Yvonne Harrison Castro, also spelled Ivonne (born December 2, 1975 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is a Puerto Rican athlete who specialized in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Summer Olympics, Olympic Sport of athletics, athletics programme since 1900 Summer Olympics, 1900 for men and since 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 for women. On a ...

. She competed at two World Junior Championships, two World Championships, one World Indoor Championships and one Olympic Games.

Biography

Harrison grew up in

Throggs Neck Throggs Neck (also known as Throgs Neck) is a neighborhood and peninsula in the south-eastern portion of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. It is bounded by the East River and Long Island Sound to the south and east, Westchester Creek o ...

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, where she was one of the top high school athletes in the U.S. competing for Herbert H. Lehman High School. As a 16 year old, she knew

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 ...

and claimed to be "practically... best friends" with

Florence Griffith-Joyner Florence Delorez Griffith Joyner (born Florence Delorez Griffith; December 21, 1959 – September 21, 1998), also known as Flo-Jo, was an American track and field athlete and the fastest woman ever recorded. She was married to Al Joyner, a 198 ...

before her death. In 1998 she finished second in the 1998 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships for the

Illinois Fighting Illini track and field The Illinois Fighting Illini track and field team is the track and field program that represents University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The Fighting Illini compete in NCAA Division I as a member of the Big Ten Conference. The team is based in ...

team. In the same year she was eliminated in the heats at the 1998 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships (400 metres) and the 1998 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The next year, she reached the final and finished 7th at the 1999 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships—improving to a 6th place at the 2000 United States Olympic trials. In 2001 she changed athletic allegiance to Puerto Rico, immediately winning the gold medal in 400 metres hurdles at the 2001 Central American and Caribbean Championships as well as a silver medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay. At the 2001 World Championships she competed in both

and

4 × 400 metres relay The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track and field, track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap, totaling 1600 meters. It is traditionally the final event of ...

, achieving Puerto Rican records in both events. In 2002 she continued to win the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games and the bronze medal at the 2002 Ibero-American Championships. At the latter, she also won a relay bronze. In 2003 she participated in the indoor season, running the 400 metres in the heats of the 2003 World Indoor Championships, before starting her outdoor season in South Africa the same month. She attended meets in Martinique, Japan and Europe and won the Puerto Rican Championships before heading to the international championships. Harrison won the silver medal at the 2003 Central American and Caribbean Championships. At the

2003 Pan American Games The 2003 Pan American Games, officially the XIV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santo Domingo 2003, were held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, from August 1 to 17, 2003. The successful bid for the Games was made in the mid-1990 ...

, she finished fifth in the

and sixth in the

. She also participated at the 2003 World Championships without finishing the race. Newspapers such as

El Vocero ''El Vocero de Puerto Rico'' is a Puerto Rican free newspaper that is published in San Juan. Published since 1974, ''El Vocero'' was at first the third of the four largest Puerto Rico newspapers, trailing '' El Mundo'' and '' El Nuevo Día'' and ...

and

El Nuevo Dia EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

covered her accomplishments extensively. She finished eighth at the 2004 Japan Grand Prix in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and seventh at the Grande Premio Rio de Atletismo in Rio. After that, she sustained an injury that required her to take a rest from competition for a while. She returned to attend the

Golden Gala Golden Gala is an annual Track and field, track and field event normally held at the Stadio Olimpico, Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 deat ...

and other meets in Europe, including the

KBC Night of Athletics The KBC Night of Athletics () is an annual athletics event at the Stadium De Veen in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. It is officially presented and sponsored by the KBC Bank KBC Group N.V. is a Belgian universal multi-channel bank-insurer, focusing ...

, before winning the bronze medal at the 2004 Ibero-American Championships. Harrison subsequently made her Olympic debut at the

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

, being eliminated in the heats. Competing sparingly in 2005 and 2006, she did win another bronze medal at the 2006 Ibero-American Championships, this time held in Puerto Rico, and competed at the

2006 Central American and Caribbean Games The 20th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games was held in the city of Cartagena, Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, in ...

without finishing her race.

Coaching career

She was, as of 2022, an assistant sprint coach at Saint Joseph’s University alongside Michael Glavin.

Achievements

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Yvonne 1975 births Living people People from Throggs Neck, Bronx Track and field athletes from New York City American female hurdlers Puerto Rican female hurdlers Olympic track and field athletes for Puerto Rico Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Puerto Rico Central American and Caribbean Games gold medalists for Puerto Rico Competitors at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Pan American Games competitors for Puerto Rico Athletes (track and field) at the 2003 Pan American Games Saint Joseph's Hawks track and field 21st-century Puerto Rican sportswomen Illinois Fighting Illini women's track and field athletes

Biography

Coaching career

Achievements

See also

References

External links