The LA 2028 squash Olympic Qualification System appears to have given Timothy Brownell an enviably straight-forward path to the Games — but the US no.1 is determined not to simply "stumble over the finish line.
With the possible exception of Paul Coll (who will be odds-on favourite to win the 2027 Pacific Games to seal his LA 2028 qualification), Brownell has been given arguably the most favourable potential route to the Olympics via the guaranteed place in the draw for the host country's top-ranked player.
Brownell is currently world no.25 — 40 places above the next highest USA representative Shahjahan Khan, who is three years older.
But whilst, even with two and a half years to go, this may appear to be a slam dunk, Harvard alumnus Brownell is looking at it from an entirely different perspective.
"I understand how a squash fan might look at it and say, 'He's got it in the bag,' but, as a player, that's such a negative mindset," he tells Squash Player. "To think, 'All I've got to do is tread water and keep these other players at bay' is just not how I'm going to improve.
"For me, the big theme is to keep my foot on the gas, try to improve myself, try to reach the top boys. I think when you try to do that, you get better. That's served me well and I don't plan on deviating from that.
"I don't plan to be the guy who limps across the finish line. I want to see what my full potential is, and I think that's a more positive way to go about it."
The 2025/26 campaign is only Brownell's fourth season as a full-time squash player. His recent four-game victory over world no.8 Marwan ElShorbagy at the Tournament of Champions and current career-high ranking indicate there are great things still to come from the 28-year-old.
Rather than fixate on the Olympics, he prefers to focus on the here and now.
"It [LA 2028] doesn't change how I'm operating day-to-day," states the three-time US national champion. "Other people like to chase tangible goals like that, but for me it's so far away and it's not directly related to me trying to get better every day.
"I perform better when I'm just trying to play better squash, then the results come. In the past, I've felt like I had to chase a ranking or particular results and have these tangible things to be valuable as a person, but that never worked out for me. You don't play as well if you feel that weight.
"You'll notice that the best players are playing freely. If you play with a weight on you, you're not going to play as well. For me, day-to-day, LA is not on my mind in the way that most people might think, but I'm sure it might get more and more on everyone's minds, including my own, the closer we get to it."
After for the remainder of this PSA Tour season, Brownell and his USA team-mates have an important assignment in August at the Pan-American Squash Championships in Asuncion, Paraguay — which serves as a qualification event for the 2027 Pan-American Games, one of the five Continental Games in the Olympic qualification process.
"Those championships in Paraguay determine the seedings and qualification for the Pan-Am Games, so they're going to be important," said Brownell. "We've also got a huge World Teams in Korea next year. We lost a couple of heart-breakers last year in Hong Kong and I want to right those wrongs.
"As of right now, the Olympics aren't at the forefront of my mind. In the short term, I have so many other fish to fry in terms of trying to get better and being a legitimate player in the big events, and about USA being considered a legitimate squash nation for men as well as women."
The Philadelphia-based star did his personal reputation no harm at all with that stand-out victory over Marwan at Grand Central Station in January. But it was his response to it which gave the strongest indication about his growing stature and confidence.
"That was a very visible win, in terms of it being noticed, but in terms of the feeling of, 'This is insanity! The world is ending! Oh my God, what just happened?' No, it wasn't like that.
"It felt like I actually deserved to win. There wasn't that, 'Holy smoke! What just happened?' feeling that I've had after big wins in the past.
"It felt like a special moment to share my current level with people who I've been working with for a long time. It was great that everyone got to see the result of the work we've been putting in."
That work, now led by US national coach Nick Taylor at the Arlen Specter Center, began with Taylor's predecessor Ong Beng Hee and US Squash's strength and conditioning coach Brigita Roemer. Brownell has fond, if somewhat painful, memories of the start of their journey together.
He remembers: "When I first started, Ong Beng Hee said to me, 'You can't even do boast-drive!' He said to me, 'I bet you can't keep hitting the ball into the back corner for two minutes.' And, you know what, he wasn't wrong! Square one was, 'Can you hit the ball consistently into an area?' And the answer was no.
"He knew I loved the game and had great squash knowledge, but in terms of, 'What can your machine actually do? How accurate are you? How well do you move?' They were all question marks for me when I turned pro. I was so fortunate to have Beng Hee and our Brigitta, who took me on.
"It's so special to see how far we [the US male players] have come since then and that's because of a lot of hard work and that so many talented people decided to spend some time on us.
"It's a little weird to be able to play the best players now. Previously, I had no business even being on court with them. I still believe I'm a slightly weaker player than someone like Marwan, but I do belong on a court with him now.
"Knowing that I'm not out of place is really powerful. I've earned it. I'm still hungry to keep pushing it even further."
