Gwen Torrence (born June 12, 1965) is a retired
sprint athlete, one of the greatest of
her generation and an Olympic gold medalist from the United States
. She was born in Decatur, Georgia
. She attended Columbia High School, then the
University of
Georgia
.
Torrence has won medals at nearly every major
athletics competition, including
the
Summer Olympics,
Outdoor &
Indoor World
Championships,
Pan American
Games,
Goodwill Games, and
World University Games.
Her tally
of golds would have improved had she been
awarded those in which she had finished second to East German
Katrin Krabbe, who
later tested positive for clenbuterol.
In 1988, Torrence achieved, on one of those rare occasions in
athletics, a tie with
Evelyn Ashford
in the 55 m race at the U.S. national indoor championships.
She also had many battles both on the track and in the press with
Florence Griffith
Joyner.
In the 200 m at the
1995 World
Championships, she was disqualified after convincingly beating
the field, for stepping out of her lane. This left her idol,
Merlene Ottey, to be promoted to first
place.
After retiring from athletics, Torrence became a
hairdresser and lives with her children, a son
named Manley and a daughter named E’mon.
Major Achievements
- 1985
- 1986
- 1987
- Pan
American Games - Indianapolis
, United States
- 200 m gold medal
- 4 x 100 m. relay gold medal
- World
University Games - Zagreb
, Yugoslavia
- 100 m gold medal
- 200 m gold medal
- 1988
- 1989
- 1991
- World Championships -
Tokyo
, Japan
- 100 m silver medal
- 200 m silver medal
- National Championships
- 100 m silver medal
- 200 m silver medal
- National Indoor Championships
- 1992
- 1993
- World Championships -
Stuttgart
, Germany
- 100 m bronze medal
- 200 m silver medal
- 4 x 100 m relay silver medal
- 4 x 400 m relay gold medal
- National Championships
- 100 m silver medal
- 200 m gold medal
- 1994
- 1995
- 1996
- 1996 Summer
Olympics - Atlanta
, United States
- 100 m bronze medal
- 4 x 100 m relay gold medal
- National Indoor Championships
- 60 m gold medal
- 200 m gold medal
- 1997
- National Indoor Championships
External links
, Hungary
, Spain
, Russia
, Sweden
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