Singular Focus: Brittni Mason Is Ready To Shine

Brittni Mason has faced headwinds all her life — and ignored them as if they were the mildest of speed bumps.

Born with Erb’s palsy, a form of brachial plexus that limits her left shoulder and arm motion, Mason ran against able-bodied rivals throughout high school and college, and only began Para track and field at age 21.

“Most people don’t notice that I have Erb’s palsy until I start running,” noted the sprinter, who is coming off a three-medal haul at the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. 

Since those Tokyo Games, Mason has earned two master’s degrees.

The Cleveland native is running strong into her next big competition, the World Para Athletics Championships that take place July 8-17 in Paris.

Now free of scholastic hurdles and collegiate demands, the 25-year-old can put all her attention on the track.

Two years ago, in 2021, Mason wrapped up her senior outdoor season at Eastern Michigan and had to quickly switch gears and start preparing for the Tokyo Games, where she claimed a gold medal in the 4x100-meter universal relay while adding individual silvers in the 100- and 200-meter T47 events.

After that, she pursued two master’s degrees — sports management from EMU, and an MBA from DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School — at the same time.

“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,” she said.

Coming off that long college season in 2021, when she had to peak for conference championships, and then rebuild her base for Tokyo, posed challenges, she said.

“I had a lot of endurance going into Tokyo,” she said, “but I didn’t have my natural speed that I had (at the 2019 world championships) in Dubai.”

With just one major championship to prepare for this year, Mason has been singular in her focus. On the day she spoke to TeamUSA.com, she had finished doing speed work and powerlifting, part of a “back to basics” regimen under Chris Best, her college coach, that she hopes will improve her finish.

In Paris this year, she secured silver in the 100. Next up, she plans to run the 200 and possibly the universal relay.

She’s already thinking down the road, too.

Along with her coach, she’s deciding if she wants to add the 400-meter to her repertoire. Mason says they haven’t decided yet, “but it’s definitely a possibility” as she trains like a quarter-miler.

Proof of her progress was at May’s U.S. championships in Chula Vista, California, where she won a mixed-class 200-meter dash by more than two seconds. Her time of 25.79 seconds was achieved despite a 4.25 mph breeze, which leads her to think she can run much faster.

“Being able to run into a strong headwind like that showed me a lot in my strength and my endurance,” Mason said.

She’s hoping to get back to the times (11.97 and 25.00 in the rain) she ran two years ago in Tokyo, “if not better. That’s my goal going into worlds this year.”

Her eyes are on distant prizes as well. In 2024, she hopes to qualify for the postponed world championships in Kobe, Japan, then make a return trip to the Paralympic Games in Paris.

After that?

“I would like to go to at least LA 2028,” she said. 

Beyond the Los Angeles Games, she hopes to put her degrees to work.

“I would like to do something where I can kind of get into the business aspect of sports,” she said, “potentially doing some sport marketing when I’m done or ... working hands-on with younger athletes and on the training side of things.”

As collegiate adaptive athletics programs burgeon at places like the University of Arizona and San Diego State University — both well-represented at recent national championships — Mason sees career opportunities in such programs.

“I definitely do,” Mason said. “I think the more exposure adaptive sports gets creates more opportunities for jobs. This is just the beginning.”

Even though she was part of a 4x100 universal relay at nationals, Mason doesn’t yet know whether she’ll be on the mixed relay in Paris — on the same blue track at Stade Sébastien Charléty that saw three world records set recently on the Diamond League circuit.

Mason’s flight to France was scheduled to leave June 28, giving her (and Team USA coaches) a couple weeks at camp to see who’s in shape before submitting relay entries for the race set for July 16.

She’d like to replicate the Tokyo 2020 gold she won as part of the “4M” team (including Noah Malone, Nick Mayhugh and Tatyana McFadden) that set the mixed-relay world record of 45.52 seconds. The U.S. has never lost that event in global competition.

For now, she’s staying in her own lane mentally — not focusing on her potential rivals.

“I have actually no idea who will be at worlds this year at all,” Mason said. “I don’t know who’s going to show up. But I know that I’m going to show up.”