Torri Edwards (born January 31, 1977) is an American sprinter. She competes in 100 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 ...

, winning an Olympic medal in 4×100-meter relay in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. In 2003, she won six medals in major international competitions, including one World Championship gold. Edwards competed in the 100 m at the

2008 Olympic Games 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 ...

Early career

Edwards states that she began sprinting when she joined her school team in junior high . Edwards was an average sprinter when she attended Pomona High School, with her best state meet finish ever coming her senior year when she was fourth in the 200m. Edwards would then attend the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

.USC OLYMPIANS: 1904-2008
USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed August 26, 2008. That track season, she won the Pac-10 titles in both the 100 m and 200 m for USC. She states:

Not until I got to college did I realize that I could be good,...Winning the Pac-10 titles gave me a big boost in confidence, and I found myself setting higher and higher goals.

Doping ban

She was banned for two years effective from July 18, 2004, missing the

2004 Summer 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), ...

. In August 2004, Edwards appealed the ban, and an arbitration panel acknowledged that Edwards "conducted herself with honesty, integrity and character ... she has not sought to gain any improper advantage or to 'cheat' in any way." In November 2005, her two-year ban was shortened to 15 months when the World Anti-Doping Agency downgraded nikethamide infractions to maximum one-year suspensions. The drug had come from pills she had taken at a meet in Martinique to combat a minor illness. Though arbitrators decided Edwards had taken the drug inadvertently, saying in their ruling that she had conducted herself with "honesty, integrity and character," they did not overturn the suspension, because the glucose tablets given to her by her doctor contained a warning for athletes advising that the pills could cause a positive doping test. Therefore, Edwards did not take performance enhancement drugs to improve her performance. However, since Edwards was a teammate of

Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track and field athlete and former professional basketball player. She won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 200 ...

in the 2000 Olympic 4×100 meters relay, she was stripped of her medal following Jones's admission to using steroids during the games, though she and 6 other members of the 2000 team would successfully appeal this decision in July 2010.

Personal bests

100 meters 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 contest ...

- 10.78 (2008) *

- 22.28 (2003

2008 Olympics

At the 2008 Olympic finals for the women's 100 meters, Edwards stated that she thought she had false started and apparently hesitated, believing that the officials were going to call a false start. Edwards eventually finished eighth place with a time of 11.20, an under-par performance for the American sprinter, who has a best time of 10.78. Edwards states:

I thought I moved before the gun,...I kind of hesitated because I expected to hear a second gun. It threw me off a lot. It's pretty tough.

However, Edwards actually had a reaction time of 0.179 seconds, which was not the fastest or the slowest of the eight runners. It is possible, therefore, that Edwards had not applied enough pressure on the blocks to trigger a false start warning, however she twitched her upper body, but possibly left her feet solid."When is a false start not a false start?
''Reuters India''. August 18, 2008. Retrieved August 24. 2008 Another disappointment came in the 4×100 m relay when the American team dropped the baton in the semi-final due to a misunderstanding between Edwards, on the top bend, and

Lauryn Williams Lauryn Williams (born September 11, 1983) is an American sprinter and bobsledder. She was the gold medalist in the 100 meter dash at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2007 World Champ ...

on the anchor leg. Williams picked up the baton to finish the race in last place, but the USA was disqualified because she had had to run out of her lane in order to retrieve the baton.

International competitions

Coaching career

Torri Edwards was named head track coach at

Kentucky State University Kentucky State University (KSU and KYSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Frankfort, Kentucky. Founded in 1886 as the State Normal School for Colored Persons ...

in August 2015. She worked 2 seasons with the UK track and field programs. Coach Edwards served as an assistant coach in the

Riverside Community College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

track and field program. While serving as an assistant at RCC, Edwards helped the men's track and field team capture conference and state titles in 2012 and 2013. Edwards most recently worked as a volunteer assistant at

Cal Poly Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the ''name'' section of this article for more infor ...

the past two years. She helped Angela Garcia reach 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 ...

Division II National Championships in just her first collegiate season of track and field. Garcia also earned All-West Region honors for her work in the 100- and 200-meter events.

References

External links

*
Torri Edwards' U.S. Olympic Team bioTorri Edwards wins Nike Prefontaine Classic, in Eugene, Oregon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Torri 1977 births Living people American female sprinters African-American female track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games Doping cases in athletics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists American sportspeople in doping cases Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Track and field athletes from California Universiade gold medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) USC Trojans women's track and field athletes USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women