Gwen Torrence

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Olympic medal record
Women's Athletics
Gold Barcelona 1992 200 m
Gold Barcelona 1992 4x100 m Relay
Silver Barcelona 1992 4x400 m Relay
Gold Atlanta 1996 4x100 m Relay
Bronze Atlanta 1996 100 m

Gwen Torrence (born June 12, 1965) was a sprint athlete 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.

In her era, Torrence won more Olympic and World Championship medals than any other athlete ever had. 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 clenbuteral.

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.

[edit] Major Achievements

  • 1985
  • 1986
    • National Championships
      • 200 m bronze medal
  • 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 gold medal
    • National Championships
      • 100 m silver medal
      • 200 m silver medal
    • National Indoor Championships
      • 60 m silver medal
  • 1992
    • 1992 Summer Olympics - Barcelona, Spain
      • 200 m. gold medal
      • 4 x 100 m relay gold medal
      • 4 x 400 m relay silver medal
    • National Indoor Championships
      • 60 m silver medal
  • 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
    • 1994 Goodwill Games - Saint Petersburg, Russia
      • 100 m gold medal
      • 200 m gold medal
      • 4 x 100 m. relay gold medal
    • National Indoor Championships
      • 60 m gold medal
      • 200 m gold medal
  • 1995
    • World Championships - Gothenburg, Sweden
      • 100 m gold medal
      • 4 x 100 m. relay gold medal
    • National Championships
      • 100 m gold medal
      • 200 m gold medal
    • National Indoor Championships
      • 60 m gold medal
  • 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
      • 60 m silver medal

[edit] External links

Olympic champions in women's 200 m
1948: Fanny Blankers-Koen | 1952: Marjorie Jackson | 1956: Betty Cuthbert | 1960: Wilma Rudolph | 1964: Edith McGuire | 1968: Irena Szewińska | 1972: Renate Stecher | 1976: Bärbel Eckert | 1980: Bärbel Eckert | 1984: Valerie Brisco-Hooks | 1988: Florence Griffith-Joyner | 1992 Gwen Torrence | 1996: Marie-José Pérec | 2000: Marion Jones | 2004: Veronica Campbell
Preceded by
Jingyi Le		 United Press International
Athlete of the Year
1995		 Succeeded by
none
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