Darvis Patton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Darvis Patton

Patton (second left) after his 2007 World 4×100 m relay gold
Personal information
Born	(1977-12-04) December 4, 1977 (age 47) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Residence	Grand Prairie, Texas, U.S.
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	180 lb (82 kg)
Sport
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, long jump
College team	Texas Christian University and Garden City Community College
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100m: 9.89 200m: 20.03
Medal record Men's athletics Representing the  United States Olympic Games Silver 2012 London 4×100 m relay Silver 2004 Athens 4×100 m relay World Championships Gold 2003 Paris 4×100 m relay Gold 2007 Osaka 4×100 m relay Silver 2003 Paris 200 m Pan American Games Silver 2007 Rio de Janeiro 100 m Bronze 2007 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m relay

Darvis "Doc" Darell Patton (born December 4, 1977) is a former American track and field athlete. He was a very fast runner, known for his sprinting events. Darvis won the US Championship in the 200-meter dash twice. He also earned a silver medal in the 200m at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics.

Darvis Patton competed in the Olympics three times. He also took part in the World Athletics Championships four times. He had great success with the American 4×100-meter relay team. He won gold medals in 2003 and 2007 at the World Championships. He also won a silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Sometimes, the relay team had bad luck. They were disqualified at the 2008 Olympics and the 2009 and 2011 World Championships.

Darvis is a talented athlete in both jumping and sprinting. He first focused on the 200m race. After injuries in 2005 and 2006, he switched to the 100-meter dash. He won a silver medal in the 100m at the 2007 Pan American Games. He also reached the finals of the 100m at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Darvis has run the 100m in under 10 seconds. His fastest time is 9.89 seconds, making him one of the fastest Americans ever. He also has personal bests of 20.03 seconds for the 200m. His best long jump was 8.12 meters. He ran the 60-meter dash in 6.50 seconds, a record for runners over 35.

Career Highlights

Starting Out in Track and Field

Darvis Patton was born in Dallas, Texas. His parents are William Johnson and Dorrise Patton. From a young age, Darvis was a very skilled athlete. He competed in the long jump, triple jump, and sprint events. He did this while attending Lake Highlands High School and TCU. In 1998, at the AAU Junior Olympic Games, he won the long jump. He was second in the triple jump and fourth in the 200m.

That same year, he finished at Garden City Community College. He then received a scholarship to Texas Christian University. There, his coach, Monte Stratton, helped him focus on the 100m and 200m races. In 2000, he made it to the finals of both races at the NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship. By the end of 2000, his best times were 6.64 seconds for the 60-meter dash, 10.22 for the 100m, and 20.29 for the 200m. His best long jump was 8.04 m (26 ft 4.41043307 in) meters. He also reached the semi-finals of the 200m at the 2000 US Olympic Trials.

In his second year at Texas Christian, he set new indoor bests. He ran the 200m in 20.73 seconds and jumped 7.85 m (25 ft 8.93011811 in) meters in the long jump. He was a finalist in both events at the NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship. Outdoors, he also got better. He ran the 100m in 10.16 seconds and jumped 8.12 m (26 ft 7.56003937 in) meters in the long jump in Arlington, Texas. At the 2001 NCAA Outdoor Championships, he earned four All-American honors. He was sixth in the 100m, fourth in the long jump, and third in the 200m. He also won the 4×100-meter relay with his team, the TCU Horned Frogs. He started to become well-known nationally at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships that year. He finished fourth in the 200m and seventh in the long jump. Later, he was moved up to third place in the 200m. This happened after another runner, Ramon Clay, was banned for using illegal substances.

First Big Wins: World and Olympic Medals

Darvis had his first major successes in 2002. He was the second-place finisher in the 200m at both the Indoor and Outdoor US Championships. Because Ramon Clay was disqualified, Darvis became the American outdoor 200m champion that year. There were no big world championships that year. So, he competed mostly in international races. He won 200m races in Glasgow and London. He was second at the Golden Gala and Memorial Van Damme meets. He improved his 200m best time to 20.12 seconds in Brussels.

The next year, 2003, he won his first medals on the world stage. He became the national champion in the 200m. Then, he won a silver medal in that event at the 2003 World Championships in Athletics. His teammate John Capel won the gold. Darvis also won a gold medal as part of the American 4×100m relay team. This team included Capel, Bernard Williams, and J. J. Johnson. Darvis stopped focusing on the long jump and got faster in all his sprint races. He set a personal best of 6.58 seconds in the 60m. He ran the 100m in exactly ten seconds at the Weltklasse Zürich meeting. He ran the 200m in 20.03 seconds in the World Championships semi-finals. He was also second in 200m races at the Athletissima and Meeting Gaz de France meets. He finished fourth in the 200m at the 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final.

In 2004, he finished fourth in the 200m at the US Olympic Trials. This meant he was chosen as a backup runner for the 4×100m relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Darvis helped the American team easily get through the first races. They ran a time of 38.02 seconds. For the final race, he was replaced by Justin Gatlin, who had just won the 100m Olympic gold. But this change did not help the team. They finished a bit slower (38.08 seconds). They had to take the silver medal, losing to Great Britain. Darvis had serious groin and hip injuries in 2005 and 2006. He could not compete in major races until 2007.

Coming Back Strong After Injury

Patton winning at the 2008 Penn Relays

Darvis Patton came back to racing in 2007. He focused on the shorter 100m sprint. He finished eighth in the 100m final at the 2007 US Championships. He then pulled out of the 200m race. Because of his performance, he was chosen to represent the United States. This was at the 2007 Pan American Games. He finished second in the 100m, behind Churandy Martina. He also ran the last part of the relay team, helping them win a bronze medal.

He was then chosen for the relay team at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. This time, he made it to the final after his team qualified. The American team included Wallace Spearmon, Tyson Gay, and Leroy Dixon. They became world champions with a very fast time of 37.78 seconds. They beat the Jamaican team, who set a new national record.

At the 2008 US Olympic Trials, Darvis ran his fastest 100m ever. He clocked 9.89 seconds in the quarter-finals. He ran even faster in the final, 9.84 seconds, but the wind was helping him (+3.1 m/s). He finished third behind Tyson Gay and Walter Dix. He officially broke the 10-second barrier for the second time at the Herculis meet in Monaco. He placed second behind Asafa Powell with a time of 9.98 seconds.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he was the slowest runner to qualify for the 100m final. In the final, he ran 10.03 seconds. He was again the slowest, finishing in eighth place. He also ran in the 4 × 100m relay with Rodney Martin, Travis Padgett, and Tyson Gay. But they did not finish the race. There was a mistake when Darvis and Tyson Gay tried to pass the baton.

Patton (far right) grimacing in injury at the 2009 World Championships 100 m final.

In 2009, Darvis finished second to Michael Rodgers in a close 100m race. This was at the 2009 US championships in June. He ran 9.92 seconds, helped by the wind. This earned him a spot on the American team for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Before the championships, he was second in Monaco and Stockholm. In Stockholm, he ran a wind-assisted 9.95 seconds behind Tyson Gay. He made it to the final of the men's 100 meters. He ran his season's best of 9.98 in the semi-finals. However, he did not perform well in the final. He finished last with a slow time of 10.34 seconds because of an injury. The American men's relay team again had problems. They were disqualified because of an illegal baton exchange between Darvis and Shawn Crawford. Darvis ended his season strongly. He ran several races under 10 seconds. This included 9.95 for third place at the Weltklasse, 9.94 to win the Hanžeković Memorial, and a personal best of 9.89 seconds for third at the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. He also placed third in the 100m at the Memorial Van Damme and the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final.

Winning a Second Olympic Medal

Darvis Patton's 2010 season ended early in May due to another injury. He came back in 2011 and started racing the 200m more often. At the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, he was sixth in the 100m. But he managed to get second place in the 200m, behind Walter Dix. The 2011 World Championships in Athletics was not one of his best competitions. He was knocked out in the 200m semi-finals. In the relay final, he bumped into Britain's Harry Aikines-Aryeetey. He failed to pass the baton successfully. His best times that season were 9.94 seconds for the 100m and 20.25 seconds for the 200m.

At the 2012 US Olympic Trials, he finished fifth in both the 100m and 200m. Even though he didn't get an individual spot, he was chosen for the relay team. At the 2012 London Olympics, he ran as a substitute in the qualifying races. Even this American team, with Jeff Demps, Darvis, Trell Kimmons, and Justin Gatlin, broke the national record with a time of 37.38 seconds. The American team for the final included Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey. They improved that record even more to 37.04 seconds. But they were still second to the Jamaican team, who set a new world record. Darvis Patton received his second Olympic silver medal for his part in the relay.

He started 2013 with fast times. He ran the 60m in 6.50 seconds, which was a world record for athletes over 35. He also ran a wind-aided 100m in 9.75 seconds.

Life After Competing

Helping Other Athletes

Darvis Patton announced his retirement from running in 2013. He then started coaching. Before he stopped competing, Darvis was a leader on the USATF Athlete's Advisory Committee for men's sprints. In this role, he spoke up for top sprint athletes. He was the main contact for issues about competitions and athlete benefits. He also shared updates on rules and events.

Later, other athletes voted for him to join the USATF Board of Directors for four years. He continued to represent athletes. He helped review budgets to make sure money was used well. He also worked to ensure athletes in all track and field sports had a voice. This included things like choosing staff, drug testing, and competition rules.

Coaching Career

In 2015, Darvis was an assistant sprint and hurdles coach for the USA Track and Field team. He helped them win ten medals at the IAAF World Relay Championship and NACAC Senior Championship. They also won four more medals at the Penn Relays.

From 2019 to 2022, he was the head track coach at All Saints Episcopal School in Fort Worth. Under his coaching, the school's program broke records in the high jump and 4x100 meter race. In 2015, they placed fourth in the state championship. This was the highest finish in the school's 70-year history. He also coached the school's first state champion in the men's 100m dash.

In March 2022, Darvis joined the Texas Wesleyan University staff. He became the assistant track and field coach. He works with short sprints and jumps. In his first two years, he helped the men's and women's track teams win their first conference titles ever. He also coached Texas Wesleyan's first national track and field champions in the 400m, 60m hurdles, and 110m hurdles. In 2023, he was named the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Assistant Coach of the Year for Women's Outdoor Track & Field in his region. In 2024, he was promoted to associate head coach for the Texas Wesleyan track and field program.

Personal Life

Darvis is married to Crystal. They have a daughter named Dakota and a son named Darvis II. He is proud to have been a member of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. He also works as a mentor for young people.

Personal Bests

• All information taken from IAAF profile.

Competition Record

Images for kids

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  Patton winning at the 2008 Penn Relays

• 

  Patton (far right) grimacing in injury at the 2009 World Championships 100m final.

See also

In Spanish: Darvis Patton para niños