Sports

"I'm like: 'Hey, some of these guys have the same sight that I do, it sounds like,'" Brown recalls to CNN Sport. "They're down there running and they're doing this ... and I'm like: 'Yo, this is possible. I can do this.'"

“It’s a big deal for A&T. It’s a big deal for him,” said Richard Watkins, who coaches both the men’s and women’s teams and was in Smith’s gallery on Wednesday. “It’s not very often that somebody in his position really has an opportunity to have a thought, a dream, an idea, and to be able to go ahead and move in that direction."

Naomi Osaka, preparing to compete in her first tennis tournament since the Tokyo Olympics, briefly took a break during a pre-tournament news conference on Monday after she started crying.

"There has to be diversity in gender and race within these ruling bodies. They should be the leaders and the vanguard in sport -- they should be leading the way to encourage greater diversity in athletics."

Simone Biles, the US gymnast who withdrew from Tokyo 2020 Olympic events to prioritize her mental health, has thanked fans for their "love and support" amid an outpouring of praise and well wishes from people around the world.

Chiles, a 20-year-old elite gymnast in her own right, picked up the GOAT's mantle on Team USA after USA Gymnastics said Biles withdrew from the women's team gymnastics final event due to a medical issue.

Simone Biles had to withdraw from the women's team gymnastic final on Tuesday as the Russia Olympic Committee (ROC) took gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Earlier this month, the New York Times published a bombshell story regarding comments that Rachel Nichols, another NBA analyst for ESPN, made about Taylor. The Times reported a leaked recording of a private conversation from last year in which Nichols, who is White, says that Taylor, who is Black, was chosen to be the head of last year's NBA Finals coverage because of the company's diversity efforts.

"My grandfather was like my father," he says. "He taught me, 'Isaac, in your life, you have to be smart. You have to respect people. Don't talk too much, just concentrate on yourself. Enjoy your life and work hard, and help your family."

"It has always been a dream of mine to represent the USA at the Olympics, and I hope there will be many more chances for me to make this come true in the future."