David Neville (born June 1, 1984) is an American sprinter who specializes in the

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and two-time medalist (one gold, one bronze) in the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

. A native of

Merrillville Merrillville ( , ) is a town in Ross Township, Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 36,444 at the 2020 census. Merrillville is in east-central Lake County, in the Chicago metropolitan area. On January 1, 2015, Merrillville be ...

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, Neville became the first individual track and field medalist out of

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

since

Willie May Willie Lee May (November 11, 1936 – March 28, 2012) was an American hurdler. Born in Knoxville, Alabama, May attended Indiana University, where he won seven Big Ten championships in the hurdles between 1957 and 1959. He won the silver ...

won silver in the

110-meter hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

in 1960.

Career

Neville attended

Merrillville High School Merrillville High School (MHS) is a public high school in Merrillville, Indiana, United States, for students in grades nine through twelve. About Merrillville High School is the only high school in the Merrillville Community School Corporation. ...

from 1998-2002 where he ran track and field. He then moved to Indiana University where he competed from 2003 until 2006 winning several individual Big Ten conference titles and being named an

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

n. At the 2008 Summer Olympic, Neville won a bronze medal in the men's 400 m with a time of 44.80 seconds. Neville then teamed with

LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt (born June 27, 1986) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He is a former Summer Olympics, Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 ...

Angelo Taylor Angelo F. Taylor (born December 29, 1978) is an American track and field athlete, winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics. His personal record for the hurdles event is 47.25 seconds. His time puts him in a tie with ...

, and

Jeremy Wariner Jeremy Matthew Wariner (born January 31, 1984) is a retired American track athlete specializing in the 400 meters. He has won four Olympic medals (three gold, one silver) and six World Championships medals. He is the joint sixth fastest comp ...

in the 4 × 400 m relay to finish first with an

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games. Summer Olympics * Archery at the Summer Olympics, Archery (List of Olympic records in archery, li ...

time of 2:55.39. Neville clocked a split of 44.16 seconds. David is now the head coach of Georgia Southern's track and field and cross country.

Personal bests

Personal life

Neville is a Christian. After retiring from running, Neville took the Head Coaching position at

Taylor University Taylor University is a Private university, private, Interdenominationalism, interdenominational, evangelical Christian university in Upland, Indiana. Founded in 1846, it is one of the oldest evangelical Christian universities in the United Stat ...

Men's and Women's Track and Field. There he recruited several Division 1 caliber athletes such as NAIA Champion Caleb Anthony (400 m Hurdles),

Crossroads League The Crossroads League (formerly the Mid-Central College Conference) is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). Its members are private Christian colleges in Indiana, Michigan, a ...

Champion Sam Lacher (400 m), and Luke Wilson (High Jump) before moving on the

University of Tennessee - Knoxville The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1794, two years before Te ...

to lead the Olympian filled sprint squad in 2017. In 2016 Neville competed in ''

American Grit ''American Grit'' is an American reality television series that premiered on Fox on April 14, 2016. The series stars WWE wrestler John Cena. Fox ordered ten episodes for the first season of the competition series. On July 29, 2016, Fox renewed th ...

'', finishing in sixth place.

References

External links

* * 1984 births Living people American male sprinters Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Indiana Hoosiers men's track and field athletes Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field African-American track and field athletes Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics People from Merrillville, Indiana Sportspeople from Lake County, Indiana Track and field athletes from Indiana Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen {{US-athletics-Olympic-medalist-stub