Shelia Burrell (born 15 January 1972 in Albuquerque, New Mexico) is a retired American

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

. She was a two-time representative of the

United States at the Summer Olympics The United States, United States of America has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern Summer Olympic Games with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, boycott. The United States O ...

, competing in 2000 and 2004. Her best Olympic finish was fourth place. She also competed twice 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 ...

, which included a bronze medal in 2001. She was also a two-time silver medalist at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

. Her personal best for the heptathlon 6472 points and she was American national champion on four occasions. On the professional circuit, she was the winner of the

2002 Hypo-Meeting The 28th edition of the annual Hypo-Meeting took place on June 1 and June 2, 2002 in athletics (track and field), 2002 in Götzis, Austria. The track and field competition, featuring a decathlon (men) and a heptathlon (women) event, was part of the ...

, having previously finished fourth at the

1999 Hypo-Meeting The 25th edition of the annual Hypo-Meeting took place on May 29 and May 30, 1999 in athletics (track and field), 1999 in Götzis, Austria. The track and field competition, featuring a decathlon (men) and a heptathlon (women) event, was part of the ...

and the

2000 Hypo-Meeting The 26th edition of the annual Hypo-Meeting took place on June 3 and June 4, 2000 in Götzis, Austria. The track and field competition, featuring a decathlon (men) and a heptathlon (women) event, was part of the 2000 IAAF World Combined Events Chal ...

. In her last outing there, she was sixth at the 2004 Hypo-Meeting. In 2001, she won the

Décastar Décastar (stylised ''DECASTAR'') is an annual athletics competition that takes place in Talence, in the department of the Gironde in France. Organised by World Athletics, it is one of the athletics meetings that make up the World Athletics Chal ...

in France.Shelia Burrell
USATF. Retrieved on 2015-09-05. She completed a major in English and American studies at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

and was coached by

Bob Kersee Bob Kersee (born in the Canal Zone, Panama) is an American track coach. He was the coach and husband of Olympic gold medallist Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Career He is a graduate of San Pedro High School, Los Angeles Harbor College where he was a state ...

while there, and later by

Jane Frederick Jane Wardell Frederick (born April 7, 1952) is a former heptathlete from the United States. She set the first official world record in the women's heptathlon, gaining a total number of 6104 points on April 24, 1981, at the Mt. SAC Relays in Waln ...

. After her college career she was coached by Cliff Rovelto. She is not related to namesakes, contemporaries and fellow African-Americans track athletes

Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Early life Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School, w ...

and

Dawn Burrell Dawn C. Burrell (born November 1, 1973) is an American chef and retired long jumper. She won the gold medal at the 2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships

International competitions

National titles

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 ...

**Heptathlon: 1999, 2002, 2003 * United States Olympic Trials **Heptathlon: 2004

Personal bests

*200 metres – 22.92 (2001) *800 metres – 2:10.29 (2000) *100 metres hurdles – 13.05 (2001) *High jump – (1999) *Long jump – (2002) *Shot put – (2002) *Javelin throw – (2000) *Heptathlon – 6472 pts (2001)

References

* __NOTOC__ 1972 births Living people Track and field athletes from Albuquerque, New Mexico American heptathletes African-American female track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people {{US-heptathlon-athletics-bio-stub