Joseph Fahnbulleh (born 11 September 2001) is a Liberian-American sprinter. An Olympic finalist, Fahnbulleh is a double NCAA champion and finished fourth at the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the f ...

in the 200 meters race.

Early and personal life

Born in Hopkins, Minnesota, to Liberian parents, Fahnbulleh attended

Hopkins High School Hopkins High School is a public high school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States. Minnetonka is a southwestern suburb of Minneapolis. It offers classes for grades 10, 11, and 12, making it one of the only schools in the state still wi ...

Career

After being named National High School Coaches' Association boys athlete of the year in 2019 he was encouraged by Florida coach Mike Holloway 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 ...

, and Fahnbulleh subsequently won the 200 m at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor National Championships with a personal best time of 19.91 seconds. He was also named National Senior Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year. After declaring for Liberia and being named in their team for 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 ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, Fahnbulleh was given the honor of being the flag bearer for his nation in the opening ceremony. The journey to Tokyo for the Olympics was the first time Fahnbulleh had ever been outside of the United States. He made it through to the final of the 2020 Olympics 200 meters race with a time of 19.99 seconds in his semi-final, setting a new Liberian national record. He finished in fifth place in the final, again setting a new national record with a time of 19.98 seconds. On 10 June 2022, Fahnbulleh won both the 100 m and 200 m events at the

2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships was the 100th NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 40th NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at Hayward Field in Eugene, O ...

with times of 10.00 (+0.6 m/s) and 19.83 (+0.6m/s) respectively, helping the Florida Gators to the 2022 NCAA men's team title. Fahnbulleh placed fourth at the

in the 200 metres running 19.84 seconds in the final. In August 2022, Fahnbulleh announced he had signed a professional contract with global brand Asics.

Statistics

*Information from

World Athletics 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 ...

profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal records

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fahnbulleh, Joseph 2001 births Living people Liberian male sprinters American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Florida Gators men's track and field athletes Olympic athletes for Liberia Track and field athletes from Minnesota People from Hopkins, Minnesota American people of Liberian descent Hopkins High School alumni