Antonio McKay Sr. (born February 9, 1964) is a 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 specialized in the

400 meters 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 ...

Career

He won All-American honours competing for

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

and was 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 ...

champion both indoors and outdoors in 1984. He won at the United States Olympic Track Trials thus qualifying for the 1984 US Olympic Team.Antonio McKay
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2010-11-12. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he won the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...

in the 400 m behind Alonzo Babers and Gabriel Tiacoh. He teamed up with Babers in the

4×400-meter relay Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case ...

event and he led the team home to victory, winning his first Olympic

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have be ...

. He won 400 m gold medals 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 ...

in Moscow and at the

1987 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 1st IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held in Indianapolis, United States from March 6 to March 8, 1987. The championship had previously been known as the World Indoor Games, which were held once before changing the name. Bein ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. He ran at the

1987 World Championships in Athletics The 2nd World Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations were held in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy between August 28 and September 6, 1987. Men's results Track 1983 , 1987 ...

, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals. However, he won a gold medal in the relay with his compatriots Danny Everett,

Roddie Haley Roddie Haley (December 6, 1964 – February 17, 2022) was an American sprinter. Biography Haley ran on the American 4 × 400 m relay team at the 1987 Pan American Games and 1987 World Championships, winning gold medals at both events. He also ...

and Butch Reynolds. He ran in the relay heats at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

and received a gold medal for his contribution as the American runners won in the final. He retained his 400 m indoor title at the

1989 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2nd IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Budapest Sportcsarnok in Budapest, Hungary from March 3 to March 5, 1989. There were a total number of 373 participating athletes from 62 countries. Results Men 1985 , 1987 ...

, setting a championship record of 45.59 seconds in the process. In 1989, McKay became the first Black track and field athlete to compete for the

New York Athletic Club The New York Athletic Club is a private social club and athletic club in New York (state), New York state. Founded in 1868, the club has approximately 8,600 members and two facilities: the City House, located at 180 Central Park South in Manha ...

, which had historically banned Blacks and Jews from membership. He failed a doping test in 1990 for the banned stimulant

phenylpropanolamine Phenylpropanolamine (PPA) is a sympathomimetic agent which is used as a decongestant and appetite suppressant. It was commonly used in prescription and over-the-counter cough and cold preparations. In veterinary medicine, it is used to cont ...

. After initially being banned for three months, the ban was overturned on the defense that neither McKay nor the doctor who had prescribed him a flu remedy where aware that the banned substance was contained in the medicine. His final international medal came at the

1991 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 3rd IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes San Pablo in Seville, Spain from March 8 to March 10, 1991. It was the first Indoor Championships to include relay races as well as women's triple j ...

, where he won the

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

in the men's relay. McKay retired from competition around 1994. He remains the joint

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and Panamerican record holder in the rarely competed indoor 4 × 200 m relay, which he set in 1991 in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Scotland alongside

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, Raymond Pierre and Kevin Little. He now works as a track coach at North Springs High School, a public high school in

Sandy Springs, Georgia Sandy Springs is a city in northern Fulton County, Georgia and an inner ring suburb of Atlanta. The city's population was 108,080 at the 2020 census, making it Georgia's seventh-largest city. It is the site of several corporate headquarters, ...

. Following the murder of McKay's sister, he has raised her two sons.http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=96885 retrieved 2008-09-21. Coached the Dunwoody High School Girls Track and Field 5AAAAA Team to the State Championships for the 2012–2013 Season.

Achievements

*1984 Indoor World Record Holder, *1984 NCAA Indoor Champion, *1984 NCAA Outdoor Champion, *1984 Olympic Trials Champion, *1984 Olympic – Gold & Bronze Medalist, *1985 Indoor USA Track and Field Champion, *1986 Goodwill Games – Gold Medalist, *1987 Indoor USA Track & Field Champion, *1987 Indoor World Record Holder, *1988 Indoor USA Track & Field Champion, *1989 World Indoor Championships – Gold Medalist, *1990 Indoor USA Track & Field Champion, *1991 Indoor World Championships – Silver Medalist, *1993 Indoor USA Track & Field Champion,

References

External links

*
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Profile

Antonio McKay
at the

Georgia Sports Hall of Fame The Georgia Sports Hall of Fame is located in Macon, Georgia. It is the largest state sports hall of fame in the United States at . Exhibitions The Hall of Fame houses over of exhibit space broken down into sections including Hall of Fame Induc ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKay, Antonio 1964 births Living people American male sprinters Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field World Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1988 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games