Floyd Wayne Heard (born March 24, 1966, in

West Point, Mississippi West Point is a city in Clay County, Mississippi, Clay County, Mississippi, United States, in the Golden Triangle (Mississippi), Golden Triangle region of the state. The population was 10,105 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is t ...

) is a retired

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

sprinter from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, best known for setting the 1986 world's best year performance in the men's

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a Sprint (running), sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run th ...

. He did so on 7 July 1986 at a meet in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, clocking 20.12s. A year later he won the title in the men's 200 m at the

1987 Pan American Games The 1987 Pan American Games, officially known as the X Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event held in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, on August 7–23, 1987. Over 4,300 athletes from 38 countries in the Americas ...

. Heard's personal best for the 200 m was 19.88 seconds, set at the U.S. Olympic Trials in

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

on 23 July 2000. That was the race where favorites Michael Johnson and Maurice Greene were pitted as rivals by the media. In a head-to-head battle, both pulled up during the race, leaving Heard to pick up the pieces behind newcomer

John Capel John Capel Jr. (born October 27, 1978) is an American former track and field athlete who was a world champion sprinter. Capel played college football for the University of Florida, where he was also a member of the Florida Gators track and fiel ...

, at age 34 becoming the oldest sprinter to make his first American Olympic team.

Background

Heard attended John Marshall High School in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

(graduating 1985) and

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

. While at A&M, Heard worked with world-renowned conditioning coach Istvan Javorek. Floyd Heard also owns the American record as part of the Santa Monica Track Club's scorching performance of 1:18.68 in 1994 in the 4 × 200 m relay run, set at the Mt. SAC Relays. His teammates in that race were Mike Marsh,

Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Early life Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School ...

, and

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. Lewis was a dominant sprinter and lo ...

References

Floyd Heard
profile at

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...

1986 Year Rankings
*

External links

10.28 (2001)

20.31 (2002)

48.03 (2002) 1966 births Living people American male sprinters Sportspeople from West Point, Mississippi Track and field athletes from Milwaukee Track and field athletes from Mississippi Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1987 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Texas A&M Aggies men's track and field athletes Houston Cougars track and field coaches 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-sprint-athletics-bio-stub