Francena Lynette McCorory (born October 20, 1988) is a retired 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, known primarily for running the
400 meters. She was the
2011 World bronze medalist in the 400 meters and was a member of the gold medal-winning
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
and
2016 United States Olympic 4 x 400 m relay teams. She was the IAAF
400 meter Indoor World Champion in 2014. McCorory retired in 2021.
Career
McCorory attended
Bethel High School in her hometown of
Hampton, Virginia
Hampton () is an independent city (United States), independent city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 137,148. It is the List ...
where she displayed her talent for the 400 metres. A notable performance was at the 2005 Virginia Group AAA Eastern Region meet, where McCorory took her team's baton as much as 80 metres behind the leaders of the race, but cruised to victory past six other teams. Later, she set the National High School Indoor record at 51.93, a record previously held by future champion World Champion
Sanya Richards
Sanya Richards-Ross (née Richards; born February 26, 1985) is a retired Jamaican-American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being th ...
, in her only attempt at the distance.
Despite being recruited by larger universities, McCorory attended her hometown school of
Hampton University
Hampton University is a private, historically black, research university in Hampton, Virginia. Founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School, it was established by Black and White leaders of the American Missionary Association af ...
. She won the 2009
NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate indoor track and field competitions for women organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for athletes from institutions that make up its th ...
s and later in the year finished third in the
NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
The NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for women organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for athletes from institutions that make ...
s. In 2010, she went to
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Fayetteville () is the second-largest city in Arkansas, the county seat of Washington County, and the biggest city in Northwest Arkansas. The city is on the outskirts of the Boston Mountains, deep within the Ozarks. Known as Washington until ...
to defend her championship. Instead of merely repeating as champion, she won the race by over a second, setting the NCAA record and beating
Diane Dixon
Diane Lynn Dixon (born September 23, 1964) is an American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. She was born in Brooklyn, New York. She has an Olympic gold medal for running with the American 4x400 meters relay team at the 1984 Olym ...
's 19-year-old American record in the event, running 50.54. Later that year she won the NCAA Outdoor championship, in 50.69, actually slower than her Indoor record. A few weeks later, she improved her personal best to 50.52 while finishing second at the
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...
.
After graduating Hampton, she improved her best to 50.49 again in second at the
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...
, which qualified her for the
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011.
The United States topped the medal standings in th ...
. A month after that, she took her best down to 50.29 at the
Herculis meet in
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
. She took it down one more time to 50.24 in the semi-finals of the
2011 World Championships in Athletics
The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011.
The United States topped the medal standings in th ...
. In the finals, she wasn't quite as fast, finishing in fourth place in her first experience on the world stage. A few days later she anchored the United States team to a gold medal in the
4 × 400 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 ...
. In 2016, individual 3rd place
Anastasia Kapachinskaya's 2008 Olympic samples were retested and found to have stanozol and turinabol. Being her second offense she was banned for life, disqualifying her position ahead of McCorory. In 2017, McCorory was advanced to the bronze medal.
Leading into the
Olympic Trials, she improved her personal best to 50.06 at the
Adidas Grand Prix. At the Olympic Trials, she qualified for the final and was assigned lane 7, just outside
Sanya Richards-Ross
Sanya Richards-Ross (née Richards; born February 26, 1985) is a retired Jamaican-American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being th ...
in lane 6. Richards-Ross ran hard from the start closing down the stagger on McCorory. Sensing the challenge, McCorory exploded down the backstretch, leading around the turn to the head of the home stretch, but she paid the price for the early effort and struggled to the finish. Richards-Ross charged past her, in the process setting the best time of the year, followed by
Dee Dee Trotter, who made her third straight Olympic team. McCorory managed to hold off
Debbie Dunn
Debbie Dunn (born 26 March 1978) is an American sprinter, who specializes in the 400 metres. Originally from Jamaica, she attended Fairmont Heights High School in Maryland, then Norfolk State University, and became an American citizen in 200 ...
to claim third place and a trip to the Olympics.
At the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, McCorory competed in the 400m and 4 × 400 m relay. In the 400m final, McCorory finished 7th with a time of 50.33. On the relay, McCorory ran the 3rd leg of the women's 4 × 400 m (in a leg time of 49.39), with
DeeDee Trotter
De'Hashia Tonnek "DeeDee" Trotter (born December 8, 1982 in Twentynine Palms, California) is an American athlete. Trotter is a former NCAA national champion in the 400m, and competed in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 Summer Olympics. There, she was ...
,
Allyson Felix
Allyson Michelle Felix (born November 18, 1985) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 me ...
, and
Sanya Richards-Ross
Sanya Richards-Ross (née Richards; born February 26, 1985) is a retired Jamaican-American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being th ...
, with the winning time being 3:16.87, the 3rd fastest time in Olympic history behind the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and United States 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 the 5th fastest time overall. In 2012 Penn Relays, Francena McCorory won the 4x400 with Allyson Felix, Natasha Hastings, and Sanya Richards Ross.
At the
2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships she improved her personal record to 50.01. In finishing second, she qualified for the
2013 World Championships where she improved her personal best under 50 to 49.86 in the semi-final round and got 2nd place in the 4x400 after failing to pass the Russian, but they were upgraded to gold because the Russians cheated. In the 2013 Penn Relays, Francena McCorory held off Great Britain's Perri Shakes Drayton to get gold for the USA.
At the 2014 World Indoor Championships, she was a double gold medal winner taking the
400 metres
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...
and the
4x400 relay titles. Later in the season at the
2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships another improvement of her personal record to 49.48, defeating
Sanya Richards
Sanya Richards-Ross (née Richards; born February 26, 1985) is a retired Jamaican-American track and field athlete, who competed internationally for the United States in the 400-meter sprint. Her notable accolades in this event include being th ...
to take the win. Later that year McCorory added to her titles by being named HBCU Top 30 Under 30,
in June 2014. McCorory finished 4th at
2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 50.88.
Major competition record
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:McCorory, Francena
1988 births
Living people
American female sprinters
Sportspeople from Hampton, Virginia
Track and field athletes from Virginia
Hampton University alumni
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field
World Athletics Championships medalists
Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Delta Sigma Theta members
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Diamond League winners
USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
World Athletics Indoor Championships winners
IAAF Continental Cup winners
World Athletics Championships winners
Olympic female sprinters
21st-century American women