EUGENE, Ore. — To watch as Chaunté Lowe took her high jumps at the Prefontaine Classic here in late May was to see a great athlete with a busted wing. She was 33 and hobbled, her hamstring aching and ankle sprained. She limped away after each jump and soon enough was disqualified. It led me to wonder if we were watching this exuberant four-time Olympian high jumper and reigning American record-holder aging in front of us.

In June, in Sacramento, she failed to qualify for the United States team heading to the world championships in London next month.

If Lowe’s athletic clock is ticking down, if she competed in her final Olympics last summer in Rio de Janeiro, she can draw comfort in what happened in November. She was in her kitchen in Florida, her three little children out of the house, going through her Facebook notifications when a message popped up from a friend, the German high jumper Ariane Friedrich: “Congratulations Olympic bronze medalist!”