Calvin Harrison (born January 20, 1974) is an American

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-devel ...

. He won a gold medal in the men's

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, th ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 ( Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

in Sydney, Australia. He is the identical

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with t ...

brother of fellow Olympic medalist Alvin Harrison. At the 2000 Olympics, Alvin Harrison and Calvin Harrison made history by becoming the first twins ever to compete and win Olympic gold medals together on the same relay team since the inception of the modern Olympic Games. In the 4 × 400 m relay, Alvin ran the first leg and Calvin ran the third leg. In 2008, the 2000 Sydney Olympics 4×400 metres relay US team was stripped of their medals after teammate Antonio Pettigrew admitted that he had used performance-enhancing drugs. Calvin Harrison did not participate in the 2004 Summer Olympics due to a stimulant violation involving

modafinil Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant medication used to treat sleepiness due to narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea. While it has seen off-label ...

at the 2003 U.S. championships. Harrison received a two-year suspension that ended in 2006. While Alvin won an individual Silver medal at the Olympics, when the twins were in high school at

North Salinas High School North Salinas High School is a public high school established in Salinas, California. It is one of five primary high schools of the Salinas Union High School District. The school was founded in 1959 as the second high school in the system to re ...

, in

Salinas, California Salinas (; Spanish for "Salt Marsh or Salt Flats") is a city in California and the county seat of Monterey County. With a population of 163,542 in the 2020 Census, Salinas is the most populous city in Monterey County. Salinas is an urban area ...

, Calvin was the star. He set the NFHS National High School record in the 400 meters of 45.25, while winning the 1993

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

defeating Michael Granville, the soon-to-be national 800 meter record holder in the process. The record stood until Aldrich Bailey broke it in 2012. In 1993, Calvin also won the 200 meters and teamed with Alvin to win the 4×400 meter relay, plus third place in the 4×100 meter relay, leading North Salinas to tie for the team title—the only time the school has even been in contention. He was ''

Track and 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 is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runnin ...

'' "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1993. Due to family problems, Alvin and Calvin Harrison lived on their own since their junior year in high school, floating back and forth between Orlando, Florida, and Salinas, California. After graduation, Calvin Harrison attended two-year

Hartnell College Hartnell College is a public community college in Salinas, California. Established in 1920 as Salinas Junior College, Hartnell is one of 115 schools that constitute the California Community Colleges, one of the three higher education systems i ...

, but did not compete in track. Harrison also co-authored the book ''Go to Your Destiny'', which debuted on ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

'' in 2001.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Calvin 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Salinas, California African-American male track and field athletes American male sprinters Doping cases in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Identical twins American twins Twin sportspeople Competitors stripped of Summer Olympics medals Track and field athletes from California Athletes stripped of World Athletics Championships medals 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople

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