Alia Atkinson
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| Full name | Alia Shanee Atkinson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |
 Jamaica | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | December 11, 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Breaststroke | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | Texas A&M (USA) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Alia Shanee Atkinson (born December 11, 1988) is a Jamaican swimmer and Olympian.
She competed at the 2004 Olympics, and four years later in the 2008 Olympics she finished 25th in the Women's 200 breaststroke.[1]
She carried the flag for her native country at the opening ceremony of the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she set the Jamaican Record in the 100 fly; and the 2006 Commonwealth Games. She also competed in the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
She placed first in the 200 Breaststroke at the 2010 NCAA Championships, swimming for Texas A&M.
She also qualified for the 2012 Olympics 100m women's breast stroke finals after defeating Canadian rival Tera van Beilen in a head to head race for the final position. She subsequently placed 4th in the finals of the 2012 Olympics 100m women's breast stroke finishing with a time of 1:06.93. [1]
Atkinson won the 100m breaststroke at the 2014 Short Course World Championships in Doha (equalling the record set by Rūta Meilutytė in 2013), becoming the first black woman to win a world swimming title. [2]
Alia is coached by Chris Anderson since 2001. Alia mostly trains in SOFLO swim team (Broward county, Florida) which is managed by her coach.
Contrary to popular belief, Alia is not related to Janelle Atkinson who ironically is a former Jamaican swimmer who also had a fourth-place finish at the Olympics (in 2000).
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Alia Atkinson Bio, Stats and Results Sports Reference, 2014
- ↑ Doha Worlds: Alia Atkinson earns historic Jamaica gold BBC Sport, 7 December 2014
- 2008 Olympics profile
- Alia's bio from Texas A&M
- from the NCAA
| Records | ||
|---|---|---|
Preceded by Rūta Meilutytė |
Women's 100-metre breaststroke world record holder (short course) December 3, 2014 – present (tied Meilutytė) |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce |
Jamaica Sportswoman of the Year 2014 |
Succeeded by Incubment |
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