Merlene Ottey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
The Honourable
Merlene Ottey
ON OJ OD

Merlene Ottey in Warsaw, Poland, in September 2011
Personal information
Birth name	Merlene Joyce Ottey
Full name	Merlene Joyce Ottey
Citizenship	Jamaican (birth), Slovenia (since May 2002)
Born	(1960-05-10) 10 May 1960 (age 65) Cold Spring, Hanover, Colony of Jamaica, British Empire
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	62 kg (137 lb)
Spouse(s)	Nat Page (1984–1987; divorced)
Sport
Country	Jamaica (1978–2002) Slovenia (2002–2012)
Sport	Athletics
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games (9 medals) 0 3 6 World Championships (14 medals) 3 4 7 World Indoor Championships (7 medals) 3 2 2 Total (30 medals) 6 9 15 Olympic Games Silver 1996 Atlanta 100 m Silver 1996 Atlanta 200 m Silver 2000 Sydney 4 × 100 m relay Bronze 1980 Moscow 200 m Bronze 1984 Los Angeles 100 m Bronze 1984 Los Angeles 200 m Bronze 1992 Barcelona 200 m Bronze 1996 Atlanta 4 × 100 m relay Bronze 2000 Sydney 100 m World Championships Gold 1991 Tokyo 4 × 100 m relay Gold 1993 Stuttgart 200 m Gold 1995 Gothenburg 200 m Silver 1983 Helsinki 200 m Silver 1993 Stuttgart 100 m Silver 1995 Gothenburg 100 m Silver 1995 Gothenburg 4 × 100 m relay Bronze 1983 Helsinki 4 × 100 m relay Bronze 1987 Rome 100 m Bronze 1987 Rome 200 m Bronze 1991 Tokyo 100 m Bronze 1991 Tokyo 200 m Bronze 1993 Stuttgart 4 × 100 m relay Bronze 1997 Athens 200 m World Indoor Championships Gold 1989 Budapest 200 m Gold 1991 Seville 200 m Gold 1995 Barcelona 60 m Silver 1987 Indianapolis 200 m Silver 1991 Seville 60 m Bronze 1989 Budapest 60 m Bronze 2003 Birmingham 60 m Commonwealth Games Gold 1982 Brisbane 200 m Gold 1990 Auckland 200 m Gold 1990 Auckland 100 m Silver 1982 Brisbane 100 m Bronze 1982 Brisbane 4 × 100 m relay Pan American Games Silver 1979 San Juan 4 × 100 m relay Bronze 1979 San Juan 200 m

Merlene Ottey: The Sprint Queen

Merlene Joyce Ottey, born on May 10, 1960, is a famous track and field sprinter. She started her amazing career representing Jamaica in 1978. For 24 years, she ran for Jamaica. Then, from 2002 to 2012, she competed for Slovenia.

Merlene is known for her incredible speed. She is one of the fastest women ever in the 60, 100, and 200-meter races. She even holds the world indoor record for the 200 meters, set in 1993. Merlene was named Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 13 times!

She had one of the longest careers in top-level sprinting. She competed at the 1979 Pan American Games when she was just 19. Her career ended at age 52, when she ran in the 2012 European Athletics Championships.

Merlene won nine Olympic medals, making her one of the most decorated track and field athletes. Even though she never won an Olympic gold, she earned three silver and six bronze medals. She also won 14 medals at the World Championships. She holds the record for the most individual medals in these championships. Because of her many achievements and long career, people called her the "Queen of the Track." She was also known as the "Bronze Queen" because she won so many bronze medals.

Life as a Sprinter

Merlene Ottey was born in Cold Spring, Hanover, Jamaica. Her mother first introduced her to track and field. She even bought Merlene a book about the sport.

In the 1970s, Merlene went to Gurneys Mount and Pondside Schools. Later, she attended Rusea's and Vere Technical High Schools. She often ran in local races without shoes!

Merlene was inspired by the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. She listened to the track and field events, especially when Donald Quarrie ran. Her own athletics journey really began when she moved to the US. She joined the track team at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in 1979.

At the university, Merlene was a star. She won 14 national titles and earned 24 All-America awards. These are the most by any student athlete at Nebraska. She won many NCAA titles, including five in 1982. Merlene still holds top records at Nebraska for the 55, 100, and 200-meter dashes.

She first represented Jamaica at the 1979 Pan American Games. There, she won a bronze medal in the 200 meters. After graduating from university, she was awarded the Officer of the Order of Nation and the Order of Distinction in Jamaica. These awards were for her great achievements in sports.

At the 1982 Commonwealth Games, Merlene won a gold medal in the 200 meters. She also took home a silver in the 100 meters. Years later, at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, she won gold in both events again. In 1993, after winning a gold medal at the World Championships, she was named an Ambassador of Jamaica. She was also named Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 13 times between 1979 and 1995.

Merlene has won nine Olympic medals in total. This is the second-highest number for any woman in track and field history. She has three silver and six bronze medals. She came very close to winning an Olympic gold medal in the 100 meters at the 1996 Summer Olympics. She lost to Gail Devers by just five-thousandths of a second! They both had the same time, but Gail was just a tiny bit faster.

Merlene competed in seven Olympic Games from 1980 to 2004. This is the second most appearances for any track and field athlete. She held the record for most World Championship medals, with 14. This record was later broken by Allyson Felix. However, Merlene still holds the record for most individual World Championship medals, with 10. Because 13 of her Olympic and World Championship medals were bronze, she earned the nickname "the Bronze Queen." In 2015, she was inducted into Nebraska's first Athletics Hall of Fame.

Competing for Slovenia

In 1998, Merlene moved to Slovenia. She started training there with coach Srđan Đorđević. She was still running for Jamaica at this time. However, in May 2002, she became a citizen of Slovenia. She then began to represent her new country in international competitions. She lived in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Merlene competed for Slovenia at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She was 44 years old and reached the semifinals in the 100 meters. She just missed qualifying for the final by a tiny amount. At age 46, she competed in the 2006 European Championships in Athletics. She did not qualify for the final there either.

At 48, Merlene tried to reach her eighth Olympic Games in 2008 but did not qualify. Two years later, she joined Slovenia's 4 × 100-meter relay team. This made her the oldest athlete ever to compete in the European Championships.

At 52, Merlene competed in the 4 × 100 meters relay at the 2012 European Athletics Championships. The Slovenian team was ranked 22nd in the world before the 2012 Olympics. Only the top 16 teams qualified for the Olympics.

Since 2014, Merlene Ottey has lived in Switzerland.

Amazing Records and Achievements

Ottey at the 2011 European Team Championships in İzmir

• Merlene is ranked among the top sprinters of all time in the 100 and 200 meters.
• In 1990, she was named the World Athlete of the Year.
• She was the first woman to run 60 meters in under seven seconds (6.96 seconds in 1992).
• Merlene is the only woman to run the indoor 200 meters in under 22 seconds (21.87 seconds in 1993). This record still stands!
• She has run the 100 meters in under eleven seconds 68 times. This is a record for female sprinters.
• She has run the 200 meters in under twenty-two seconds 16 times. This is another record for female sprinters.
• Merlene had 57 wins in a row in the 100 meters. She also had 34 wins in a row in the 200 meters.
• She holds world records for older age groups (Masters Athletics) in the 100 and 200 meters.
• Merlene was the first female athlete from the Western Hemisphere (outside the USA) to win two individual medals at the same Olympic Games.
• At the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, she became the oldest female gold medalist. She won the 200 meters at 35 years old.
• At the 1997 World Championships in Athletics, she became the oldest female medalist ever at 37 years old.
• At the 2000 Summer Olympics, at age 40, she became the oldest female track and field medalist. She helped the Jamaican team win a silver medal in the 4 × 100 meters relay.
• Merlene is one of only four athletes to win twenty or more medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships combined.
• She was the first female Caribbean athlete to win an Olympic medal.
• Merlene has won the most Olympic medals (9 medals) in women's track and field. This record is now shared with American sprinter Allyson Felix.
• She has won the Jamaican Sportsperson of the Year award a record 13 times.

International Competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Time
Representing  Jamaica
1978	CAC Junior Championships (U-20)	Xalapa, Mexico	3rd	200 m	25.34s A
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	47.12s A
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:58.8 A
1979	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	Kingston, Jamaica	2nd	100 m	11.87s
			2nd	200 m	24.05s
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	46.47s
	Pan American Games	San Juan, Puerto Rico	3rd	200 m	22.79w
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	3rd	200 m	22.20
			6th	4 × 100 m	43.19
			heats	4 × 400 m	3.31.5
1982	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	2nd	100 m	11.03
			1st	200 m	22.19w
			3rd	4 × 100 m	43.69
1983	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	4th	100 m	11.19
			2nd	200 m	22.19
			3rd	4 × 100 m	42.73
1984	Olympic Games	Los Angeles, United States	3rd	100 m	11.16
			3rd	200 m	22.09
			8th	4 × 100 m	53.54
1987	World Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, United States	4th	60 m	7.13
			2nd	200 m	22.66
	World Championships	Rome, Italy	3rd	100 m	11.04
			3rd	200 m	22.06
1988	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	DNS (sf)	100 m	11.03 (qf)
			4th	200 m	21.99
			DNS (f)	4 × 100 m	43.30 (sf)
1989	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	3rd	60 m	7.10
			1st	200 m	22.34
1990	Commonwealth Games	Auckland, New Zealand	1st	100 m	11.02w
			1st	200 m	22.76
1991	World Indoor Championships	Seville, Spain	2nd	60 m	7.08
			1st	200 m	22.24
	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	3rd	100 m	11.06
			3rd	200 m	22.21
			1st	4 × 100 m	41.94
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	5th	100 m	10.88
			3rd	200 m	22.09
				4 × 100 m	DNF
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	2nd	100 m	10.82
			1st	200 m	21.98
			3rd	4 × 100 m	41.94
1994	World Cup	London, United Kingdom	1st	200 m	22.23
1995	World Indoor Championships	Barcelona, Spain	1st	60 m	6.97
	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	2nd	100 m	10.94
			1st	200 m	22.12
			2nd	4 × 100 m	42.25
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	2nd	100 m	10.94
			2nd	200 m	22.24
			3rd	4 × 100 m	42.24
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	7th	100 m	11.29
			3rd	200 m	22.40
1998	Goodwill Games	New York City, United States	4th	100 m	11.21
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	3rd	100 m	11.19
			2nd	4 × 100 m	42.13
Representing  Slovenia
2003	World Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	3rd	60 m	7.20
	World Championships	Paris, France	11th (sf)	100 m	11.26
			16th (qf)	200 m	23.22
			heats	4 × 100 m	DISQ
2004	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	9th (sf)	60 m	7.21
	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	10th (sf)	100 m	11.21
			DNF (sf)	200 m	22.72 (h)
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	10th (sf)	100 m	11.44
2007	European Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	19th (h)	60 m	7.33
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	38th (h)	100 m	11.64
2010	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	13th (h)	4 × 100 m	44.30
2012	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	11th (h)	4 × 100 m	44.28
(#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) quarterfinals (qf) or semifinals (sf). DNF = did not finish DNS = did not start

See also

In Spanish: Merlene Ottey para niños

• List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
• List of multiple Summer Olympic medalists