Kristi Castlin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Kristi Castlin

Castlin in 2014
Personal information
Born	(1988-07-07) July 7, 1988 (age 37) Atlanta, Georgia
Residence	Los Angeles
Height	5 feet 7 inches (1.70 m)
Weight	133 pounds (60 kg)
Sport
Club	HSInternational Sports Management
Team	Nike
Medal record Olympic Games Bronze 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m hurdles NACAC Junior Championships Silver 2008 Toluca 100 m hurdles Pan American Junior Championships Gold 2007 São Paulo 100 m hurdles

Kristi Castlin (born July 7, 1988) is an American track and field athlete. She is best known for running in the 100 metres hurdles race. Kristi won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games.

Her fastest time in the 100 metres hurdles is 12.50 seconds. She set this record on July 8, 2016. This amazing run helped her qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. In 2012, she was the American champion in the indoor 60 metres hurdles. She also represented the United States at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. Kristi Castlin shares a world record in the shuttle hurdle relay. Her team set a time of 50.78 seconds in 2013.

Kristi went to college at Virginia Tech. She competed for the Virginia Tech Hokies team. She earned "All-America" honors seven times in NCAA championships. This means she was recognized as one of the best college athletes. These achievements led to her being added to the Virginia Tech sports hall of fame.

She won a gold medal at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in 2007. In 2008, she earned a silver medal at the NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics. During the 2016 Summer Olympics, Kristi wore a traditional Hindu bindi. She won a bronze medal in the women's 100 metres hurdles. Her teammates, Brianna Rollins and Nia Ali, won gold and silver. This was a special moment because American women swept all three medals in this event. It was the only time this happened in the 2016 Olympic Athletics program.

Kristi Castlin's Early Life

Kristi Castlin was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Her parents are Kimberly and Rodney Castlin. She did not start running track and field until she was fourteen years old. She became interested when she noticed she was faster than her friends.

While in high school, she set a Georgia state record. She ran the 100 metres hurdles in 13.73 seconds. Kristi was a great student and graduated in the top five percent of her class. Because of her athletic skills, she received a scholarship. She went to Virginia Tech to study political science. She finished her studies and graduated from Virginia Tech in 2010.

College Track and Field Career

Kristi Castlin started her college career with the Virginia Tech Hokies. In her first indoor season, she broke school records. She set new best times in the 60 metres hurdles (8.20 seconds) and 55 metres hurdles (7.61 seconds). She was recognized as an All-American athlete. This was for her ninth-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships. She also finished second at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) indoor meet.

Outdoors, she broke the American junior (under-20) record for the 100 metres hurdles. She ran it in 12.91 seconds. She won the ACC Outdoor Championships title. She also placed ninth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. After winning the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Kristi made her first international appearance. She competed at the 2007 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships. She won the gold medal and set a championship record of 13.02 seconds. She even beat her teammate, Queen Harrison.

Kristi kept getting better in the 2008 season. She broke two more school records in indoor hurdles. She finished second to Tiffany Ofili at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships. She was also second in the 60 metres hurdles at the ACC Indoor Championships. Outdoors, she won the ACC 100 metres hurdles title. She ran her fastest time of the season, 12.81 seconds. This time ranked her 25th in the world that year. She reached the semi-finals at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials. She also won her second international medal, a silver, at the 2008 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics.

In her third college season, she won the ACC hurdles titles both indoors and outdoors. At the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, she was again second in the 100 metres hurdles. She finished behind Tiffany Ofili from Michigan Wolverines. Ofili also won at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where Kristi took third place. In her final year in 2010, she was second at the NCAA Indoor Championships, behind Queen Harrison. She finished fourth at the NCAA Outdoor competition, which was her last NCAA event.

Kristi Castlin finished her time with the Hokies with many achievements. She won four ACC titles. She broke the conference record for the 100 metres hurdles. She also earned eight All-American honors from NCAA competitions.

Kristi Castlin's Professional Career

Kristi Castlin (left) racing in 2014

After leaving Virginia Tech, Kristi Castlin became a professional athlete. She got a sponsorship from Adidas. In 2011, she set her season's best time of 12.83 seconds at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. However, she was disqualified in the semi-finals because of a false start. She won her first national title at the 2012 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. She set a personal record of 7.84 seconds in this race. This time was the second fastest in the world that year for the 60 metres hurdles.

This win helped her get selected for the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. This was her first time competing at a major senior event. Even though she was one of the favorites, she did not finish her race. She stopped running because she thought she heard a recall signal.

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, she reached the semi-finals. But her time of 12.93 seconds was not fast enough to move forward. However, she did very well on the 2012 IAAF Diamond League circuit that year. She greatly improved her personal record to 12.56 seconds. She finished second at the Bislett Games in Oslo. This time ranked her sixth in the world for 2012. She also placed fourth at the Meeting Areva in Paris and the London Grand Prix.

Kristi tried to win her national title again at the 2013 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. But she was beaten by Nia Ali and finished second. At the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she had her best national finish yet. She took sixth place with a time of 12.61 seconds, which was her fastest that year. She was ranked tenth globally for the season. A highlight of her 2013 was setting a world record in the shuttle hurdle relay. This is a less common relay race. At the Florida Relays, a team of Nia Ali, Kristi Castlin, Yvette Lewis, and Queen Harrison set a new best time of 50.78 seconds.

She finished in the top three at the 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. This was her third year in a row placing high at the national event. She was named the USA Track & Field athlete of the week in April 2014. This was because she broke Brianna Rollins' streak of 35 races without defeat. Kristi's run of 12.571 seconds was just a tiny bit faster than Rollins'. She also broke the Drake Relays meet record. This was her fastest time of the season and placed her seventh in the world rankings. She beat both Rollins (the world champion) and Sally Pearson (the Olympic champion) at the Spitzen Leichtathletik Luzern in July. She ended the year with a win at the Memorial Van Damme meet in Brussels.

During the 2016 United States Olympic Trials for track and field, Kristi Castlin placed second in the 100 metres hurdles. Her time was 12.50 seconds. She finished behind Brianna Rollins and ahead of Nia Ali. This performance qualified her to represent the United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

She earned a bronze medal at the Rio Olympics in the 100 metres hurdles. Her time was 12.61 seconds, just barely beating Cindy Ofili at the finish line. Kristi finished behind her American teammates Brianna Rollins, who won gold, and Nia Ali, who won silver. This was a historic moment. It was the first time in Olympic history that American women had won all three medals in any event. It also made the United States the first country to win gold, silver, and bronze in the women's 100 metres hurdles in one Olympics. HSInternational Sports Management announced they had signed Kristi "Hollywood" Castlin, the Rio Olympic Bronze Medalist.

Kristi Castlin's Best Times

These are Kristi Castlin's personal best times in different races:

• Outdoor
  • 100-meter hurdles – 12.50 seconds (set in 2016)
• Indoor
  • 50-meter hurdles – 6.81 seconds (set in 2012)
  • 55-meter hurdles – 7.37 seconds (set in 2012)
  • 60-meter hurdles – 7.84 seconds (set in 2012)
  • 200-meter dash – 24.61 seconds (set in 2008)

National Titles Won

Kristi Castlin has won one national title:

• USA Indoor Track and Field Championships
  • 60-meter hurdles: 2012

International Competitions

See also

In Spanish: Kristi Castlin para niños