Ato Boldon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ato Boldon OLY
Boldon at the Sydney 2000 Olympics
Member of the Senate of Trinidad and Tobago
In office 14 February 2006 – 23 April 2007
Preceded by	Roy Augustus
Succeeded by	Ronald Phillip
Personal details
Born	Ato Jabari Boldon (1973-12-30) 30 December 1973 (age 51) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Nationality	Trinidadian
Political party	United National Congress
Residences	Florida, United States
Ato Boldon Personal information Height 176 cm Weight 75 kg Sport Sport Sprinting Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres College team UCLA Achievements and titles Personal best(s) 100 m: 9.86 s (Lausanne 1999) 200 m: 19.77 s (Stuttgart 1997) Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Games Silver 2000 Sydney 100 m Bronze 1996 Atlanta 100 m Bronze 1996 Atlanta 200 m Bronze 2000 Sydney 200 m World Championships Gold 1997 Athens 200 m Silver 2001 Edmonton 4 × 100 m relay Bronze 1995 Gothenburg 100 m Bronze 2001 Edmonton 100 m Pan American Games Silver 2003 Santo Domingo 4 × 100 m relay Commonwealth Games Gold 1998 Kuala Lumpur 100 m Goodwill Games Gold 1998 New York City 200 m Silver 1998 New York City 100 m World Junior Championships Gold 1992 Seoul 100 m Gold 1992 Seoul 200 m CAC Junior Championships (U20) Gold 1992 Tegucigalpa 100 m Gold 1992 Tegucigalpa 200 m

Ato Jabari Boldon (born 30 December 1973) is a famous former track and field athlete and politician from Trinidad and Tobago. He won four medals at the Olympic Games, making him one of his country's most successful athletes. Boldon holds national records in the 50, 60, and 200 metres races. He also holds the Commonwealth Games record for the 100 metres.

After his amazing running career, Boldon served as a Senator in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament from 2006 to 2007. Today, he works as a television sports analyst for NBC Sports, sharing his knowledge of track and field with viewers.

Ato Boldon: A Champion Sprinter

Early Life and Amazing Start

Ato Boldon was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. When he was 14, he moved to the United States. In December 1989, while playing soccer at Jamaica High School in Queens, his sprinting talent was noticed by his track coach.

In his first year of track at age 16, Boldon quickly became a star. He won both the 200 metres and 400 metres races at the Queens County Championships in 1990. After moving to Piedmont Hills High School in San Jose, California, he continued to excel. He placed third in the 200 metres at the California State Meet in 1991. That summer, he won the Junior Olympic Title in the 200 metres.

At 18, Boldon represented Trinidad and Tobago at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Later that year, he made history at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics in Seoul, South Korea. He won both the 100 metres and 200 metres titles, becoming the first person to win both sprint events at the World Junior Championships.

Boldon also became a college champion while studying at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He won the 200 metres at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in 1995. In 1996, he won the NCAA 100 metres Championship, setting a new college record of 9.92 seconds.

Becoming a Senior Athlete

Boldon won his first major international medal at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, earning a bronze in the 100 metres. At 21, he was the youngest athlete to win a medal in that event. The next year, at the 1996 Summer Olympics, he won bronze medals in both the 100 metres and 200 metres.

In 1997, Boldon won the 200 metres at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics in Athens, Greece. This was the first world title in athletics for his country. This win made him one of the few sprinters to win both a World Junior and a World Senior title.

The year 1998 was a highlight for Boldon. He set a new personal best and national record of 9.86 seconds in the 100 metres. He also won a gold medal in the 100 metres at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His record time of 9.88 seconds at these games remains unbroken.

In 1999, Boldon ran 9.86 seconds twice in the 100 metres. However, a serious hamstring injury forced him to miss the World Championships that year.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Boldon made a great comeback. He won a silver medal in the 100 metres and a bronze in the 200 metres. These wins brought his total Olympic medals to four, making him the most successful individual Olympic medalist from Trinidad and Tobago at that time.

In 2001, Boldon had a positive test for a stimulant called ephedrine, which is found in many cold medicines. He received a warning but was not suspended, as it was understood he was treating a cold.

At the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Canada, Boldon finished fourth in the 100 metres. He also helped his country's 4 × 100 metres relay team win a bronze medal. This was Trinidad and Tobago's first relay medal at a World or Olympic competition. Later, in 2005, his 100 metres medal was upgraded to bronze and the relay medal to silver after another athlete's results were cancelled due to rule breaking. This brought Boldon's total World Championship medals to four, matching his four Olympic medals.

In July 2002, Boldon was seriously injured in a car accident. This accident affected his sprinting career, and he was no longer able to run as fast as before. In 2004, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he did not advance past the first round of the 100 metres. However, he led his country's 4 × 100 metres relay team to their first-ever Olympic final, where they finished seventh.

Boldon is one of the top sprinters in history. He has run the 100 metres in under 10 seconds 28 times, which is one of the highest totals ever.

Life After Running

Broadcasting Career

Boldon started his broadcasting career in 1999 at the World Championships in Seville, Spain. He was hired by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to provide commentary and analysis. He was popular with viewers and continued to work as an analyst for various events.

From 2005 to 2009, Boldon was part of the broadcast team for CBS for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. In 2007, he joined NBC Sports as an analyst for major championships. He was widely praised for his work, with newspapers calling him "one of NBC's best analysts." He continued his role as the NBC track and field analyst for the 2012 Summer Olympics. In 2013, he was nominated for a Sports Emmy Award for his commentary, a first for a track and field broadcaster in the U.S. He also works as a game analyst for Track & Field events for the Pac-12 Network. In 2017, Boldon also became a features contributor for NASCAR on NBC.

Political Role

On 14 February 2006, Ato Boldon became a Senator in the Trinidad and Tobago Parliament. He represented the United National Congress party. He resigned on 11 April 2007, after 14 months, due to his broadcasting commitments and disagreements with the party's leadership.

Other Activities

In 2006, Boldon created a DVD film called Once in a Lifetime: Boldon in Bahrain. This film documented his trip with other fans to Bahrain to watch Trinidad and Tobago's soccer team, the Soca Warriors, qualify for the Germany 2006 tournament. This made Trinidad and Tobago the smallest country ever to qualify for the World Cup.

Boldon also started coaching young athletes. Around 2012, he began coaching Khalifa St. Fort, helping her improve her 100 metres time significantly. St. Fort went on to win a silver medal at the 2015 World Youth Championships in Athletics and a bronze in the relay at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.

Personal Details

Ato Boldon has two daughters. He lives in Florida and also holds U.S. citizenship.

In 2000, Boldon was named a sports ambassador by the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. He is seen as one of the greatest sportsmen from the Caribbean. A stadium in Couva was named the Ato Boldon Stadium in his honor. This made him only the second sprinter from the island to have a stadium named after him.

Boldon is also a qualified pilot, having earned his private pilot's license in August 2005.

Achievements and Records

On 4 November 2011, Ato Boldon was honored by being inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.

Competition Record Highlights

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Trinidad and Tobago
1992	CAC Junior Championships (U-20)	Tegucigalpa, Honduras	1st	100 m	10.4  (0.0 m/s)
			1st	200 m	21.5  (0.1 m/s)
	World Junior Championships	Seoul, Korea	1st	100 m	10.30  (0.0 m/s)
			1st	200 m	20.63  (0.3 m/s)
	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	45th (h)	100 m	10.77  (−0.3 m/s)
			47th (h)	200 m	21.65  (0.0 m/s)
1994	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada	4th	100 m	10.07
			9th (sf)	200 m	20.80
1995	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	3rd	100 m	10.03  (1.0 m/s)
			29th (qf)	200 m	21.81  (−0.1 m/s)
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, U.S.	3rd	100 m	9.90  (0.7 m/s)
			3rd	200 m	19.80  (0.4 m/s)
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	5th	100 m	10.02  (0.2 m/s)
			1st	200 m	20.04 w  (2.3 m/s)
1998	Commonwealth Games	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1st	100 m	9.88  (−0.1 m/s) GR
	Goodwill Games	New York City, U.S.	2nd	100 m	10.00
			1st	200 m	20.15
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	2nd	100 m	9.99  (−0.3 m/s)
			3rd	200 m	20.20  (−0.6 m/s)
			11th (sf)	4 × 100 m	38.92 NR
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	3rd	100 m	9.98  (−0.2 m/s)
			2nd	4 × 100 m	38.58 NR
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	8th (sf)	100 m	10.22  (0.6 m/s)
			10th (sf)	4 × 100 m	38.84
2003	Pan American Games	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	2nd	4 × 100 m	38.53
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	44th (h)	100 m	10.41  (−1.1 m/s)
			7th	4 × 100 m	38.60

Personal Best Times

Track Records Held

As of September 2024, Boldon holds these track records for 100 metres and 200 metres.

100 Metres Records

200 Metres Records

See also

In Spanish: Ato Boldon para niños