DeeDee Trotter facts for kids
Trotter at the 2012 Olympics
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| Born | December 8, 1982 Twentynine Palms, California, U.S. |
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| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country | United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 4 × 400m Relay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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De'Hashia Tonnek "DeeDee" Trotter (born December 8, 1982) is an amazing American athlete. She is famous for her incredible speed in track and field. DeeDee competed in three Olympic Games: 2004, 2008, and 2012. She won two Olympic gold medals in the 4 × 400 meter relay race. She also earned a bronze medal in the 400 meter race at the 2012 Olympics. DeeDee is now a global motivational speaker and works as a brand ambassador for Education First.
Contents
DeeDee's Early Life and School Years
DeeDee Trotter was born in Twentynine Palms, California on December 8, 1982. She grew up in Decatur, Georgia. In 2001, she graduated from Cedar Grove High School.
During high school, DeeDee was a talented athlete. She played on both the track and basketball teams. In her senior year, she helped her basketball team have a perfect season at home. She was especially good at the 200 meter and 400 meter track races. She also helped her high school's 4 × 400 meter relay team win the Georgia State Championship.
College Track and Field Career
Even though DeeDee loved basketball, her coaches saw how fast she was on the court. They encouraged her to try track and field as a main sport. She earned a scholarship for track and field at the University of Tennessee. This meant she had to focus only on running.
DeeDee quickly became a top college runner. In 2003, she finished second in the NCAA championships. The next year, in 2004, she became the NCAA champion in her event. She still holds the University of Tennessee record for the 400 meter race with a time of 50.0 seconds. DeeDee studied Sociology at the university. She later trained with coach Caryl Smith Gilbert, who continued to guide her after graduation. DeeDee was the first woman from the University of Tennessee to become a professional track and field athlete before she even graduated!
DeeDee's Professional Running Career
Winning Gold in 2004
DeeDee Trotter started her professional career strong. In 2003, she competed at the IAAF World Athletics Championship in France. She reached the semi-finals in the 400 meter race. That same year, she won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 meter women's relay at both the World Championships and the Pan-American Games.
In 2004, DeeDee joined the 2004 Summer Olympics team for the 400 meter race. Many thought she would win a medal. She finished 5th overall in the 400 meters, setting her personal best time of 50.00 seconds. She was also a key part of the US team that won gold in the 4 × 400 meter relay. DeeDee ran the first part of the relay, giving her team a strong lead.
Challenges and Triumphs (2005-2011)
DeeDee continued to achieve great things. In 2005 and 2006, she won gold medals again at the USA Indoor Championships. In 2007, she won another 4 × 400 meter gold medal at the World Championships. That year, she also won the 400 meter race at the US Track and Field Championships. Her time of 49.64 seconds was the fastest in the world that year! She said winning felt "like a dream."
In 2008, DeeDee faced a challenge before the Olympic Trials. She was running with a broken bone in her left leg. Despite this, she still finished third and made the Olympic team. She competed in the 400 meters at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She made it to the semi-finals but could not reach the finals because of her injury. She also had to withdraw from the 4 × 400 meter relay team.
After the Olympics, DeeDee had surgery and worked hard to recover. She returned to competition in 2009. To help motivate herself, she started wearing face paint during her races. Even with more injuries in the following years, she showed amazing determination. In 2010, at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, she tripped at the start of a race. But she quickly recovered and still won the 400 meter event! She said her first thought was, "as long as I'm not on the ground, just keep running." DeeDee also won several silver and bronze medals in the IAAF Diamond League series.
Olympic Glory in 2012 and Retirement
Leading up to the 2012 Olympics, DeeDee once again recorded the fastest time in the 400 meters that year. She said she had overcome many difficulties to make the Olympic Team. At the 2012 Olympics in London, she won the bronze medal in the 400 meters race. Her time was 49.72 seconds.
DeeDee was also the first runner in the gold medal-winning 4 × 400 meter US relay team. She gave her team a 10-meter lead after her part of the race! After winning, DeeDee said the team felt pressure to perform their best, and they "hit the center of the target."
In 2016, DeeDee Trotter gracefully retired from the sport. She ran her final lap at the USA Olympic Trials. After a thirteen-year career, she waved goodbye to the crowd at Hayward Field in Oregon.
DeeDee's Work Outside of Running
DeeDee Trotter has done many amazing things besides running. In 2009, she won a Bodybuilding.com Model Search. This led to a part-time career as a fitness model.
In 2013, DeeDee became a volunteer assistant coach for the sprints team at the USC Trojans track and field program. That same year, she started a project called Gifted Soles. This project collected shoes for people experiencing homelessness in Orlando. It also raised money to provide 500 meals for them.
In 2014, DeeDee started a new non-profit organization called Running For The People. This group used running to help encourage people who needed support. In 2020, DeeDee traveled to Japan as a Sports Envoy for the U.S. State Department. This role involved using sports to build connections between countries.
Fighting for Clean Sports
DeeDee Trotter is a strong supporter of clean sports. She founded Test Me I'm Clean, a charity that works to stop the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports. She travels across the United States, giving speeches to students. She teaches them why it's important to compete fairly and stay clean. Supporters of her organization wear white and red rubber armbands. DeeDee herself wore one during her 2012 bronze medal race. She was inspired to start the charity in 2006 after hearing people say that all elite athletes used steroids. She knew this was not true for many athletes, including herself.
DeeDee was one of the first athletes to join Project Believe. In this program, twelve athletes volunteered for frequent, surprise drug tests. DeeDee volunteered to give 31 extra test samples! She said that athletes needed to do something to keep sports fair.
In 2009, DeeDee also became one of the first twelve athletes to join the "Athlete Ambassador" program. This program is run by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). As an ambassador, DeeDee spoke with students about staying clean in sports. She also wrote articles for the USADA website.
Later, a member of the 2004 Athens 4 × 400 meter relay team, Crystal Cox, admitted to a doping violation. Her gold medal was taken away. However, in 2013, DeeDee and the other two team members were allowed to keep their gold medals. The team remains the gold medal team in the Olympic records.
See also
In Spanish: DeeDee Trotter para niños
