Aretha Thurmond, née Hill (born August 14, 1976) is an American

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an ancient sport, as demonstrated by th ...

er. Her personal best distance is , achieved in March 2004 in Marietta. Thurmond is a 1994 graduate of

Renton High School Renton High School is a public secondary school (grades 9–12) in downtown Renton, Washington, U.S., about 10 miles southeast of downtown Seattle. Founded in 1911, it is the oldest high school in the Renton School District. History The origin ...

and in 1998 she graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

. Thurmond is currently employed with

USA Track & Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

as the Managing Director of International Teams.

College career

Thurmond was a member of the track team at the University of Washington 1995–98.She was a discus thrower. During her time she set many collegiate records. Her records include ones in the Pac-10 Conference. She was also a four-time NCAA All-American.

Personal life

She is married to the former University of Washington throws coach, Reedus Thurmond. They have one son together. His name is Theo. Aretha Thurmond never strayed away from the sport. She resides in Indianapolis with her family. Since she is working for USA Track & Field, Thurmond earned her Executive Masters in Sport Organization Management.

International competitions

References

External links

* *
Aretha Thurmond staff profile
at legacy.USATF.org * * * 1976 births Living people Track and field athletes from Seattle American female discus throwers African-American female track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Washington Huskies women's track and field athletes Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American women {{US-discusthrow-athletics-bio-stub