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| Nationality |  American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | June 19, 1970 Detroit, Michigan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 195 lb (88 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Running | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 m, 200 m, 400 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | USC Trojans | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Quincy D. Watts (born June 19, 1970) is an American former athlete, and two time gold medalist at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Quincy Watts attended the University of Southern California (USC) where he excelled as a general athlete and a wide receiver on the college football team. He took up track at Sutter Middle School and later went to Taft High School in Woodland Hills, California, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. In 1987, he ran a 10.36s 100 m, which stands as the Los Angeles city section record, and at the time was the second fastest in CIF history, behind only Henry Thomas' 10.25 in 1985. That same year he repeated as the 200 meters Champion at the CIF California State Championships in Sacramento.
Watts began as a short sprinter, specializing for 100 m and 200 m, but the USC coach Jim Bush, convinced him to run 400 m, where he found his success. [1]
In 1992, by far his most successful year, he won the gold medal in the Olympic 400 m. He twice broke Lee Evans' Olympic record of 43.86, (set at altitude during the 1968 games in Mexico), clocking 43.71 in his semi-final, before going on to record 43.50 in the final. He was a member of the 4 × 400 m relay team, running the second leg in 43.10, which smashed the then-world record in a time of 2:55.74. [2]
At the World Championships in 1991, Watts won a silver medal in 4x400 relay, which he turned to gold in the following championships in 1993 running the second leg on the team that took almost a second and a half off the then-World Record he had been a part of the year before. That race time still stands as the World Record. In the 1993 Individual 400m Final, where Watts was expecting to challenge the time of his relay teammates Michael Johnson and Butch Reynolds, his custom built Nike shoe disintegrated as he was coming off the final turn. Continuing to run, he still managed fourth place. [3] [4] Since this incident, poor Nike shoe quality has been referred to as "doing the Quincy Watts" in track circles. It has also affected Nike's concern for quality control. [5]
In 1994 and 1995, he failed to break 45 seconds and in 1996 finished a disappointing seventh in the US Olympic trials in a time of 45.64. Overshadowed by Michael Johnson, he retired in 1997 and was hired as the head coach to Taft High School. After his tenure at Taft, he worked as an assistant track coach at Harvard-Westlake School. Watts currently serves as an assistant coach for the Men's and Women's sprints teams at the University of Southern California. In addition to his coaching responsibilities, he also trains several professional athletes, including Willie McGinest and Curtis Conway. Notably, Conway was a high school competitor of Watts. [6]
Watts currently holds the position of head coach at USC. [7]
Michael Duane Johnson is an American retired sprinter who won four Olympic gold medals and eight World Championships gold medals in the span of his career. He held the world and Olympic records in the 200 m and 400 m, as well as the world record in the indoor 400 m. He also once held the world's best time in the 300 m. Johnson is generally considered one of the greatest and most consistent sprinters in the history of track and field.
Allyson Michelle Felix is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 meters later in her career. At 200 meters, Felix is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion (2005–2009), a two-time Olympic silver medalist, and the 2011 world bronze medalist. At 400 meters, she is the 2015 world champion, 2011 world silver medalist, 2016 Olympic silver medalist, 2017 world bronze medalist, and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist. Across the short distances, Felix is a ten-time U.S. national champion.
Calvin Harrison is an American athlete. He won a gold medal in the men's 4 × 400 metres relay at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. He is the identical twin brother of fellow Olympic medalist Alvin Harrison. At the 2000 Olympics, Alvin Harrison and Calvin Harrison made history by becoming the first twins ever to compete and win Olympic gold medals together on the same relay team since the inception of the modern Olympic Games. In the 4 × 400 m relay, Alvin ran the first leg and Calvin ran the third leg. In 2008, the 2000 Sydney Olympics 4×400 metres relay US team was stripped of their medals after teammate Antonio Pettigrew admitted that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.
Harry Lee Reynolds Jr., commonly known as Butch Reynolds, is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 meter dash. He held the world record for the event for 11 years 9 days with his personal best time of 43.29 seconds set in 1988. That year, he was the silver medalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and a relay gold medalist. He was falsely accused and banned for drug use for two years by the IAAF; until The United States Supreme Court ruled in favor of Reynolds due to an apparent drug testing procedural flaw. Reynolds was awarded $27.3 million dollars due to the false accusation damages, but he never received the money.
Danny Lee Harris is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the 400-meter hurdles (400 mH), in which he won silver medals at the 1984 Olympics and the 1987 World Championships.
Earl R. McCullouch is a retired American football wide receiver. McCullouch was the world record holder for the 110 meter men's high hurdle sprint from July 1967 to July 1969. When attending the University of Southern California, McCullouch was a member of the USC Trojan Football teams and the USC Track & Field teams in 1967 and 1968. The USC Track 4×110 yard relay team, for which McCullouch ran the start leg, set the world record in 1967 that remains today, as the metric 4 × 100 m relay is now the commonly contested event.
James Sanford is a retired track and field sprinter from the United States.
These are the official results of the men's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. There were a total number of 24 nations competing, with three qualifying heats.
John Walton Smith is a former American athlete, who competed in the sprints events during his career. He is best known for winning the 400 m event at the 1971 Pan American Games. He remains the world record holder for the 440 yard dash at 44.5 seconds. He set the record while winning the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 26, 1971 while running for the Southern California Striders. The record has stood since then due to metrification in the sport. Contemporary athletes rarely run or are timed officially for the extra 2.34 meters to equal 440 yards.
Duane Renard Solomon is a retired American Olympic track athlete, primarily known for racing the 800 meters. He ran for his home country in the IAAF World Championships in 2007 and 2013 as well as in the 2012 Olympic Games. He also took the gold medal at the North American, Central American and Caribbean Under 23 Championships in 2006.
Geoffrey Peter "Geoff" Vanderstock is an American track and field athlete primarily known for running hurdles. He was once the world record holder in the 400 metres hurdles. His 48.94 was set at the high altitude United States Olympic Trials at Echo Summit, California, on September 11, 1968. He was the first man to run the event under 49 seconds. The hand time took .3 off the previous record held by Rex Cawley. A month later at the 1968 Summer Olympics, he finished 4th in a tight race between 2nd place and 4th place, and given a time of 49.06, while watching David Hemery demolish his world record running 48.12. See the Olympic race on YouTube
William Obea Moore is a former American sprinter. Particularly excelling in the 400 metres, Moore held the World Youth Best in this event for nearly 24 years. He was expected to be the next great American quarter miler, to follow Michael Johnson as Olympic champion, but never lived up to the expectations.
Jeshua Anderson is a retired American sprinter, who specializes in the 400 meter hurdles. He is a 3 time NCAA champion in the 400m hurdles and was the second freshman from Washington State University to ever win the NCAA title. In 2008 Anderson was 400 meter hurdles Junior World Champion and holds the second fastest high school time recorded in the 300m hurdles. He was born and raised in Woodland Hills, California and attended Taft High School. After winning the 2011 Outdoor Championships, Anderson had the competed for team USA at the world championships. He also participated in the 2016 Olympic trials in which he finished as a finalist.
Henry Thomas is a former American sprinter known for running at the high school and collegiate levels. A versatile athlete, he was successful at 100 metres through 400 metres, holding the World Youth best for 100 metres, set in a race 7 days after he set the world Youth best in the 400 metres. He is the only athlete to simultaneously appear in both the 100m and 400m top lists.
Steven Earl Lewis is a former American track and field athlete, winner of three gold medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics and 1992 Summer Olympics.
Bryshon Lorenzo Nellum is an American sprinter. He graduated from University of Southern California in 2012 with a degree in Public Administration and Social Service Professions and is currently a graduate student.
Bryan Bridgewater is an American former sprinter.
Michael Arthur Norman Jr. is an American sprinter. He previously held the world best time in the indoor 400 meters at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays is tied as the #4 on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the world champion in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.
Fredrick Lee Kerley is an American professional track and field sprinter who started his career competing in the 400 meters until 2020, when he transitioned to the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay including an individual bronze and a relay gold at the 2019 edition. Kerley claimed 100 m gold in the 2022 edition.
Rai Benjamin is an American professional hurdler and sprinter specializing in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles. He is the second fastest man in history in the 400 m hurdles with a personal best time of 46.17 s. Benjamin won silver medals at his first Olympic Games in 2021 and at the World Championships in 2019 and 2022 in the men's 400 m hurdles, and gold medals in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2019 and 2021.
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