Calvin Harrison (born January 20, 1974) is an American
athlete
An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...
. He won a gold medal in the men's
4 × 400 metres relay
The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...
at the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...
in
Sydney
Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. He is the identical
twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...
brother of fellow Olympic medalist
Alvin Harrison. At the 2000 Olympics, Alvin Harrison and Calvin Harrison made history by becoming the first twins ever to compete and win Olympic gold medals together on the same relay team since the inception of the modern Olympic Games. In the 4 × 400 m relay, Alvin ran the first leg and Calvin ran the third leg. In 2008, the 2000 Sydney Olympics 4×400 metres relay US team was stripped of their medals after teammate
Antonio Pettigrew admitted that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.
Calvin Harrison did not participate in the
2004 Summer Olympics
The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece.
The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...
due to a stimulant violation involving
modafinil
Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and wakefulness-promoting agent, eugeroic (wakefulness promoter) medication used primarily to treat narcolepsy, a sleep disorder characteri ...
at the 2003 U.S. championships. Harrison received a two-year suspension that ended in 2006.
While Alvin won an individual silver medal at the Olympics, when the twins were in high school at
North Salinas High School, in
Salinas, California
Salinas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Salt pan (geology), Salt Flats") is a city in the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Monterey County, California, Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is ...
, Calvin was the star. He set the
NFHS National High School record in the 400 meters of 45.25, while winning the 1993
CIF California State Meet defeating
Michael Granville, the soon-to-be national 800 meter record holder in the process. The record stood until
Aldrich Bailey broke it in 2012. In 1993, Calvin also won the 200 meters and teamed with Alvin to win the 4×400 meter relay, plus third place in the 4×100 meter relay, leading North Salinas to tie for the team title—the only time the school has even been in contention. He was ''
Track and Field News
''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field
Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...
'' "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1993.
Due to family problems, Alvin and Calvin Harrison lived on their own since their junior year in high school, floating back and forth between Orlando, Florida, and Salinas, California. After graduation, Calvin Harrison attended two-year
Hartnell College
Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems i ...
, but did not compete in track.
Harrison also co-authored the book ''Go to Your Destiny'', which debuted on ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...
'' in 2001.
See also
*
List of doping cases in athletics
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Calvin
1974 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Salinas, California
African-American track and field athletes
American male sprinters
Doping cases in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Olympic track and field athletes for the United States
Identical twins
American twins
Competitors stripped of Summer Olympics medals
Track and field athletes from California
Athletes stripped of World Athletics Championships medals
21st-century American sportsmen
21st-century African-American sportsmen
20th-century American sportsmen
20th-century African-American sportsmen
North Salinas High School alumni