Judith Lynne Brown Clarke (née Brown, formerly Brown-King, born July 14, 1961) is an American politician and former

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-de ...

who competed mainly in the

400 metre hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ...

. She is the 1984 Olympic silver medalist and two-time

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is hel ...

champion. She later was a member of the

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

City Council.

Sports career

Born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

, Clarke (under the name Judi Brown) won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the

1983 Pan American Games The 1983 Pan American Games were held in Caracas, Venezuela from August 14 to August 29, 1983. The games were the first major international competition to include relatively accurate steroid testing.Taylor, William N., ''Anabolic Steroids and the ...

, narrowly ahead of her team-mate

Sharrieffa Barksdale Sharrieffa Barksdale (born February 16, 1961) is an American hurdler. She was born in Harriman, Tennessee. She competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, where she reached the semi-finals in women's 400 m hurdles. Barksdale owns ...

. In 1984, she won her first US national 400m hurdles title before going on to win the silver medal in the event at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, finishing behind Nawal El Moutawakel. Under her then married name of Judi Brown King, she won three more US 400m hurdles titles from 1985 to 1987 and successfully defended her

title in 1987, finishing ahead of Sandra Farmer. She was also a twelve-time

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

champion in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

events during her career. In 1987, she was selected

Sportsman of the Year Since its inception in 1954, ''Sports Illustrated'' has annually presented the Sportsman of the Year award to "the athlete or team whose performance that year most embodies the spirit of sportsmanship and achievement." Both Americans and non-Amer ...

by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' magazine for her community involvement.

Education

Clarke holds two degrees from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

, a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

in Audiology and Speech Science, and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in Education. She was inducted into the Michigan State University Hall of Fame in 1986. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Public Policy from

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. Bliss for the training of teachers ...

, from which she graduated with honors. She also is a member of the

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

Even Start Statewide Family Literacy Consortium.

Political career

Clarke was elected to the

City Council in 2013 and remained in office until 2017, and unsuccessfully ran for

mayor of Lansing List Lansing, Michigan, was incorporated as a city on February 15, 1859. * Hiram H. Smith, 1859 * John A. Kerr, 1860 * William H. Chapman, 1861–62 * Dr. Ira H. Bartholomew, 1863–65 * Dr. William H. Haze, 1866 * George W. Peck, 1867 * ...

in the 2017 election.

International competitions

All results regarding 400m hurdles

References

Notes

*
USATF 400 Hurdles list

USATF Olympic Trials Champions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown Clarke, Judi 1961 births Living people People from East Lansing, Michigan American female hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Michigan State University alumni Western Michigan University alumni Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Politicians from Lansing, Michigan 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century American politicians Big Ten Athlete of the Year winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Michigan State Spartans women's track and field athletes