Chris Nelloms (born August 14, 1971) is an American male former

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

sprinter who specialized in the 200- and 400-meter dash. In 1992, Nelloms was shot by an unknown assailant during athletic practice in a park. He made a full recovery and returned to competitive running. In 1999, Nelloms was charged and convicted on eight counts of sexual offenses against a minor. He was sentenced to four life terms in prison.

Early life

Nelloms attended Dunbar High School in Dayton and set several high school records. He originally competed in both sprints and

hurdling Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

and a national high school record of 13.30 seconds for the 110-meter hurdles in 1990 led him to be chosen as ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

High School Athlete of the Year.

Career

With a relay gold at the

1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1988 World Junior Championships in Athletics was the 1988 edition of the World Junior Championships in Athletics, held in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada from July 27 to July 31, 1988."Junior host out to bury bad image". ''The Globe and Mail'', Jul ...

and three sprint golds at the

1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1990 World Junior Championships in Athletics was the 1990 edition of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria on 8–12 August. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unoffic ...

, Nelloms has won the most titles in the history of the IAAF World Junior Championships.IAAF World Junior Championships Eugene 2014 Facts and Figures
IAAF. Retrieved 2018-04-10. He also won a gold medal triple at the

1989 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships The 5th Pan American Junior Athletics Championships were held in Santa Fe, Argentina, on June 23–25, 1989. Participation (unofficial) Detailed result lists can be found on the "World Junior Athletics History" website. An unofficial count yiel ...

, topping the podium in the 400 m, 4 × 100-meter relay and 4 × 400-meter relay. In August 1992 he was shot in the back in a park in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

, where he had been completing a fitness run. The shot hit an artery, broke his collarbone and punctured a lung, yet he managed to return to good health and race again. No one was charged with the shooting. He won back-to-back 200 m titles at the

NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate indoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The first edition of the championship was held in 1965, a ...

in 1992 to 1993. At the 1993 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships he won the 200 m and 4 × 400 m relay titles, as well as taking a bronze in the 4 × 100 m relay. As a result, he was named the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

male athlete of the year – only the third track athlete to win that title after Olympic medalists

Butch Reynolds Harry Lee "Butch" Reynolds Jr. (born June 8, 1964) is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the 400 meter dash. He held the world record for the event for 11 years 9 days with his personal best time of 43.29 seconds se ...

and

Joe Greene Charles Edward Greene (born September 24, 1946), better known as "Mean" Joe Greene, is an American former professional football defensive tackle who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1969 to 1981. A ...

. He took a 200 m silver medal at the

1993 Summer Universiade The 1993 Summer Universiade, also known as XVII Summer Universiade or World University Games Buffalo '93, took place in Buffalo, New York, as the main site. For the first time in history the event was hosted by two countries, as some events wer ...

the following month, finishing behind his teammate Brian Bridgewater. Nelloms took his first national title at the

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships i ...

in 1994, winning the 200 m race. He ranked second in the world on time for that indoor season behind Olympic champion

Linford Christie Linford Christie (born 2 April 1960) is a Jamaican-born British former Sprint (running), sprinter and athletics coach. He is the only British man to have won gold medals in the 100 metres at all four major competitions open to British athletes ...

Rape conviction and imprisonment

On January 8, 1999, Nelloms was convicted of one count of felonious sexual penetration and seven counts of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

against his daughter, who had accused him of sexually abusing her in Ohio and Kentucky from 1995 to 1997, when she was between the ages of eight and 11. He was sentenced to four consecutive terms of life in prison. He is incarcerated at Warren Correctional Institution. Immediately following his trial, Nelloms appealed the conviction, arguing juror and prosecutorial misconduct; the appeal was denied. In February 1999, he appealed again to the Ohio Court of Appeals, arguing for a new trial on the grounds that the state of Ohio only had jurisdiction to judge incidents that occurred in Ohio, not others that occurred in Kentucky. The court ruled that four counts of the indictment be dismissed, but denied Nelloms a new trial. Nelloms appealed again to the State Supreme Court, which rejected it. The case was remanded to the trial court, which rejected the appeal in June 2001. A prison interview with Nelloms was published in the ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employee ...

'' in 2006, in which he proclaimed his innocence. In response the victim, Terria Pitts, decided to waive her anonymity and challenge her father, saying: "I wanted to let the public know that Chris Nelloms is not innocent...he's being incarcerated for something he did do. There was evidence. I just want people to know that I'm not a liar."

Personal records

100-meter dash 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 ...

– 10.33 (1992) *

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

– 20.23 (1993) * 300-meter dash – 32.38 (1993) * 400-meter dash – 45.36 (1990)

International competitions

National titles

**200 m: 1994 *

NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It has been held every year since 1921, except fo ...

**200 m:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

**4 × 400 m relay:

**200 m: 1992, 1993

References

External links

* __NOTOC__ {{DEFAULTSORT:Nelloms, Chris 1971 births Living people Track and field athletes from Ohio Sportspeople from Dayton, Ohio American male sprinters American male hurdlers American shooting survivors African-American track and field athletes Ohio State Buckeyes men's track and field athletes Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) American people convicted of rape American people convicted of child sexual abuse Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Ohio FISU World University Games silver medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1993 Summer Universiade 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen People convicted of incest NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners