Francena McCorory

Francena McCorory

Francena McCorory in 2015
Personal information
Born (1988-10-20) October 20, 1988
Hampton, Virginia, U.S.
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight 150 lb (68 kg)
Sport
Country  United States
Sport Track and field
Event(s) 400 meters
Club Adidas, Herzogenaurach (GER)[1]
Medal record
Olympic Games
2012 London 4×400 m relay
2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×400 m relay
World Championships
2011 Daegu 4×400 m relay
2013 Moscow 4×400 m relay
2015 Beijing 4×400 m relay
World Indoor Championships
2014 Sopot 400 m
2014 Sopot 4×400 m relay
World Relay Championships
2015 Nassau 4×400 m relay

Francena McCorory (born October 20, 1988) is an American track and field athlete, known primarily for running the 400 metres, and is the NCAA and American indoor record holder in that event. She was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team and won the gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[1] She is the reigning IAAF 400 meter Indoor World Champion (2014).

Career

McCorory attended Bethel High School in her hometown of Hampton, Virginia where she displayed her talent for the 400 metres.[2] A notable performance was at the 2005 Virginia Group AAA Eastern Region meet, where McCorory took her team's baton as much as 80 metres behind the leaders of the race, but cruised to victory past six other teams.[3] Later, she set the National High School Indoor record at 51.93, a record previously held by future champion World Champion Sanya Richards, in her only attempt at the distance.[4]

Despite being recruited by larger universities, McCorory attended her hometown school of Hampton University. She won the 2009 NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships[5] and later in the year finished third in the NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[6] In 2010, she went to Fayetteville, Arkansas to defend her championship. Instead of merely repeating as champion, she won the race by over a second, setting the NCAA record and beating Diane Dixon's 19-year-old American record in the event, running 50.54.[7] Later that year she won the NCAA Outdoor championship, in 50.69, actually slower than her Indoor record.[8] A few weeks later, she improved her personal best to 50.52 while finishing second at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[9]

After graduating Hampton, she improved her best to 50.49 again in second at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships,[10] which qualified her for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. A month after that, she took her best down to 50.29 at the Herculis meet in Monaco. She took it down one more time to 50.24 in the semi-finals of the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. In the finals, she wasn't quite as fast, finishing in fourth place in her first experience on the world stage. A few days later she anchored the United States team to a gold medal in the 4 × 400 m relay.

Leading into the Olympic Trials, she improved her personal best to 50.06 at the Adidas Grand Prix. At the Olympic Trials, she qualified for the final and was assigned lane 7, just outside Sanya Richards-Ross in lane 6. Richards-Ross ran hard from the start closing down the stagger on McCorory. Sensing the challenge, McCorory exploded down the backstretch, leading around the turn to the head of the home stretch, but she paid the price for the early effort and struggled to the finish. Richards-Ross charged past her, in the process setting the best time of the year, followed by Dee Dee Trotter, who made her third straight Olympic team. McCorory managed to hold off Debbie Dunn to claim third place and a trip to the Olympics.[11]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, McCorory competed in the 400m and 4 × 400 m relay. In the 400m final, McCorory finished 7th with a time of 50.33. On the relay, McCorory ran the 3rd leg of the women's 4 × 400 m (in a leg time of 49.39), with DeeDee Trotter, Allyson Felix, and Sanya Richards-Ross, with the winning time being 3:16.87, the 3rd fastest time in Olympic history behind the Soviet Union and United States at the 1988 Summer Olympics, and the 5th fastest time overall.[12]

At the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships she improved her personal record to 50.01. In finishing second, she qualified for the 2013 World Championships where she improved her personal best under 50 to 49.86 in the semi-final round.

At the 2014 World Indoor Championships, she was a double gold medal winner taking the 400 metres and the 4x400 relay titles. Later in the season at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships another improvement of her personal record to 49.48, defeating Sanya Richards to take the win. Later that year McCorory added to her titles by being named HBCU Top 30 Under 30,[13] in June 2014. McCorory finished 4th at 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 50.88.

Major competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing the  United States
2008 NACAC U-23 Championships Toluca, México 7th (h) 400m 53.51 A
2011 World Championships Daegu, South Korea 4th 400 m 50.45
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:18.09
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 7th 400 m 50.33
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:16.88
2013 World Championships Moscow, Russia 6th 400 m 50.68
2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:20.41
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 1st 400 m 51.12
1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:24.83
2015 World Relay Championships Nassau, Bahamas 1st 4 × 400 m relay 3:19.39
World Championships Beijing, China 2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:19.44
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1st (h) 4 × 400 m relay 3:21.42

References

  1. 1 2 Francena McCorory. sports-reference.com
  2. ↑ Francena McCorory. Hampton Pirates. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.
  3. ↑ "Heritage Sports Radio Network". HSRN. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  4. ↑ "Track & Field News: High School: Athlete of the Month: Francena McCorory". Trackandfieldnews.com. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  5. ↑ "NCAA News Archive – Lady Vols show world-class distance dominance". Fs.ncaa.org. 2009-03-16. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  6. ↑ Women 400 Meter Dash. NCAA Division I 2009 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Fayetteville, AR – 6/10/2009 to 6/13/2009
  7. ↑ "Flash Results, Inc". Flashresults.com. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  8. ↑ Women 400 Meter Dash. NCAA Division I 2010 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Eugene, Or – 6/9/2010 to 6/12/2010
  9. ↑ "Events – 2010 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships". USATF. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  10. ↑ "Events – 2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships". USATF. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  11. ↑ Women's 400 Meter Dash. 2012 Olympic Trials. usatf.org.
  12. ↑ Women's 4x400m relay. Alltime-athletics.com. Retrieved on 2015-05-28.
  13. ↑ Tommy Meade. "HBCU Top 30 Under 30". hbcubuzz.com. Washington DC: HBCU Buzz. p. 3. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
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