Me'Lisa Barber is an American sprinter. After graduating from University of South Carolina, she was the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

USA Outdoor Champion 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 the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

World Indoor Champion in the 60 metres. She was also one of the

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

World Champions in the

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

and one of the

World Champions in the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

Life and career

Barber grew up in Montclair, New Jersey. Her 4 × 100 metre and 4 × 400 metre high school relays with her twin sister,

Miki Miki may refer to: Places *Miki, Hyōgo, a city in Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan *Miki, Kagawa, a town in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan *Miki, Azerbaijan, a village in Astara Rayon, Azerbaijan People *Miki (given name) *Miki (surname) *Miki Núñez (born ...

, at Montclair High School were both honored as All-American. Throughout her collegiate career, Barber won four SEC titles. In 2001, while attending the University of South Carolina, she won a gold medal at the

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

in the

as part of Team USA. She was made co-captain of the South Carolina Gamecocks women's track and field team in 2002, when the team won at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the championships, she ran in place of her sister in the

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

due to her sister's injury. Barber graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2002 with a degree in business and retail management. She won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 meters relay as part of Team USA at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, and competed in the

with Team USA at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki. During the

2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was organised by USA Track & Field and held from June 23 to 26 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The four-day competition served as the national championships in track and field for t ...

, she won gold in the

and placed fourth in the

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 ...

. 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 ...

, she won a gold medal in the 60 metres, running the fastest time of that season at 7.01 seconds. Barber left coach

Trevor Graham Trevor Graham (born 20 August 1963) is a Jamaican-born American former sprinter and athletics coach. Following the BALCO scandal, the US Olympic Committee barred him indefinitely from all its training sites. Athletics career Graham was ...

in 2006 following his involvement in the BALCO scandal. In 2009, Barber ruptured her Achilles tendon after a drunk driver rear-ended her car in Atlanta, Georgia, and stopped competing for several years. Barber runs a line of jewelry called The Honey Collection, a juice company, and a personal training company called Body Code. She and her sister also began doing motivational speaking tours in schools in 2018.

Public image

NJ.com selected Barber as one of Montclair High School's four best athletes of all time.

References

External links

Me'Lisa Barber, USA T&F
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Me'lisa 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Livingston, New Jersey Montclair High School (New Jersey) alumni Sportspeople from Montclair, New Jersey American female sprinters African-American female track and field athletes American twins World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games South Carolina Gamecocks women's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from New Jersey Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women