidence, thinking oh I put this work in, but nothing's happening. They understand there’s a lot of bumps down the road but eventually you’re going to get to that finish line,” said Buzzy.

Buzzy has come close before, missing out on qualifying for the Olympic trials in 2016 by 2 centimeters. With the Olympic dream within reach once again, Buzzy isn’t shying away from it, instead he’s visualizing it until it becomes a reality.

“I think about it all the time. I think when you’re really dreaming it’s important that you really see yourself doing it because otherwise it's really difficult to really – otherwise you’re filling yourself with doubt,” said Buzzy.

“I dream about it. I meditate about it, all these different things. I’ve had to the point that if this happens I know I’m gonna start crying, because it’s been such a long road.”

Buzzy will compete in the Chula Vista Field Festival in California on May 29th with a chance to qualify. If he doesn’t, he still has a few more meets he can compete in before the Olympic trials begin.

To follow along with Buzzy's Olympic journey, you can visit his website here.