Christopher Carl "Chris" Giesting (born December 10, 1992) 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 eve ...

sprinter who competes in the

400-meter dash The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

. He was a gold medalist in the

4 × 400-meter relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

at the

2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practice ...

. He ran collegiately for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 23 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

and won one NCAA indoor title.

Career

Born in Indianapolis to Terry Giesting and Suzanne Westerfeld, Giesting grew up in

Batesville, Indiana Batesville is a city in Franklin County, Indiana, Franklin and Ripley County, Indiana, Ripley counties in the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 6,520 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, making it the largest community in both co ...

and attended Batesville High School, where he was part of the school's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, track, and

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open cou ...

teams. After graduating in 2011, he attended college in-state at the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic university, Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend, Indiana, South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin fo ...

, becoming part of their

track team along with fellow sprinter Oye Eyeguokan who rounded out the stellar recruiting class of 2011. In his first year at the institution, he won his first national title at the NCAA Indoor Championships, taking the college's first ever

distance medley relay The distance medley relay (DMR) is an athletic event in which four athletes compete as part of a relay. With its inclusion in the IAAF World Relays program, the IAAF announced on May 1, 2015 that the event would be an official world record event. ...

title alongside Johnathan Shawel, Randall Babb and

Jeremy Rae Jeremy Nicholas Rae (born May 19, 1991) is a Canadian middle-distance track athlete. Rae competed for Notre Dame during his collegiate career. He holds various school records and won an NCAA Championship in the Distance Medley Relay in 2012. Rae ...

. He also completed a sprint double at the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

Championships, winning both the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

and 400 m.Chris Giesting
. Fighting Irish. Retrieved on 2016-03-20. At the 2013 Big East Indoor Championships, he placed in the top three of the 200 m, 500 m and 4 × 400 m relay events. He then went on to place eighth in the 400 m at the NCAA Indoors. He narrowly missed out on retaining his Big East Outdoor double, winning the 400 m, but being runner-up over 200 m. In his third year, he was an NCAA Outdoor finalist in both the 400 m individual and relay events. At the 2014 NCAA Indoor Championships he came fifth in the 400 m and helped Notre Dame to the sprint relay title. In regionals he was the 400 m winner and 200 m runner-up at the Atlantic Coast Conference before goin on to reach the finals of both events outdoors. In respect of his achievements as a student-athlete, he was named ACC Scholar-Athlete of the Year for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. Giesting performed less well on the track in his final year at Notre Dame, but ended his career with an indoor 200 m best of 21.02 seconds to take his fifth indoor school record. He competed at the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships but did not make any individual final. In his first international call-up, he represented the United States on home turf in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

, taking the gold medal at the

. Running in a team with

Kyle Clemons Kyle Clemons (born December 27, 1990) is an American track and field sprinter who competed collegiately for the Kansas Jayhawks and specializes in the 400-meter dash. He was the 2014 champion at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships and w ...

, Calvin Smith Jr. and

Vernon Norwood Vernon Larnard Norwood (born April 10, 1992) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. Biography Raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, he is the son of Curtis Norwood and Charliette Ray. At Morgan City High School No ...

, they ran the third fastest time ever in the history of the indoor 4 × 400 m relay at 3:02.45 minutes.senior indoor 4x400 Metres Relay men All time
IAAF. Retrieved on 2016-03-20. In 2017, Giesting joined the New Jersey-New York Track Club under the coaching guidance of Frank Gagliano in an effort to move up to the 800m. He would run 1:46.49 in his first year competing at the distance. In 2018, he was a member of the World Indoor Record setting 4x800m with a time of 7:11.30.

National titles

NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate indoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Athlete's individual performances earn points for their i ...

**Distance medley relay: 2012

Personal records

– 45.53 seconds (2014) *800 meters – 1:46.48 (2019)

International competitions

References

External links

*
All-Athletics profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giesting, Christopher Living people 1992 births Sportspeople from Indiana People from Batesville, Indiana American male sprinters Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's track and field athletes World Athletics Indoor Championships winners