Chandra Danette Cheeseborough (later ''Shellman'', born January 10, 1959) is a retired American sprinter. She won two gold medals and a silver at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly 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 ...

in Los Angeles.

Track and field

Cheeseborough broke onto the international track scene at age 16 by winning two gold medals at the 1975

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

, taking the 200 m in an American record time of 22.77 seconds. In 1976, she set the World junior record at 11.13 seconds by placing second at the U.S. Olympic trials, she then placed sixth in that event at the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. Cheeseborough graduated from

Jean Ribault High School Jean Ribault High School is a public high school located in North Jacksonville, Florida. It is part of Duval County Public Schools. Improvement Ribault was one of 16 schools nationwide selected by the College Board for inclusion in the EXCELer ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

in 1977, where she set the still standing NFHS national high school records in both the 100 yard (10.3) and 220 yard (23.3) dashes. The federation converted record-keeping to metric distances shortly afterward. Next she attended Tennessee State, where she was a member of national championship teams that set world indoor records of 1:08.9 minutes in the 640-yard relay and 1:47.17 in the 800-yard sprint medley relay. She qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was the largest boycott in Olympic history and one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summ ...

. She did however receive one of 461

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is the oldest and highest civilian award in the United States, alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It is bestowed by vote of the United States Congress, signed into law by the president. The Gold Medal exp ...

s created especially for the spurned athletes. She won the national indoor 200-yard dash in 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1983. Cheeseborough's breakthrough year in the 400 m came in 1984, when she set two American records in the event, then placed second in the Los Angeles Olympics in a career best of 49.05. The 49.05 still ranks her as the #10 performer of all time. She made history at the 1984 Games when she became the first woman to win gold medals in both relays, which were held less than an hour apart. Cheeseborough also became only the second athlete, after

Paavo Nurmi Paavo Johannes Nurmi (; 13 June 1897 – 2 October 1973) was a Finland, Finnish middle-distance running, middle-distance and long-distance running, long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" because he dominated distance running in th ...

60 years earlier, to win two separate Olympic running events in a single day.

Coach

Cheeseborough later became a coach and returned to Tennessee State. She was named head coach of both men and women in 1999. She also has served as an assistant coach for the U.S. team at the 1999 Junior Pan-Am Championships. In March 2007 it was announced that Cheeseborough would be the assistant coach for the 2008 Olympic team. Cheeseborough coached the sprints and hurdles for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. As head women’s track and cross-country coach at Tennessee State, her alma mater, she led the Tigerbelles to six Ohio Valley Conference championships.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheeseborough, Chandra 1959 births Track and field athletes from Jacksonville, Florida American female sprinters Living people Tennessee State Lady Tigers track and field athletes Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Congressional Gold Medal recipients USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1979 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Olympic female sprinters 20th-century American sportswomen