Connie Price-Smith

Connie Price-Smith

Coach Connie Price-Smith of University of Mississippi
Personal information
Nationality United States
Born (1962-06-03) June 3, 1962
St. Charles, Missouri, U.S.
Education Southern Illinois University[1]
Height 6 ft 3.5 in (192 cm)[2]
Weight 209 lb (95 kg)
Spouse(s) John Smith (1990–)[3]
Sport
Sport Track and field
Event(s) shot put and discus throw
College team Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s) Shot Put: 64' 3" (19.58m) [4]
Discus: 212' 8" (64.82m)

Connie Price-Smith (born Constance Marie Price 3 June 1962 in St. Charles, Missouri) is an American shot putter and discus thrower. Price-Smith is also a four time Olympian.[5] She graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1985.[4]

Early career

Price-Smith is a four-time Olympian, and is one of the most decorated women's track and field athletes in SIU history,[4] despite the fact she did not participate in the sport during her college career until she was a senior. She was also on the school's women's basketball team before she became a member of the Saluki Track & Field team. She is currently ranked fifth all-time in the outdoor shot put (49' 11.5") and third all-time in the discus (165 1"). Furthermore, she won MVC indoor and outdoor championship titles, garnered all-conference honors in the shot and was named her team's most valuable player in 1985.[4] Price-Smith became the first U.S. female athlete in 32 years to win both the shot put and discus at an Olympic Trials (1992). In the shot put alone, she finished first on four consecutive occasions at Olympic Trial Championship competitions between 1988 and 2000.[4] In addition, the silver medal she won in the World Indoor shot in 1995 is the highest medal ever won by an American woman in the event and the first OG/WC medal won since 1960.[5]

Even though she did not medal at the Olympics, Price-Smith had the highest finish of a U.S. female shot putter since 1960 [4] and narrowly missed the bronze medal by just four inches at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In addition, she is also the first U.S. female to have a top ten world-ranking in the shot put for five consecutive years (1995–1999). Price-Smith was also the first U.S. female to win a medal in that event at a World Championship competition (1995).[4] Price-Smith has been on 34 international squads, and has been a member of four teams at the Pan-American Games, where she won a bronze medal in the discus in 1987; a silver in the shot put in 1991, and a gold in the shot put in both 1995 and 1999; she was a silver medalist at the World Indoor Championship, in Barcelona, Spain; a silver medalist at the Goodwill Games in 1998; and a bronze medalist at the World Cup in 1998.[4] She was also a member of two World University Games teams, Price-Smith placed fifth in the discus in 1987. In addition, she was on three Goodwill Games teams, participated in seven IAAF Grand Prix Finals and is a 25-time national champion in the shot put and discus. Price-Smith ends her athletic career with personal best in the shot put of 64' 3" (19.58m) and 212' 8" (64.82m) in the discus.[4]

Later career

She is the head coach of the Saluki Track and Field team at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, and the program has greatly improved since she has coached at the university.[4] She has also served as the Assistant Coach for the USA National Team at the; IAAF World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica 2004; IAAF World Indoor Championships in Budapest, Hungary 2005; IAAF World Cup Team in Athens, Greece 2006. In 2007, Price-Smith was named head coach for the Pan American Games Team in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and was named to the 2008 Olympic track & field team coaching staff in Beijing, China as an assistant coach for the women's throws. A native of St. Charles, Missouri, Price-Smith was inducted into the SIU Sports Hall-of-Fame in 1990, received the school's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001, and was honored as the Administrative/Professional Woman of Distinction in 2007.[4] Price-Smith was also named to the 2012 Olympic track & field team coach staff in London, United Kingdom. On July 21, 2015, she started her tenure as the head coach at the University of Mississippi. She was named head women's coach for the United States team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, again in Rio de Janeiro.

In 2016, she was elected into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame.[6]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing the  United States
1987 Pan American Games Indianapolis, United States 3rd Discus
World Championships Rome, Italy NM^ Discus
1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 16th (q) Discus
18th (q) Shot put
1989 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 10th Shot put
IAAF World Cup Barcelona, Spain 7th Discus
1991 World Indoor Championships Seville, Spain 7th Shot put
World Championships Tokyo, Japan 11th Shot put
Pan American Games Havana, Cuba 2nd Shot put
1992 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain 20th (q) Discus
IAAF World Cup Havana, Cuba 4th Shot put
7th Discus
1993 World Indoor Championships Toronto, Canada 9th Shot put
1994 World Cup London, United Kingdom 8th Discus
1995 World Indoor Championships Barcelona, Spain 2nd Shot put
World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 9th Shot put
Pan American Games Mar del Plata, Argentina 1st Shot put
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 5th Shot put
1997 World Indoor Championships Paris, France 6th Shot put
World Championships Athens, Greece 5th Shot put
1998 IAAF World Cup Johannesburg, South Africa 3rd Shot put
Goodwill Games Uniondale, United States 2nd Shot put
1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 4th Shot put
World Championships Seville, Spain 11th Shot put
Pan American Games Winnipeg, Canada 1st Shot put
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 16th (q) Shot put
2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 10th Shot put

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.