Randolph Duane Ross (born December 5, 1972) is an American collegiate

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 ...

coach, and former athlete, specializing in the 110 meters hurdles. He is currently the Director of Track and Field programs for the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

and is best known for winning the bronze medal at the

1999 World Championships in Athletics The 7th World Championships in Athletics, a World Athletic Championships event held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Estadio Olímpico, Seville, Spain, between the August 20 and Augu ...

and representing the United States at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Ross also won the 1995

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 ...

championship in the 110-meter hurdles, and as a 7-time All-American and 5 Time ACC champion is

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

's most decorated male hurdler.

Biography

Early life

Ross was born in

Shelby, North Carolina Shelby is a city in and the county seat of Cleveland County, North Carolina, United States. It lies near the western edge of the Charlotte combined statistical area. The population was 20,323 at the 2010 census. History The area was originally ...

, and grew up in

Dallas, North Carolina Dallas is a town in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, and a suburb of Charlotte, located north of Gastonia. The population was 4,488 at the 2010 census. It was named for George M. Dallas, Vice President of the United States under Ja ...

, where he attended North Gaston High School. At the encouragement of his Football coach, Ross took up track and field as a way to rehabilitate an injured ankle. As a junior, Ross went on the become

NCHSAA The North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) is the governing organization of high school athletics in North Carolina, United States. The association maintains the official rule books and governs the officiating standards across ...

state champion in the

110 metres Hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hu ...

. After receiving a number of scholarships from various collegiate teams, Ross signed with

Athletic career

As a college athlete at

, he won the 110 m hurdles at the 1995

NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for athletes from institutions that make up ...

for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

. He made his first appearance on the world track stage at the

1997 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 6th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from March 7 to March 9, 1997. It was the first athletic championships to introduce women's pole vault. There were a total numb ...

, where he finished fourth in the 60 meters hurdles competition, just behind compatriot

Tony Dees Anthony Michael Dees (born August 6, 1963 in Pascagoula, Mississippi) is a former American hurdler. Dees won the silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona behind Mark McKoy. He then finished third at the 1993 World Indoor Champio ...

. He returned at the 1999 IAAF World Indoor Championships in

Maebashi is the capital city of Gunma Prefecture, in the northern Kantō region of Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 335,352 in 151,171 households, and a population density of 1100 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It ...

, but again failed to reach the podium with another fourth-place finish, this time losing out to

Falk Balzer Falk Balzer (born 14 December 1973 in Leipzig) is a former German hurdler, the son of former East German hurdler Karin Balzer. He is best known for winning the silver medal at the 1998 European Championships in Budapest, Hungary. He repr ...

. He had greater success outdoors that year, as he won the bronze medal in the 110 m hurdles at the

in his career personal best time of 13.12 seconds. An appearance at the

1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final The 1999 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the fifteenth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 11 September at the Olym ...

, however, brought yet another fourth-place finish.Ross Duane
IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-04-27. He was the runner up at the 2004 United States Olympic Trials and competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Greece. He failed to reach the final after running 13.30 seconds for fifth place in the semi-finals of the men's hurdles competition. Following the analysis of information received from

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 ...

in 2010, Ross was called to testify in a case against his coach Trevor Graham. The

U.S. Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent d ...

(USADA) suspended Ross for two years for attempted use, possession, and trafficking of

performance-enhancing drugs Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. A well-known example of cheating in sports involves doping in sport, where bann ...

. As a term of his suspension, all his results from November 2001 onward were nullified.

Coaching career

He returned to Clemson as a volunteer coach and in 1996. After retiring from international competition, Ross was hired by

Division III In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

Methodist University Methodist University is a private university that is historically related to the North Carolina Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges ...

as Head Coach of their Track and Field program. While at Methodist, Ross coached the women's team to three

Mason–Dixon Conference The Mason–Dixon Conference is a defunct NCAA Division II (former ''NCAA College Division'') athletics conference, formed in 1936 and disbanded in October 1978. A track championship bearing the conference's name continued for several years after ...

championships and placed in the top four at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Ross also earned USTFCCCA South/Southeast Region Coach of the Year honors. In 2012, after five seasons at Methodist, Ross was hired as director of track & field at Division I North Carolina A&T University. Under Ross, the Aggies swept both the men's and women's outdoor and indoor Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championships for the first time in program history. Following the success of the 2017 seasons, Ross coached 13 athletes, more than any HBCU in history, who competed in the 2017 NCAA Division I National Championships. In 2021, after leading North Carolina A&T's men's track and field team to a third place finish at the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Ross was named 2021 NCAA co-coach of the year. Four athletes from the team went on to compete in 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 1 ...

, including Ross's son

Randolph Ross Randolph Ross (born January 1, 2001) is an American athlete specializing in the 400 metres, who competes collegiately for the North Carolina A&T Aggies. He is coached by his father Duane Ross, who was also an Olympian in the 110m hurdles. On Febr ...

and Trevor Stewart. In May 2022, Ross was hired as the new head coach at Tennessee, signing a five-year contract for $450,000 annually.

Statistics

Personal bests

60m Hurdles progression

110m Hurdles progression

International competitions

National competitions

Coaching record

References

External links

Duane Ross
at

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 a ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Duane 1972 births Living people American male hurdlers African-American male track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Clemson Tigers men's track and field athletes American sportspeople in doping cases North Carolina A&T Aggies track and field coaches Clemson Tigers track and field coaches People from Dallas, North Carolina 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople