Cameron Malik Burrell (September 11, 1994 – August 9, 2021) was an American sprinter. He was the NCAA Division I champion over

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

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, and anchored the

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to victory in the meters relay in

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and 2018. He ran for the United States relay team at the World Junior Championships in

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and the World Relays in

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, with the team earning gold and silver from each competition respectively. Additionally Burrell anchored the U.S. relay team to gold at the inaugural

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. He was the son of Olympic gold medalist and former 100 meters world record holder

Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Early life Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School ...

and Olympic gold medalist Michelle Finn-Burrell. He was also the godson of former track and field star

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...

. On June 8, 2017, he became the 121st man to break the

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over 100 meters in a time of 9.93 seconds, beating his father's school record set five years before Cameron's birth by one hundredth of a second. He repeated this feat a year later at the USA Championships.

Early life

Cameron Malik Burrell was born on September 11, 1994, to former 100m world record holder

and Olympic gold medalist Michelle Finn-Burrell. He has two siblings, Joshua and Jaden. Growing up, Cameron Burrell was surrounded by

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

; in addition to his parents' athletic background, his aunt Dawn Burrell was the 2001 World Indoor Champion in the Long Jump. His father's teammate and close friend was

, who knew Cameron his whole life. Despite this, his family never forced him into athletics, though Cameron already knew he wanted to be a sprinter at a very young age. Cameron attended Ridge Point High School in Missouri City, Texas. Throughout his junior years, he competed at the 2011 World Youth Championships in

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, the 2012 World Junior Championships in

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, and the 2013 Pan American Junior Championships in

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. He also formed a close friendship with his rival from Morton Ranch High School, Elijah Hall. After graduating from Ridge Point in June 2013, Burrell chose to follow in his father's footsteps and attend the

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, where his father was coaching.

Collegiate career

20142015

During his freshman year, Burrell made the NCAA Indoor 60m final, where he finished 6th. Outdoors, he ran a leg on the relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships but finished 7th in the heats and did not qualify for the final. He started out strong in his sophomore season, but suffered an injury and was forced to miss the Indoor Championships and

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his outdoor season.

2016

Burrell returned to competition in 2016, and finished 2nd in the NCAA 60m final, setting a school record at 6.48. Outdoors, he won his first conference title in the 100m and finished 4th at the NCAA Championships in 10.26.

2017

Burrell once again finished 2nd at the NCAA 60m final, this time to

Christian Coleman Christian Coleman (born March 6, 1996) is an American professional track and field sprinter who competes in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. The 2019 world champion in the 100 meters, he also won gold as part of men's 4 × 100-meter relay. He ...

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, who equaled the collegiate record of 6.45. During the outdoor season, he broke his father's long-standing school record in the 100m with 9.93 during the semifinals of the NCAA Championships. In the final, he finished second to Coleman again. During the however, he anchored Houston to the victory in 38.34.

2018

Having already completed four indoor seasons, Burrell was able to compete only outdoors. At the NCAA Championships, he anchored the Cougars to a collegiate record in the , defending their title from the previous year. Then, with two other Cougars in the 100m final, he finally won his first NCAA individual title, with Elijah Hall 2nd and Mario Burke 8th. Burrell dedicated his win to his teammate Brian Barraza, who fell after leading in the steeplechase and finished in 10th. Burrell equaled his personal best of 9.93 in the heats of the US Championships, then went on to finish 5th in the final. He competed at the inaugural

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, anchoring the US' team to victory in 38.42 seconds. He stayed in London for his

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debut at the Anniversary Games, where he placed 4th in his heat and 9th in the final. Burrell then traveled to

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for the NACAC Championships, and picked up a bronze medal in the 100m. After their seasons ended, Burrell and Elijah Hall turned professional and signed with

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and

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Death

Burrell died on August 9, 2021, at the age of 26. It was later revealed he died by suicide from a gunshot in a parking garage in Houston, Texas.

Statistics

*Information from

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profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal bests

International championship results

National championship results

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

results from Track & Field Results Reporting System.

Seasonal bests

Notes

References

External links

* * (Track & Field Results Reporting System)
Cameron Burrell
bio at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burrell, Cameron 1994 births 2021 deaths 2021 suicides African-American track and field athletes American male sprinters Track and field athletes from Houston Houston Cougars men's track and field athletes United States collegiate record holders in athletics (track and field) FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade Suicides by firearm in Texas 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen Deaths of competitors in athletics NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners