Dennis Allen Mitchell (born February 20, 1966) is an American former college and international

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 An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

, who was a member of the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

-winning team in the 4 x 100 meters relay race at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

Athletic career

Mitchell was born in

Havelock, North Carolina Havelock is a city in Craven County, North Carolina, Craven County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 20,735 at the 2010 census. The city is home to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, the world's largest United States Marine C ...

. He received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he ran for the Florida Gators track and field team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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 ...

(NCAA) and

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) competition from 1986 to 1989. At Florida, Mitchell was coached by Joe Walker. Mitchell placed fourth in the 100 meters race at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and missed a probable gold medal in the 4 x 100 meters relay race, because the American team was disqualified in the early heats, after the baton pass between teammates

Calvin Smith Calvin Smith (born January 8, 1961) is a former sprint track and field athlete from the United States. He is a former world record holder in the 100-meter sprint with 9.93 seconds in 1983 and was twice world champion over 200 metres, in 1983 and ...

and

Lee McNeill Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...

was completed outside the exchange zone. In 1989, Mitchell won the NCAA championships in 200 meters race, and he was inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great" in 2005. In 1991, just a month before the World Championships, Mitchell set his first world record in the 4 x 100 meters relay of 37.67 at

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. At the World Championships, Mitchell was again a member of the American 4 x 100 meters relay team, in which he set a new world record of 37.50 in the final. Mitchell also won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in the individual 100 meters race, just 0.01 seconds shy of the world record. In 1992, Mitchell won his first United States National Championships title in the 100 meters (he repeated this victory in 1994 and 1996). At the

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, Mitchell ran his third world record in 4 x 100 meters relay of 37.40 and won again a bronze medal in the 100 meters race. At the 1993 World Championships, Mitchell won his third bronze at the international championships in individual 100 meters and his third gold in relay event with a world record, as this time the American team equaled their own world record of 37.40. Mitchell won a gold medal in 100 meters at the

1994 Goodwill Games The 1994 Goodwill Games was the third edition of the multi-sport event, created by Ted Turner, which was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia between July 23 and August 7, 1994. The event – designed to improve Soviet Union – United States relatio ...

, but injured himself in the heats of 100 -meters at the 1995 World Championships. At the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, Mitchell was fourth in 100-meters and won a

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

as a member of the second-place U.S. 4x100-meters relay team. His personal best for the 100 metres was 9.91 seconds, set in Tokyo on 25 August 1991 in the World Athletics Championships final.

Personal life

Mitchell is married to Damu Cherry-Mitchell, an Olympian in the 100-meter hurdles, and has four children. He coaches his own club, Star Athletics, in Montverde, Florida. He has trained world class athletes including

Sha'Carri Richardson Sha'Carri Richardson ( ; born March 25, 2000) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Richardson rose to fame in 2019 as a freshman at Louisiana State University, running 10.75 seconds to break t ...

, Kenny Bednarek, Justin Gatlin, Aaron Brown,

Kaylin Whitney Kaylin Whitney (born March 9, 1998) is an American track and field athlete, specializing in sprinting events. Over a two-day period, at the USATF Junior Championships in Eugene, Oregon, July 5 and 6, 2014, she set the world youth bests for 100 ...

, and

Javianne Oliver Javianne Oliver (born December 26, 1994) is an American female track and field sprinter. Oliver finished second in the 60 meters at the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships for the University of Kentucky. Oliver won the 60 ...

among others.

Doping history

In 1998, Mitchell was banned by International Association of Athletics Federations for two years after a test showed high levels of

testosterone Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondar ...

. They did not accept his defense of "five bottles of beer and sex with his wife at least four times... it was her birthday, the lady deserved a treat." Mitchell made his final international appearance at the 2001 World Championships, where his team finished first in the 4 x 100 meters relay, but was subsequently disqualified because of

BALCO The Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO) (1984–2003) was an American company led by founder and owner Victor Conte. In 2003, journalists Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada investigated the company's role in a drug sports scandal later re ...

scandal involvement by a teammate. On May 1, 2008, it was announced that the U.S. government, in its trial against

Trevor Graham Trevor Graham (born 20 August 1963) is a Jamaican-born American former sprinter and athletics coach. Following the BALCO scandal, the US Olympic Committee barred him indefinitely from all its training sites. Athletics career Graham was ...

, would have Mitchell, as well as Antonio Pettigrew as witnesses, with Mitchell to testify that Graham injected him with

human growth hormone Growth hormone (GH) or somatotropin, also known as human growth hormone (hGH or HGH) in its human form, is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration in humans and other animals. It is thus important in h ...

References

External links

Masters T&F 100 metres Dash All-Time Rankings
10.11 (2001)

20.45 (2001) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Dennis 1966 births Living people American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Doping cases in athletics Florida Gators men's track and field athletes Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field People from Havelock, North Carolina World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in athletics USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games

Athletic career

Personal life

Doping history

See also

References

External links