Donald O'Riley Quarrie CD (born 25 February 1951) is a Jamaican 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, one of the world's top sprinters during the 1970s. At the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 P ...

he was the gold medallist in the Olympic 200 meters and silver medallist in the Olympic 100 meters. In all, he competed in five

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

and won four Olympic medals during his career. He nearly equalled the 200 meters world recordin 1971, coming within .03 seconds of the record set by Tommie Smith in 1968. He has lifetime bests of 10.07 seconds and 19.86 seconds for the events. He won

100 metres 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 conteste ...

200 metres 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 ...

sprint doubles at the 1970 Commonwealth Games,

1971 Pan American Games * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, and 1974 Commonwealth Games. He was the first male to defend either the 100 m or 200 m title at the Commonwealth Games and a 100 m win at the 1978 Commonwealth Games makes him the only person to have won that title three times. He won nine gold medals in the sprints at the

Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics The Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships is an international track and field athletics event organised by the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC). Only athletes representing a member nation of the confede ...

from 1971 to 1981. He has received recognition both on and off the field. He was a five-time winner at the Jamaican Sportsperson of the Year and a statue of him is positioned at the entrance to Jamaica's National Stadium. There is also a school (Donald Quarrie High School) that bears his name in Eastern Kingston. Reggae artists have paid respect to his achievements with songs including "Tribute to Donald Quarrie", one by

Joe Gibbs Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and ...

and The Guerrillas and one by Bongo Herman.

Active career

Quarrie made the Jamaican 100 m team for the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

as a 17-year-old, but he injured himself in training, and could not take part. He moved to the

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and attended the

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and later the

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...

, where he graduated with a degree in Business and Public Administration.Jamaican Amateur Athletic Association – Executives
jaaaltd.comUSC OLYMPIANS: 1904–2004
, USC Trojans Athletic Department, Accessed 13 August 2008. There, his sprinting capabilities gradually increased. At the 1970

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

, Quarrie won the gold medal in both the 100 and 200 m, surprising his more experienced competitors. Anchoring the Jamaican 4 × 100 m relay team, he pocketed a third Commonwealth title. Quarrie repeated his sprint double the following year at the Pan American Games in Cali and his time in the 200 meters was a hand-timed 19.8. One of the favourites for the upcoming Munich Olympics, Quarrie again suffered from injuries at the Olympic Games. He did compete in the 200 m but had to abandon his 200 m semi-final after pulling a muscle. In 1974 Quarrie repeated his 1970 performance by grabbing the 100 and 200 m titles at the Commonwealth Games in

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, becoming the first athlete to retain the title in either event. The next season, he again tied the 200 m world record, 19.8. He also tied the 100 m record with a hand-timed mark (9.9) in 1976 at the California Relays at

Modesto Junior College Modesto Junior College (MJC) is a public community college in Modesto, California. It is part of Yosemite Community College District along with Columbia College. MJC, and Columbia College, belong to the California Community College system al ...

, one of only a few athletes to have held these records simultaneously. This time was actually 10.07 seconds. In 1976 after winning the AAA's 100/200 titles Quarrie could finally compete at the Olympics without injuries. He first made the 100 m final, which he led until overtaken by Trinidadian

Hasely Crawford Hasely Joachim Crawford TC (born 16 August 1950) is a former track and field athlete from Trinidad and Tobago. In 1976, he became his country's first Olympic champion. A stadium was renamed in his honour in 2001. Early years Crawford was bor ...

. In the 200 m Quarrie led the pack coming out of the turn and held off all challenges to take the title in 20.22. At the 1978 Commonwealth Games he won his third consecutive 100 m title but was eliminated in the 200 m after a cramp attack. Quarrie's participation in his fourth Olympics in

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was in doubt after he was involved in a car crash the previous year. He recovered in time to compete but was eliminated in the 100 m semi-finals. His title defense failed in the 200 m but he did make the final and finished third, adding a bronze medal to his collection. By 1984 Quarrie was no longer among the world's best in the individual sprint events and it was therefore no surprise he was eliminated in the heats of the 200 m event at the Los Angeles Olympics. However, he won a fourth Olympic medal with the Jamaican 4x100 m relay team, which finished second behind the United States. His final competitive race was a 200m in London in September 1984, in which he finished 3rd.

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External links

Active career

See also

References

External links