Kelli White (born April 1, 1977, in
Oakland, California) is an American former
sprinter. She won two
gold medals in 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, ...
in
Paris in 2003. However, on June 18, 2004, she was stripped of her medals, because she tested positive on a
drug test. She retired from professional track in 2006.
Early life and education
White's parents had both been sprinters. Her mother,
Debbie Byfield, competed at the
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...
.
She attended
James Logan High School
James Logan High School (also known as JLHS or Logan) is a public high school located in Union City, California. It is part of the New Haven Unified School District in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Awards
In 1994 and 1998, Logan was recognized a ...
in
Union City, California
Union City is a city in the San Francisco Bay Area in Alameda County, California, United States, located approximately south of Oakland, from San Francisco, and north of San Jose. Incorporated in 1959, combining the communities of Alvarad ...
, where she was on the track team. In 1994, when she was 17, a fellow student slashed her face with a knife; 300 stitches were required to close the wounds. White continued competing that season. Although she never won a state championship, at the time of her graduation in 1995 she held the top time in the
200 meters
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 ...
and the second best time in the
100 meters
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 ...
in the
North Coast Section. She received a scholarship to 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, ...
, graduating in 1999.
Doping case and work with USADA
After her positive test, White admitted guilt and testified before the
Court of Arbitration for Sport
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; french: Tribunal arbitral du sport, ''TAS'') is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its c ...
(CAS). All her performances since December 15, 2000, were annulled. She was banned for two years by the
United States Anti-Doping Agency, effective May 17, 2004.
Her doping was linked to the
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 ...
doping scandal. After returning from college to the
San Francisco Bay Area in 2000, White's long-time coach,
Remi Korchemny
Remi Korchemny (russian: Реми Корчемный; born 23 June 1932) is the former sprint coach of a number of high-profile athletes, including Soviet Olympic champion Valeri Borzov. He is serving a lifetime ban from the sport for his invo ...
, introduced her to BALCO head
Victor Conte
Victor Conte Jr. (born 1950 in Fresno, California) is a former bassist with Tower of Power and the founder and president of Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative (BALCO), a sports nutrition center in California. He served time in prison in 2005 after p ...
. White has reported that Conte provided her with products that he identified as supplements and vitamins at first; when he informed her that one was a steroid, she declined to use it then and did not begin doping until after an injury-plagued, losing year in 2002. After being confronted with evidence seized from BALCO, she admitted using
tetrahydrogestrinone
Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG), known by the nickname The Clear, is a synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) which was never marketed for medical use. It was developed by Patrick Arnold and was used by a number of high-prof ...
(THG) and
erythropoietin (EPO) in addition to
modafinil.
White has since given lectures on drug abuse in sports around the world. She became the first athlete to work directly with the
United States Anti-Doping Agency to help it understand the system and culture of doping at the elite competition level.
While banned from competition, she has taught at track clinics at James Logan High. She announced her retirement in May 2006.
John Crumpacker, ''San Francisco Chronicle,'' 2006-04-15
Accessed 2007-01-06
See also
*List of doping cases in athletics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
External links
*
Paragraph about White's involvement in the BALCO scandal (USATODAY)
U.S, House of Representatives, Government Reform Committee, Hearing on Steroid Use Among Women, "Testimony of Sprinter Kelli White,"2005-06-15
{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Kelli
Living people
1977 births
American female sprinters
African-American female track and field athletes
Doping cases in athletics
American sportspeople in doping cases
Track and field athletes from Oakland, California
Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
Athletes stripped of World Athletics Championships medals
American people of Jamaican descent
Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games
21st-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American women
20th-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American women