Randy Jenelle Givens (born March 27, 1962) is an American former
track and field
Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
athlete who competed in
sprinting events. She set personal bests of 11.06 seconds for the
100-meter dash and 22.31 seconds for the
200-meter dash
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 slight ...
. Givens was a 200 m finalist at the
1984 Olympic Games The 1984 Olympics may refer to:
*The 1984 Winter Olympics, which were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
*The 1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an intern ...
and represented her country at the
1983 World Championships in Athletics. She was the 200 m gold medalist at the
1983 Pan American Games
The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...
and returned to win a silver medal at the
1987 edition.
Givens established herself as a college athlete with the
Florida State Seminoles and won four sprint titles (two individual, two relay) at the
NCAA Women's Championships in 1984. She was also a multiple medalist at the
1983 Summer Universiade
The 1983 Summer Universiade, also known as the 1983 World University Games or XII Summer Universiade, took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between July 1 and 12, 1983. Over 2400 athletes from 73 countries participated. It was the first time Can ...
, taking 200 m and relay gold medals and a 100 m silver medal.
Early life and college
Born in
Alexandria, Louisiana
Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the prin ...
,
she grew up in
Amityville, New York
Amityville () is a village near the Town of Babylon in Suffolk County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York. The population was 9,523 at the 2010 census.
History
Huntington settlers first visited the Amityville area in 1653 du ...
and attended
Amityville Memorial High School. She went on to attend
Florida State University from 1980 to 1984 and competed for their
Florida State Seminoles collegiate team. The team was very successful during the period which also included Olympic medalist sprinters
Marita Payne
Marita Payne-Wiggins (born October 7, 1960) is a Canadian former track and field athlete who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics. She is the co- Canadian record holder in the 400 metres, along with Jillian Richardson, and previously h ...
and
Michelle Finn. Givens' first competitions were in the
Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) conference, which was a women's counterpart to the then-male dominated
National Collegiate Athletic Association
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 ...
(NCAA). At the AIAW indoor championships in 1981 she made the
300-meter dash final then won her first title, anchoring the Seminoles to victory in the
4×200-meter relay. She repeated that feat in the
4×100-meter relay at the AIAW outdoor meet, where she also placed third in the
200-meter dash
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 slight ...
. The following year she came third in the 300 m indoors and anchored the team to the runner-up spot in the
880-yard relay.
[Randy Givens]
NoleFan. Retrieved on 2015-07-08.[Randy Givens]
Seminoles. Retrieved on 2015-07-08.
NCAA track competition for women was instituted in 1982 and Givens competed at the
NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships are the annual collegiate track and field competitions for women athletes representing Division I institutions organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). At ...
. There she placed third in the 200 m, seventh in the
100-meter dash, and was a member of both the second-placed 4×100-meter and
4×400-meter relay teams. This performance helped the
Florida State Seminoles track and field
The track and field teams of Florida State University, (variously Florida State or FSU), are currently coached by Bob Braman and compete in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The men's team has won fourteen indoor conference championships, thirty-fi ...
team to third place in the college rankings at the championship. She also won the collegiate 100 m at the
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays (also Penn Relays Carnival) is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. In 2012, there were ...
that season. At the 1983 NCAA Championships she was again third in the 200 m, improved one place to sixth in the 100 m, and claimed both relay titles, resulting in a runner-up team finish for the Seminoles behind the
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...
.
[
The peak of her collegiate track career came at the ]1984 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The 1984 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were contested May 28−June 2, 1984 at Hayward Field at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon in order to determine the individual and team national champions of men's and women' ...
. She achieved a sprint quadruple by winning the 100 m, 200 m, 4 × 100 m relay and mile relay
The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...
titles. The Florida State women comfortably won their first NCAA title, over twenty points ahead of the Tennessee Volunteers
The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegi ...
.[ Givens was that year's Broderick Award (now the Honda Sports Award) winner in the track and field section.
During her time at Florida State she set school records in the 100 m (11.06 seconds) and 200 m (22.31), as well as the indoor 300-yard dash and 300-meter dash. As of 2015, all the latter three times remain the school records for Florida State.][ She also set five records at the Penn relays, in the 100 m and both relays. She was inducted into the Florida State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1989.][
During her post-collegiate career she was a member of the Puma Track Club.]
National and international career
Givens was a frequent finalist at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...
, coming fifth in the 200 m in 1980 and 1981, then reaching her first national podium in 1982 with a third-place finish. At the 1983 USA Championships she ran a lifetime best of 22.31 seconds to place fourth in the 200 m and was also fifth over 100 m. At the 1984 United States Olympic Trials she came third in the 200 m, earning Olympic selection, and was again ranked fifth over 100 m. After missing the 1985 season, she had her highest national placing at the 1986 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, taking second place to Pam Marshall. In the last national final of her career, she came eighth over 200 m in 1987.[Randy Givens]
Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-07-08.
Givens' international career overlapped with her time at college. She competed at the highest level of student sport at the 1983 Summer Universiade
The 1983 Summer Universiade, also known as the 1983 World University Games or XII Summer Universiade, took place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada between July 1 and 12, 1983. Over 2400 athletes from 73 countries participated. It was the first time Can ...
and came away with a gold medal in the 200 m (ahead of schoolmate Marita Payne), becoming the first American to win that title. She was also silver medalist behind Beverly Kinch in the 100 m, and claimed a second gold medal in the 4×100 m relay.
After a strong performance at the national championships she was chosen for the inaugural 1983 World Championships in Athletics. Her time of 23.01 seconds to win her heat was briefly the championship record. Givens reached the semi-finals of the 200 metres at the World Championships in Athletics and ranked 13th overall. She was also part of the relay team at the meet, but the American women did not perform to their usual high standard and were eliminated in the first round, one hundredth of a second behind Canada. The 1983 Pan American Games
The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...
followed shortly after that same month and Givens won the 200 m title, succeeding Evelyn Ashford
Evelyn Ashford (born April 15, 1957) is an American retired track and field athlete, the 1984 Olympic champion in the 100-meter dash. She ran under the 11-second barrier over 30 times and was the first to run under 11 seconds in an Olympic Gam ...
, and also shared in the 4×100 m relay gold medals with Jackie Washington
Jackie Washington (November 12, 1919 – June 27, 2009) was a Canadian blues musician.
Biography
He was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, the grandson of an African American fleeing slavery, and one of fifteen children born to his parents, ...
, Alice Jackson and college teammate Brenda Cliette.
A third-place finish at the Olympic Trials earned her the right to compete at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...
. There she steadily improved through the Olympic 200 m rounds and placed sixth in the final with a time of 22.36 seconds – the second-fastest of her career.[
After graduating from Florida State, Givens appeared in two further major international competitions. At the ]1986 Goodwill Games
The 1986 Goodwill Games was the inaugural edition of the international multi-sport event created by Ted Turner, which was held from 5 – 20 July 1986. The main stadium was the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union. The Ga ...
she came fifth over 200 m and was a 4×100 m relay gold medalist alongside Michelle Finn, Diane Williams and Evelyn Ashford. She returned to defend her 200 m title at the 1987 Pan American Games held in Indianapolis, but was beaten into second place by her compatriot Gwen Torrence
Gwendolyn Lenna Torrence (born June 12, 1965) is a retired American sprinter and Olympic gold medalist. She was born in Decatur, Georgia. She attended Columbia High School and the University of Georgia. She was offered a scholarship because of ...
.[Holbreich, Curt (1987-08-16)]
THE 1987 PAN AMERICAN GAMES : Track and Field : Foster Has Another Unexpected Hurdle Cost Him a Victory
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved on 2015-07-08.
Personal records
* 100-meter dash – 11.06 seconds (1984)
*200-meter dash
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 slight ...
– 22.31 seconds (1983)
National titles
*NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships are the annual collegiate track and field competitions for women athletes representing Division I institutions organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). At ...
**100-meter dash: 1984
**200-meter dash: 1984
**4×100-meter dash: 1983, 1984
**4×400-meter/mile relay: 1983, 1984
International competitions
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Givens, Randy
1962 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Alexandria, Louisiana
People from Amityville, New York
Sportspeople from Suffolk County, New York
Track and field athletes from Louisiana
Track and field athletes from New York (state)
American female sprinters
African-American track and field athletes
American female track and field athletes
Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States
Florida State Seminoles women's track and field athletes
Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States
Universiade silver medalists for the United States
Medalists at the 1983 Summer Universiade
Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games
Goodwill Games medalists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games
Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games
Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
Olympic female sprinters
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
20th-century African-American sportspeople
20th-century African-American women
20th-century African-American people