Letitia Alma Vriesde (born 5 October 1964) is a female former track and field athlete from
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
, who specialised in the 800 metres but was also successful over 1500 metres. She is the first (and to date, only) sportsperson from Suriname to compete at five Olympic Games. She won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships. Vriesde holds the South American records for the 800 metres, 1000 metres and 1500 metres (indoors and outdoors) and also for the 3000 metres (indoors).
Career
Vriesde started running in Suriname, coached by Luiz de Oliveira. She left Suriname after failing to be selected for the 1984 Olympics to train in the
Netherlands
)
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
. In the Netherlands, Vriesde competed for Atletiekvereniging Rotterdam.
She competed in the
800 metres
The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...
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 broke into the highest echelons of the sport in 1991, when she reached the finals of both the 800 and 1500 metres at the
IAAF 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
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 ...
, finishing in fifth and ninth places respectively. At the
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 ...
Vriesde set a record of sorts by recording the fastest ever non-qualifying time (1:58.28) in an 800 metres semi-final.
Vriesde won a bronze medal in the 800 metres at the
1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
, before going on to win a silver medal at the
1995 World Championships in Athletics behind Cuba's
Ana Quirot. At both competitions, she became the first South American female athlete to win a medal.
A year later, she missed the finals at 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, ...
, running a nearly identical time to her 1992 Olympic performance (1:58.29), again placing fifth in her semifinal. Vriesde won a bronze medal in the 800 metres at the
2001 World Championships in Athletics behind Mozambique's
Maria Mutola
Maria de Lurdes Mutola ( ; born 27 October 1972) is a retired female track and field athlete from Mozambique who specialised in the 800 metres running event. She is only the fourth female track and field athlete to compete at six Olympic Games. ...
and Austria's
Stephanie Graf
Stephanie Graf (born 26 April 1973, in Klagenfurt) is an Austrian former middle distance runner who won silver medals in the 800 metres at both the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships. In June 2010 Graf was suspen ...
. Throughout her career, Vriesde also won many medals 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 ...
,
Central American and Caribbean Games
The Central American and Caribbean Games (CAC or CACGs) are a multi-sport regional championship event, held quadrennial (once every four years), typically in the middle (even) year between Summer Olympics. The games are for countries in Cent ...
and
South American Games
The South American Games (also known as ODESUR Games; Spanish: ''Juegos Suramericanos''; Portuguese: ''Jogos Sul-Americanos''), formerly the Southern Cross Games (Spanish: ''Juegos Cruz del Sur'') is a regional multi-sport event held between nati ...
.
Vriesde was disqualified and stripped of her gold medal at the
2003 Pan American Games
The 2003 Pan American Games were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the games was made in the mid-1990s, when Dominican Republic had one of the highest growth rates in Latin America.
Al ...
after testing positive for excessive caffeine levels. She was said to have the equivalent of five gallons of coffee in her system. She was not banned however and went on to compete at that year's World Championships. Drinking too much coffee or taking a common cold tablet would no longer get athletes disqualified after a new global list of banned substances was drawn up by the World Anti-Doping Agency and applied from 1 January 2004.
Vriesde retired soon after competing at her seventh World Championships in 2005. In Paramaribo a street formerly known as ''Cultuurtuinlaan'' was changed into ''Letitia Vriesdelaan''. The Surinamese Government also gave her a piece of land in appreciation of her achievements.
Personal life
Vriesde married Bas van Veen on 9 September 2005 in
Middelburg Middelburg may refer to:
Places and jurisdictions Europe
* Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...
, Holland. Her daughter Joi Vienna was born on 19 March 2007.
Personal bests
*400 m 52.01 (1997)
*800 m 1:56.68 (1995)
*1000 m 2:32.25 (1991)
*1500 m 4:05.67 (1991)
*Mile 4:30.45 (1992)
*3000 m 9:15.64 (1991)
As of 2017, Vriesde's 800m best of 1:56.68 ranks her 58th on the World all-time list.
Vriesde’s Top 10 800m performances
* 1:56.68 AR 2 WCh Gothenburg 13.08.95
*
*
* 1:57.07 3rA WK Zürich 16.08.95
*
*
* 1:57.09 3 Her Monte Carlo 10.08.96
*
*
* 1:57.16 4= GPF Monte Carlo 09.09.95
*
*
* 1:57.35 3 WCh Edmonton 12.08.01
*
*
* 1:57.86 4 Her Monte Carlo 16.08.97
*
*
* 1:57.96 AR 5 APM Hengelo 28.06.92
*
*
* 1:57.98 2 Nikaïa Nice 16.07.97
*
*
* 1:58.11 2 ISTAF Berlin 01.09.95
*
*
* 1:58.12 4 WCh Athens 09.08.97
World Rankings
Women's 800m
* 1990 #26
* 1991 #9
* 1992 #9
* 1993 #38
* 1994 #72
* 1995 #4
* 1996 #8
* 1997 #4
* 1998 #7
* 1999 #9
* 2000 #14
* 2001 #4
* 2002 #31
* 2003 #44
* 2004 #63
Women's 1500
* 1990 #83
* 1991 #17
Women's 400m
*1997 #54
Olympic Games glossary
800 metres Event History
*1988 Seoul Round One Heat 4 4th 2:01.83
*1988 Seoul Semi-Finals Heat 2 8th 2:02.34
*1992 Barcelona Round One Heat 3 2nd 1:59.93
*1992 Barcelona Semi-Finals Heat 1 5th 1:58.28
*1996 Atlanta Round One Heat 1 2nd 1:59.71
*1996 Atlanta Semi-Finals Heat 2 5th 1:58.29
*2000 Sydney Round One Heat 2 4th 2:02.09
*2004 Athens Round One Heat 3 4th 2:01.70
*2004 Athens Semi-Finals Heat 3 8th 2:06.95
1500 metres Event History
*1988 Seoul Round One Heat 2 12th 4:19.58
*1992 Barcelona Round One Heat 2 5th 4:10.63
*1992 Barcelona Semi-Finals Heat 1 8th 4:09.64
Competition record
1Representing the Americas
See also
*
List of sportspeople sanctioned for doping offences
The following is an incomplete list of sportspeople who have been involved in doping offences. It contains those who have been found to have, or have admitted to having, taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs, prohibited recreational drugs or ...
*
List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
A small fraction of the world's population ever competes at the Olympic Games; an even smaller fraction ever competes in multiple Games. 849 athletes (260 women and 589 men) have participated in at least five Olympics from Athens 1896 to Beiji ...
References
External links
Website of Letitia Vriesde (in Dutch)*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vriesde, Letitia
1964 births
Living people
Doping cases in athletics
Surinamese female middle-distance runners
Surinamese steeplechase runners
Olympic athletes of Suriname
Surinamese sportspeople in doping cases
Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 Pan American Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 Pan American Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
People from Coronie District
Pan American Games gold medalists for Suriname
Pan American Games silver medalists for Suriname
Pan American Games bronze medalists for Suriname
Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
World Athletics Championships medalists
World Athletics Championships athletes for Suriname
Female steeplechase runners
Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Suriname
Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Suriname
Competitors at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games
Competitors at the 1993 Central American and Caribbean Games
Competitors at the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games
Competitors at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games
South American Games gold medalists for Suriname
South American Games silver medalists for Suriname
South American Games medalists in athletics
Competitors at the 1990 South American Games
Competitors at the 1994 South American Games
Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics
Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1995 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games