Anna Cockrell (born August 28, 1997)
is an American
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...
athlete competing in
sprinting
Sprinting is running over a short distance at the top-most speed of the body in a limited period of time. It is used in many sports that incorporate running, typically as a way of quickly reaching a target or goal, or avoiding or catching an op ...
and
hurdling
Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...
. She is a two-time medalist at the
2019 Pan American Games
The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...
in Lima, Peru and she represented the United States at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
in Tokyo, Japan.
Early life
Cockrell was born on August 28, 1997, in
San Ramon, California
San Ramon (Spanish: ''San Ramón'', meaning "St. Raymond") is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States, located within the San Ramon Valley, and east of San Francisco. San Ramon's population was 84,605 per the 2020 census, maki ...
to Serena and Kieth Cockrell as the youngest of three children. She comes from a family of athletes: her father played football at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, her older brother,
Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to:
People
* Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan
* Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning
* Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland
Places
* RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...
, is a
cornerback
A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...
who won a
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...
with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...
,
and her older sister, Ciera, played
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
at
Davidson College
Davidson College is a private liberal arts college in Davidson, North Carolina. It was established in 1837 by the Concord Presbytery and named after Revolutionary War general William Lee Davidson, who was killed at the nearby Battle of Cowan†...
.
High school
Cockrell attended
Providence Day School
Providence Day School is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The school is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. in
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, graduating in 2016. She competed within the school's high school track and field program led by coach Carol Lawrence.
In 2016, she won the gold medal in the
women's 400 metres hurdles event, with a personal best of 55.20s, at the
2016 IAAF World U20 Championships
The 2016 World U20 Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born no earlier than 1 January 1997) which was held at Zdzisław Krzyszkowiak Stadium in Bydgoszcz, Poland on 19–24 Ju ...
held in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
She also won the gold medal in the
women's 4 × 400 metres relay event.
Career
2017–2021: USC Trojans
In June 2019, Cockrell became the
NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
champion at
the year's NCAA championships for the women's 400-meter hurdle event with a time of 55.23 after being a runner-up in each of the two years prior. In August 2019, she won the silver medal in the
women's 400 metres hurdles event and the gold medal in the
women's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the
2019 Pan American Games
The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...
held in Lima, Peru.
In May 2021, Cockrell was named the 2021 Pac-12 Women's Track & Field Scholar Athlete of the Year before helping to lead her school to a third consecutive conference team title at the 2021 Pac-12 championships by winning the women's 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles events.
The following month, after the cancellation of the prior year's competition due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Cockrell became the 2021 NCAA champion for the women's 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles events to help drive her school to win the team title at the
2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She ran the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.58 and the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.68 and became the second woman in history to win both events in the same season at the NCAA championships. Her achievements led her to receive the 2021
Honda Sports Award
The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...
for track and field and the Pac-12's Tom Hansen Conference Medal for the year.
Cockrell graduated from the
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...
in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in communications from the
Annenberg School and a minor in political science. She went on to earn her master's in public policy with a certificate in public policy advocacy in 2021.
2020 Summer Olympics
At the
2020 United States Olympic Trials for track and field on June 27, 2021, Cockrell placed third in the women's 400-meter hurdles event to qualify for the team alongside
Sydney McLaughlin
Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (, born August 7, 1999) is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record, and 2022 World champion with a world record time of 50 ...
and
Dalilah Muhammad
Dalilah Muhammad (born February 7, 1990) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2016 Rio Olympics champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, becoming at the latter the second-fastest ...
. She broke her personal and school record in the 400-metre hurdles event with a time of 53.70, ahead of the previous record she set at the 2021 NCAA championships.
At the Olympics, Cockrell qualified for the semifinals after coming in third in her heat race with a time of 55.37. She later finished in second place with a time of 54.17 in the semifinals, landing her a spot in the final.
In the final, Cockrell appeared to finish seventh, but was later disqualified after officials discovered she had made a lane violation.
Personal life
Cockrell has been an outspoken advocate for the mental health of student-athletes after suffering a hamstring injury on the first day of the
2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships
The 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships was the 55th NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and the 38th NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Birmingham Crossplex in Bi ...
in which she blamed herself for her school's loss in the team competition. After exhibiting severe symptoms of depression and suicidal tendencies, she eventually sought assistance from her friends, her head coach, and a sports psychologist, all of whom she thanked in her student-athlete graduation speech at USC that later went viral.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cockrell, Anna
1997 births
Living people
American female sprinters
American female hurdlers
Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
USC Trojans women's track and field athletes
African-American track and field athletes
Track and field athletes from North Carolina
Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
Sportspeople from Charlotte, North Carolina
21st-century American sportswomen
21st-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American women
Providence Day School alumni
NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners