Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (; born February 21, 2001) is an American track and field sprinter. She won the bronze medal at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in the

100 metres 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 ...

Career

Jefferson competed at

Coastal Carolina University Coastal Carolina University (CCU or Coastal) is a public university in Conway, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1954 as Coastal Carolina Junior College, and later joining the University of South Carolina System as USC Coastal Carolina, ...

and won the NCAA Indoor 60 m Championship in 2022. She went on to win the 100 metres at the

2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2022 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held in Eugene, Oregon organized by USA Track and Field. It was serving as the national championships in track and field for the United States. The results of the event determined qualificati ...

to qualify for the

2022 World Athletics Championships The 2022 World Athletics Championships was the eighteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships. It was held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, United States, from July 15–24, 2022, with the country hosting that competition for the ...

held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...

. Jefferson reached the final and finished eighth. She went onto win gold as part of the

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the indiv ...

team. She was also a member of the US team which won the 4 × 100 m relay at the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

held in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. In 2024, Jefferson was a member of the USA team which won the 4 × 100 m relay at the

2024 World Athletics Relays The 2024 World Athletics Relays was held in Nassau, Bahamas on 4 and 5 May 2024. Overview The first 3 editions of the IAAF World Relays (former name) have been held in the same site: 2014 IAAF World Relays, 2015 IAAF World Relays and 2017 IAAF ...

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

. She won the 100m at the LA Grand Prix meet in May. In June, she finished second in the 100 metres at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, in a new personal best of 10.80 seconds. At the Paris Olympics, Jefferson won a bronze medal in the 100 m with a time of 10.90 s. She won gold as part of the 4x100 m relay team. In September 2024, it was announced that Jefferson had signed up for the inaugural season of the Michael Johnson founded

Grand Slam Track Grand Slam Track is a professional track and field league, first announced in 2024 by American former Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson. The first season ran from April to June 2025. After being initially announced in February 2024, the n ...

. She won both the 100 metres and 200 metres races in the Short Sprints category, ahead of

Jenna Prandini Jenna Elizabeth Prandini (born November 20, 1992) is an American track and field athlete who has competed in both sprinting and long jump. She is a two-time national champion at 200 meters (2015, 2018), and a two-time Olympian in 2016 and 2020. S ...

and Jacious Sears, at the inaugural Grand Slam Track Kingston meeting on 5-6 April 2025, in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

. Jefferson-Wooden ran 10.75 (+2.4 wind) to win the women’s 100 metres race at the second slam event in

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

on 2 May 2025. The following day, she became the first athlete to claim back-to-back titles as third place in the 200 metres race meant she finished a point clear of 200m winner Gabby Thomas in the two-race format. She ran a personal best of 21.99 seconds to win the 200 meter race at the

2025 Philadelphia Slam The 2025 Philadelphia Slam was an outdoor track and field meeting held from May 31 – June 1 2025 in Franklin Field, Philadelphia, United States. It was the third meet of the 2025 Grand Slam Track season, the debut season of Michael Johnson's Gr ...

on 31 May 2025. The following day, she moved into the top-ten all-time for the 100 metres, running a personal best and current world lead of10.73 seconds.

Personal life

She married Rolan Wooden II in March 2025 in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The ceremony featured

Isaiah Likely Isaiah Leroy Likely (born April 18, 2000) is an American professional football tight end for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers and was selected by the Rav ...

as best man and Twanisha “Tee Tee” Terry as a bridesmaid, with fellow Olympians

Sha'Carri Richardson Sha'Carri Richardson ( ; born March 25, 2000) is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Richardson rose to fame in 2019 as a freshman at Louisiana State University, running 10.75 seconds to break th ...

Kenny Bednarek Kenneth Bednarek (born October 14, 1998) is an American track and field sprinter from Rice Lake, Wisconsin. He specializes in the 200-meter distance, having won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2022 World Championships, and at the 2 ...

and

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 ...

in attendance. The couple live in Florida.

Statistics

Circuit performances

International championships

National Championships

References

External links

*
Melissa Jefferson
at

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (, ) are the athletic teams that represent Coastal Carolina University. They participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA as a member of the Sun Belt Conferen ...

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson-Wooden, Melissa 2001 births Living people World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States American female sprinters Coastal Carolina Chanticleers women's track and field athletes 21st-century American sportswomen World Athletics Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Track and field athletes from South Carolina Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field