Afia Neliah Charles (born July 22, 1992) is a sprinter from Antigua and Barbuda who specializes in the

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

Personal life

Charles is from

Greenbelt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which h ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, United States but her mother Ruperta, was born in Antigua and competed for the nation at the

1984 Summer 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 sec ...

in Los Angeles. , Charles is tall. She currently attends the

University of Central Florida The University of Central Florida (UCF) is a public research university whose main campus is in unincorporated Orange County, Florida. UCF also has nine smaller regional campuses throughout central Florida. It is part of the State University ...

(UCF), where she competes for the UCF Knights track and field team.

Career

Charles went to Eleanor Roosevelt High School where she won the 4 × 400 metres relay in the 2008 Championship of America contested 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 ...

. In her freshman year she won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2011 CARIFTA Games held in Montego Bay, Jamaica; competing for Antigua she set a new personal best time of 54.23 seconds. She broke the freshman and school records for the outdoor 400 metres, setting a time of 53.6 seconds and was a member of the 47 × 400 metres relay team that competed at the 2011 NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship. In her sophomore year she set another school record by running 54.17 seconds on her way to winning the gold medal in the 400 meters at the C-USA Indoor Championships. She was coached at UCF by Caryl Smith Gilbert. In July 2011 she was selected to represent

Antigua and Barbuda at the 2012 Summer Olympics Antigua and Barbuda competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Summer Olympics. Four athletes from Antigua and Barbuda were selected to the team, c ...

in the women's 400 metres. The event was held at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

from 3 to 5 August. To prepare for the Games Charles worked with Dee Dee Trotter, an Olympic gold medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 4 × 400 metres relay who had qualified for the 2012 United States team and is a friend of Smith Gilbert from their time together at the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Afia 1992 births Living people American female sprinters Antigua and Barbuda female sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Antigua and Barbuda University of Central Florida alumni American people of Antigua and Barbuda descent Sportspeople of Antigua and Barbuda descent UCF Knights women's track and field athletes People from Greenbelt, Maryland Sportspeople from Maryland Antigua and Barbuda people of American descent Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Antigua and Barbuda Olympic female sprinters