David Patrick (born June 12, 1960 in

Centralia, Illinois Centralia is a city in Clinton, Jefferson, Marion, and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Illinois with the largest portion in Marion County. The city is the largest in three of the counties; Clinton, Marion, and Washington, but is not a ...

) is a retired

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

hurdler. He ran the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

and was the second American in the final, which was won by Kevin Young while setting the still standing current

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the event. Patrick won two individual NCAA titles (880 yards indoor, 400 meter hurdles) while competing for 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 sta ...

. Patrick is the husband of

Sandra Farmer-Patrick Sandra Marie Farmer-Patrick (née Farmer, born 18 August 1962) is a Jamaican-born American former athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres hurdles. She won silver medals in that event at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and at the 199 ...

, who was also an elite 400 metres hurdler. The two had a history of success at the same meets, including the

1989 IAAF World Cup The 5th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 8–10, 1989, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Spain. ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

where both took the gold medal. It was the first time a husband and wife won a gold medal in the same event in international championship. Earlier in the year, they had become the first husband and wife to both win national championships at the same time since

Hal Connolly Harold Vincent "Hal" Connolly (August 1, 1931 – August 18, 2010) was an American athlete and hammer thrower from Somerville, Massachusetts. He won a gold medal in the hammer throw at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne. Connolly became t ...

and Olga Connolly did the same thing 29 years earlier. The couple were exorcising frustration at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials when both failed to qualify. He was the bronze medallist at the

1988 IAAF Grand Prix Final The 1988 IAAF Grand Prix Final was the fourth edition of the season-ending competition for the IAAF Grand Prix track and field circuit, organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations. It was held on 13 September at the Olympias ...

that year. David set his personal record in the 400 hurdles at 47.75 while finishing fourth behind eventual Olympic Champion

Andre Phillips André Lamar Phillips (born September 5, 1959) is a retired American track and field athlete who is best known for winning the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. Phillips spent most of his career in the shadow of his idol, ...

, the legend of the event Edwin Moses and future world record holder Kevin Young (with 1984 Silver Medalist Danny Harris, one one-hundredth of a second behind Patrick). Running in the difficult lane one, Patrick was behind off the final turn but made an impressive surge at the end of the race to miss making the team by 0.03. His time makes him still the 22nd best performer in the event. That year, wife Sandra was disqualified after winning her semi-final. David had also attempted to qualify in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

in 1988. In 1992, both made the Olympic team with David finishing second just behind Kevin Young and Sandra winning the Olympic Trials. Sandra won a Silver medal in the event at the Olympics in 1992 and again made the team in 1996. David Patrick was ranked in the top 10 Americans from 1981 to 1994, excepting 1982 and was in the top 5 through most of that from 1983 to 1993 when the United States was dominating the event with Moses, Phillips, Harris and Young being the best in the world. He should not be confused with another David Patrick, from Villanova, who ran the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athle ...

in the 1968 Olympic Trials.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patrick, David 1960 births Living people American male hurdlers African-American male track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics People from Centralia, Illinois Track and field athletes from Illinois Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Universiade gold medalists for the United States Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople