Evelyn Ashford (born April 15, 1957) is an American retired

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, the 1984

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion in the

100-meter dash The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contest ...

. She ran under the 11-second barrier over 30 times and was the first to run under 11 seconds in an Olympic Games.

Biography

As a 19-year-old, Ashford finished 5th in the 100 m event at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

. After beating the world record holders in the 100 m and 200 m in 1979 at the World Cup of Track and Field in Montreal, Ashford was one of the potential medalists for the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

, but these Games were boycotted by the United States. Ashford also tore a quad muscle in 1980 and was out for the rest of the season. In 1977, she won the first Broderick Award (now the

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 ...

) as the nation's best female collegiate track and field athlete. Ashford was ranked No. 1 in the world by ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, ...

'' over 100 meters in 1979 and 1981,T&FN 100m rankings
www.trackandfieldnews.com and over 200 meters in 1981.T&FN 200m rankings
www.trackandfieldnews.com She also was named Track and Field News "Athlete of the Year" twice, in 1981 and 1984 She again won the sprint double, at the world cup in Rome, in 1981. On July 3, 1983, she set her first world record for the 100 meters, running 10.79 seconds at the National Sports Festival in

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Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and was one of the favorites to win the 100-meter title at the inaugural World Championships in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

. In the final, however, she pulled a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

muscle and fell. The other main favorite,

Marlies Göhr Marlies Göhr (née Oelsner, born 21 March 1958 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a former East German track and field athlete, the winner of the 100 metres at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. She ranked in the top 10 of the 100 m world r ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

(who had already beaten Ashford earlier that year), went on to win. At the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, Ashford had a chance to win a gold medal. However, she had to withdraw from the 200 m heats with a minor injury. She competed in the

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, winning the event in a new Olympic record of 10.97 secs. As the anchor runner for 4 × 100 m relay team, she won a second gold medal. In the absence of World Champions and world record holders East Germany, the US team clocked one of the fastest times in history and won by the biggest margin ever at an Olympics, 1.12 seconds. Later in the season, she finally defeated her main rival Göhr at the Weltklasse meeting in

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Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The race saw Ashford make up half a meter or so over Göhr and lower her own world record to 10.76 seconds. That race proved to be Ashford's personal record. It still ranks as the No. 8 individual all-time.IAAF All Time list
www.iaaf.org Ashford regained her No. 1 ''Track & Field News'' ranking. 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 ...

, she was the flag bearer for the United States team at the Opening Ceremony. She was beaten in the 100 m by

Florence Griffith Joyner Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete. She set world records in 1988 for the 100 m and 200 m. During the late 1 ...

, who had broken her world record earlier in the season at the Olympic Trials. In the

4 × 100 m 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 ...

she again ran the final leg, winning her third Olympic gold medal despite a less than perfect last exchange between Griffith-Joyner and Ashford that required Ashford to run a sensational final leg to overtake Göhr. At her last Olympics in

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 ...

, Ashford, aged 35, was eliminated in the 100 m semi-finals by 1/100 of a second; she went on to win her third straight Olympic 4 × 100 m relay gold, this time running the first leg. She is one of six women to have won four gold medals in track and field Olympic history. Ashford came back from season-ending injuries three times, to reach the top of the sport in the following year. In 1980 she injured her quad, and returned in 1981 with the sprint double at the World Cup and the number one world ranking in both sprints. After an injury in 1983, she became double Olympic Champion in 1984. In 1987 a hamstring pull prevented her from competing at the World Championships, then a season later added an Olympic Silver and third Gold medal to her collection. On May 30, 1985, she gave birth to her daughter Raina Ashley Washington, and again came back for an excellent 1986, losing only once over both the 100 m and 200 m, and winning the 100 meter title at the Goodwill Games; earning another No. 1 ranking by ''Track & Field News'' over the shorter distance. After parting ways with her coach Pat Connolly (herself a three-time Olympian) in 1985, Ashford was largely self-coached. In 1997, Ashford was inducted into the

National Track and Field Hall of Fame The National Track and Field Hall of Fame is a museum operated by The Armory Foundation in conjunction with USA Track & Field. It is located within the Armory Foundation (the former Fort Washington Avenue Armory) at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, b ...

,USATF Hall of Fame Bio
www.usatf.org where she is said to be "one of the greatest track and field runners ever". Ashford went to the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and Roseville High School. She was inducted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

in 1990.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashford, Evelyn 1957 births Living people Sportspeople from Shreveport, Louisiana Track and field athletes from Louisiana American female sprinters African-American female track and field athletes Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games World record setters in athletics (track and field) UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Track & Field News Athlete of the Year winners USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women