Frank "Frankie" Fredericks (born 2 October 1967) is a former track and field athlete from

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Running in the

100 metres 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 conteste ...

and

200 metres 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 slightl ...

, he won four silver medals at the

Olympic Games 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 ...

(two in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

and two in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

), making him Namibia's only able-bodied Olympic medalist until Christine Mboma's silver medal at the

2020 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 ...

in Tokyo. He also won gold medals at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, World Indoor Championships,

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union (AU) with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (AN ...

and

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

. He is the

world indoor record World records in Sport of athletics, athletics are ratified by World Athletics. Athletics records comprise the best performances in the sports of track and field, road running and racewalking. Records are kept for athletics at the Summer Olympi ...

-holder for 200 metres, with a time of 19.92 seconds set in 1996. Fredericks has broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres 24 times. He also holds the joint-third-fastest non-winning time for the 200 metres. In August 1996, Fredericks ran 19.68 seconds in the Olympic final in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia. He is also the oldest man to have broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres. On 12 July 2002 in Rome, Fredericks won the 200 metres in a time of 19.99 seconds at the age of 34 years 283 days. He is currently serving as a council member in the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

. On 3 March 2017, Fredericks was implicated in the IAAF corruption scandal, stemming from a large cash payment he received in 2009. The investigation is still to be concluded.

Education and early life

Fredericks was born in

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

on 2 October 1967, the only child of Riekie Fredericks, a seamstress, and Andries Kangootui, a farmer. He grew up in the city's

Katutura Katutura (Otjiherero for ''The place where people do not want to live'') is a township of Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia. Katutura was created in 1961 following the forced removal of Windhoek's black population from the Old Location, which af ...

township, his parents split up while he was little. In 1981 he switched to the Catholic school at Döbra to play competitive soccer. When he received a scholarship to complete his

matric Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

at Concordia College Fredericks took up athletics because the soccer was not strong at Concordia. He still played for

Black Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...

, one of the country's top teams. After school he took up work at Rössing Uranium Ltd. in

Swakopmund Swakopmund (german: Mouth of the Swakop) is a city on the coast of western Namibia, west of the Namibian capital Windhoek via the B2 main road. It is the capital of the Erongo administrative district. The town has 44,725 inhabitants and covers ...

and soon got a partial scholarship at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

in the US in 1987. There he studied computer science and graduated with a

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

. During his college career, Fredericks earned numerous All-American citations and won three

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 ...

championships.

Athletics career

In 1990, after his country had become independent of South Africa, Fredericks could participate in international competition. At the World Championships in 1991, Fredericks won a silver medal in the 200 m, finishing behind Michael Johnson, and placed 5th in the 100 m. He then went on to The following year, 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 ...

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 ...

, Fredericks became Namibia's first Olympic medalist when he finished second in both the 100 m and 200 m. He won the silver medal in the men's 100-metre dash, with a time of 10.02 seconds, just .06 seconds behind the gold medal winner. In 1993, in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, he became the nation's first World Champion, winning the 200 m. At the

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling, ...

, he won gold in the 200 m and bronze in the 100 m. His time of 19.97 seconds in the 200 metres is the current Commonwealth Games record. At the 1995 World Championships 100 m, after crossing the line he immediately went to help his friend

Linford Christie Linford Cicero Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former sprinter. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes: the Olympic Games, the World ...

who pulled a muscle in the race and signalled for help. This act of kindness endeared him to many (particularly British) athletics fans. For 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, ...

, Fredericks was among the title favourites for both the 100 m and 200 m. He reached both finals, and again finished second in both. In the 100 m, he was beaten by

Donovan Bailey Donovan Bailey (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter. He once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian ...

, who set a new World Record, and in the 200 m he was beaten by Michael Johnson, who also set a new World Record. At the time, Fredericks's second-place run was the third fastest run in history, beaten only by Johnson (twice). At the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

in Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, Frankie once again missed out on the chance of gold in the 100 m; he was beaten by

Ato Boldon Ato Jabari Boldon (born 30 December 1973) is a Trinidadian former track and field athlete, politician, and four-time Olympic medal winner. He holds the Trinidad and Tobago national record in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events with times of 5.64, ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. Suffering from injuries, Fredericks had to withdraw from the 1999 and 2001 World Championships, and the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

. When he arrived in

Abuja Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...

to represent Namibia at the 2003 All-Africa Games, he was lauded by Nigerian supporters and came away with a silver medal. He then went on to win the 200 m at the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in 2003. In the 200 m final at the

2004 Summer 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), ...

he finished 4th. After the end of 2004 outdoor season, Fredericks retired from competition. He had run the 100 m under 10 seconds 27 times, remained the 10th best in history until recently.

Outdoor records

Indoor records

IOC career

In 2004 Fredericks became a member of the International Olympic Committee. In 2009 Fredericks became the head of the Athletics Namibia in a controversial leadership contest. In 2012 Fredericks was nominated to be a member of the International Olympic Committee. Frank Fredericks is a member of the 'Champions for Peace' club, a group of 54 famous elite athletes committed to serving peace in the world through sport, created by

Peace and Sport Peace and Sport, also known as "L’Organisation pour la Paix par le Sport" is a neutral and independent organization based in the Principality of Monaco and under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco. Peace and Sport work in areas across ...

, a

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 ...

-based international organisation.

Bribery investigation

On 3 March 2017, French newspaper

Le Monde ''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...

reported that Fredericks had received US$299,300 from Pamodzi Sports Consulting, a company owned by Papa Massata Diack (the son of disgraced former IAAF head

Lamine Diack Lamine Diack (7 June 1933 – 3 December 2021) was a Senegalese businessman, sports administrator, and athlete. He was president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) from 1999 to 2015. He was the subject of numerous ...

, who is currently facing corruption charges in France). The payment went to Yemi Limited, a company set up by Fredericks in the Seychelles, a

tax haven A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

, and was made on 2 Oct. 2009, the same day as Rio was announced as the winning bid for the 2016 Olympics. Fredericks has denied that the payment has anything to do with the Olympic bid, but instead says it was fees paid for consulting services he provided for "a relay championships" and marketing programs related to an African championships and other IAAF programs. When the allegation was made Fredericks was the chair of the 2024 Olympic bid evaluation committee. On 6 March 2017, Fredericks stepped down from his position in the IAAF task force that is evaluating if or when to re-admit Russia's national sport body RusAF after a widespread doping scandal. On 7 March 2017, the Ethic Commission of the IOC recommended a provisionally suspension of Fredericks from his IOC-related duties. Prior to the IOC Executive meeting Fredericks while maintaining his innocence withdrew from his position as the Chair of the 2024 Olympic bidding process "in the best interests" of the process. Fredericks was replaced for the chair of 2024 Olympic bidding process by former FIBA secretary general Patrick Baumann.

Business career

After his athletics career Fredericks worked as business manager. He has also founded the Frank Fredericks Foundation in 1999, a non-profit organisation supporting talented athletes.

References

External links

*
Frank Fredericks
at the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC)
Website of the ''Frank Fredericks Foundation''
*

' – IAAF website, 13 October 2004 {{DEFAULTSORT:Fredericks, Frankie 1967 births Living people Sportspeople from Windhoek Namibian male sprinters Olympic athletes of Namibia Olympic silver medalists for Namibia Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Namibia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Namibia Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Namibia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Namibia World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists International Olympic Committee members BYU Cougars men's track and field athletes Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games gold medalists for Namibia African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics indoor record holders Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 All-Africa Games African Games silver medalists for Namibia African Games bronze medalists for Namibia World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games