LaVerne Janet Jones-Ferrette (born September 16, 1981) is a sprinter from the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands,. Also called the ''American Virgin Islands'' and the ''U.S. Virgin Islands''. officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and an unincorporated and organized territory ...

who specializes in the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and

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 ...

. She represented her country at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

in 2004, 2008 and 2012. She won the

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

over

60 meters 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation Th ...

in a time of 6.97 seconds; a subsequent drug test revealed a banned substance in her system and she was stripped of her medal. Jones-Ferrette competed at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

in 2005, 2007 and 2009, but did not reach an event final on any of those occasions. Her first international medal came at the

2006 Central American and Caribbean Games The 20th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games was held in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. The tournament began on July 15 and ended on July 30. Host city *Main host city **Cartagena de Indias *Subsites: **Barranquilla, Colombia ( ...

, where she was the 100 m silver medalist. She represented her country at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic Com ...

. She holds all the US Virgin Islands records for the sprint events from 60 to

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

Career

She grew up on

Saint Croix Saint Croix; nl, Sint-Kruis; french: link=no, Sainte-Croix; Danish and no, Sankt Croix, Taino: ''Ay Ay'' ( ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorpo ...

and later moved to the United States on an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the United Stat ...

. She attended

Barton County Community College Barton Community College, previously Barton County Community College, is a public community college in Great Bend, Kansas. Its service area includes Barton, Ellsworth, Pawnee, Rush and Russell Counties, Stafford County north of US Highway 5 ...

and was coached by

Lance Brauman A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier (lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unlike sim ...

, who also coached

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 and 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him tied for the second fastest athlete over 100 m ...

and

Veronica Campbell Veronica Campbell-Brown CD ( Campbell; born 15 May 1982) is a retired Jamaican track and field sprinter, who specialized in the 100 and 200 meters.

. She attended the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

and represented the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to a nickname given to the early participants in the Land Run ...

in the

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 before graduating in 2003.Powell, David (2009-07-25)
Focus on Athletes - Laverne Jones-Ferrette

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 ...

. Retrieved on 2010-11-29. She made her Olympic debut at the

2004 Athens 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), ...

, reaching the second round in both the 100 m and 200 m. She was one of only two athletes from the country to compete in the athletics competition that year (alongside ) and was chosen to be the 2004 Olympic flag bearer for the US Virgin Islands. She came fourth in the 100 m at the 2005 CAC Championships and ran at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

later that season, reaching the semi-finals of the 200 m. She also reached the semi-final stage of the 60 m at the

2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olimpiyski Sport arena. The announcement by the IA ...

. At the

she entered both the 100 m and 200 m – she just missed out on a medal in the 200 m, finishing fourth, but was the runner-up in the 100 m, taking the

behind

Tahesia Harrigan Tahesia Gaynell Harrigan-Scott (born 15 February 1982) is a sprinter from the British Virgin Islands.

. In 2007, she competed at the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

for the first time and was seventh in the women's 100 m final. She reached the 200 m semis for a second time running 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, ...

Osaka is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...

. Jones-Ferrette represented the US Virgin Islands at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

competing at 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 ...

sprint. In her first round heat she placed third behind

Kerron Stewart Kerron Stewart (born 16 April 1984) is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialized in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She is the 2008 Jamaican national champion in the 100 m clocking 10.80s. She defeate ...

and

Ezinne Okparaebo Ezinne Okparaebo (born 3 March 1988) is a Norwegian sprinter. She is Scandinavia's fastest woman ever over 60m and 100m. Okparaebo has won the 100m national title 13 times. She moved to Norway as a nine-year old and grew up in Ammerud. She visi ...

in a time of 11.41 to advance to the second round. There she failed to qualify for the semi finals as her time of 11.55 was only the fifth time of her heat, causing elimination. She further improved her 100 and 200 meter national records at the

Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas *Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) *Arroi ...

meeting in May 2009. Breaking both records in just over an hour, she ran 11.18 in the 100 m and 22.49 seconds in the 200 m. She competed at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg ...

but she just missed out on making the 200 metres final. She ended the year with seventh-place finishes in the sprints at the

2009 IAAF World Athletics Final The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics m ...

. Jones-Ferrette made a strong start to 2010, building up to the

by running the fastest 60 m time recorded in eleven years. Her time of 6.97 seconds made her the sixth fastest woman over the distance and even she was surprised to have run such a quick time. An absence from competition that summer was later explained when she announced that she and her husband, Stephen Ferrette, were expecting a child. However, on December 16, 2010, it was made public that she was banned from competition for 6 months from April to October of the same year due to a positive test of a banned substance, as well as had her world indoor medal stripped. She stated though that the substance was used to help her fertility. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing in 9th in the 200 m and in 14th in the 100 m, not qualifying for either final.

Competition record

Personal bests

* 60 meters - 6.97 s (2010) - national record. * 100 meters - 11.07 s (2012) - national record.United States Virgin Islands athletics records
* 200 meters - 22.46 s (2009) - national record. * 400 meters - 51.47 s (2007) - national record.

References

External links

*
Tilastopaja biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones-Ferrette, Laverne 1981 births Living people United States Virgin Islands female sprinters Doping cases in athletics United States Virgin Islands sportspeople in doping cases Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Virgin Islands Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games competitors for the United States Virgin Islands Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Virgin Islands Oklahoma Sooners women's track and field athletes Barton Cougars women's track and field athletes People from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for the United States Virgin Islands Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Olympic female sprinters