Jacqueline "Jackie" Pusey (born 14 August 1959) is a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n former

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. She competed over distances from

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

400 metres 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 ...

. She represented Jamaica at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

(being their youngest entrant at age 16) and competed a second time at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. Pusey won Jamaica's first world championship relay medal at the

1983 World Championships in Athletics The 1st World Championships in Athletics (; ) were run under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations and were held at the Olympic Stadium (Helsinki), Olympic Stadium in Helsinki, Finland between 7 and 14 August 1983 ...

, running in the 4×100 metres relay. She had her career peak in 1981 when she won bronze medals in the individual 400 m and relay at the

1981 IAAF World Cup The 3rd IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event sponsored by the International Association of Athletics Federations, held on September 4–6, 1981, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. Overall results ...

and set two championship records to take a

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a 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 the race. A slight ...

/400 metres double at the

Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics The Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships was an international track and field athletics event organised by the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC), held once every two years from 1967 to 2013. Only athlet ...

. As a result of her achievements that year, she was given the Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year award.

Career

Junior career and Olympic debut

Born in Saint Mary Parish,Jackie Pusey
. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-09-27. Pusey attended St Mary High School and established herself as a promising sprinter at the Girls School Championships by breaking the

championship record. At the age of fifteen she took the

4×400 metres relay A four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, is a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer case pro ...

gold medal at the 1974 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships in Athletics and was a

silver medallist at the senior 1975 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics behind Lorna Forde.Central American and Caribbean Championships (Women)
GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-09-27. Pusey made her Olympic debut at the age of sixteen and she was the youngest member of the Jamaican team for the

. She reached the semi-finals of the women's 200 m and helped the Jamaican 4×100 metres relay team to sixth place. She also ran with the 4×400 m relay team, but the Jamaican women failed to get the baton to the finish in the first round. Pusey found senior success at regional level during her teenage years, repeating her 200 m silver medal at the

1977 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics The 1977 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics were held at the Estadio Heriberto Jara Corona in Xalapa, Mexico between 5–7 August. Medal summary Men's events Women's events A = affected by altitude Medal table Re ...

(this time behind Silvia Chivás), and a 4 × 100 m relay silver medal with Jamaica at the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games.The Oldest Regional Games – Central American and Caribbean Games
ODECABE. Retrieved on 2015-09-27. She was fifth place in the 200 m at the higher level

1979 Pan American Games The 1979 Pan American Games, officially the VIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as San Juan 1979, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization (PASO), and were held in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from July 1 to Jul ...

. In junior level competitions she amassed many medals. She was the 100/200 m runner-up at the 1976 CARIFTA Games behind Bermuda's Debbie Jones, defeated Jones to win the 400 m at the 1977 CARIFTA Games, before ending her junior career with a quadruple gold medal win at the 1978 CARIFTA Games – she won the 200 m, 400 m, and both relays. Pusey sprinted in the

AIAW The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was a college athletics organization in the United States, founded in 1971 to govern women's college competitions in the country and to administer national championships (see AIAW Cham ...

for the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles track and field team, finishing 3rd in the 200 m at the 1980 AIAW Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

1980 Olympics

Pusey was again selected for the 200 m and the relay teams for the

. In the women's 200 m she achieved a personal best run of 22.90 seconds in the semi-finals, but in fifth place she was narrowly outside of qualification for the final. The first relay event for Pusey was the 4×400 m. A quartet of

Ruth Williams-Simpson Ruth Williams-Simpson (born 19 October 1949) is a Jamaican sprinter. She competed in the 400 metres at the 1972, 1976 and the 1980 Summer Olympics. She won a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1971 Pan American Games. Williams-Sim ...

, Pusey, Cathy Rattray and

Merlene Ottey Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprint (running), sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978 and continued to do so for 24 years before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 20 ...

failed to progress beyond the first round. The shorter relay gave Pusey a better chance of an Olympic medal, with Ottey,

Leleith Hodges Leleith Hodges (born 22 June 1953) is a Jamaican former track and field sprinter who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She was one of Jamaica's most prominent female runners of the 1970s. She appeared three times at the Summer Olympics (19 ...

and Rose Allwood being some of the Caribbean's best sprinters. Despite the Jamaican 4 × 100 m relay team being the highest calibre one yet, practice for that event had not gone well, with Ottey repeatedly starting too early and not facilitating the change over with her teammates. The rest of the team felt Ottey overly focused on her individual events, to the detriment of the team event. Pusey also felt affronted by Ottey's demand to run the anchor leg of the relay (a position Pusey felt was her speciality) and the friction between the two athletes led to a last minute change. Allwood switched the middle legs with Pusey so she would not handover to Ottey, with Hodges remaining as starter. In the Olympic final, the team remained in contention until the final changeover, at which point Ottey again began too quickly, leading to a poor baton changeover. The team still ran a Jamaican national record of 43.19 seconds in sixth place, but Pusey felt her best chance of winning an Olympic medal was lost due to Ottey's mistake. Shortly after the Olympics, Pusey ran a personal best for the 200 m in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, recording a time of 22.82 seconds.Jacqueline Pusey
Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-09-27.

Career peak

Pusey's career peaked in the 1981 season. She achieved personal bests in the 100 m (11.29) and 400 m (51.38) that year in

Ciudad Bolivar Ciudad () is the Spanish word for "city". Ciudad or La Ciudad may also refer to: * La Ciudad (archaeological site), Hohokam ruins in Phoenix, Arizona * La Ciudad, district of Durango City Durango (, ) is the capital and largest city of the n ...

. The

1981 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics The 1981 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics were held at the Estadio Olímpico Juan Pablo Duarte in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic between 10–12 July. Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table S ...

saw her claim three gold medals and break three championship records. She won the 200 m in 23.35 seconds, the 400 m in 52.62 seconds, and the 4×100 m relay in 44.62 seconds. In addition, she was also part of the silver medal-winning 4×400 m relay team. She was easily the most successful athlete of the championships, as the only person to win more than two medals. In September she was chosen to compete for the Americas team at the

. She became the first Jamaican woman to win a medal at the competition, taking the 400 m bronze in 51.48 seconds and also the 4×400 m relay bronze in an Americas team including

Charmaine Crooks Charmaine Crooks (born August 8, 1962), is a Canadian businesswoman, sports executive, and retired sprinter and middle-distance runner. Crooks was born in Mandeville, Jamaica, but represented Canada for close to 20 years in athletics. She ...

Marita Payne Marita Payne-Wiggins (born October 7, 1960) is a Canadian former track and field athlete who competed in two consecutive Summer Olympics. She is the co- Canadian record holder in the 400 metres, along with Jillian Richardson, and previously held ...

and June Griffith. Alongside Bert Cameron (who was the men's 400 m bronze medallist) she became the first Jamaican athlete to win an individual IAAF World Cup medal ( Don Quarrie had won a relay medal in 1977). At the end of this season she was selected at the Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year, dethroning Merlene Ottey, who had won twice consecutively (and who would have eleven further wins). The final two years of Pusey's international career saw much success in relay events. At the

1982 Central American and Caribbean Games The 14th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 7 to August 18, 1982, and included 2,420 athletes from nineteen nations competing in 25 different sports. Some events were held in Santiago de Cuba, Cienfuegos, a ...

she anchored a 4×100 m relay team of Verónica Findlay, Cathy Rattray and Anthea Johnson to a silver medal behind Trinidad and Tobago. She led off a 4×400 m relay team composed of herself, Rattray, Johnson and Sandra Farmer, and the quartet secured the bronze medal in that event. Pusey was on both Jamaican relay teams for the inaugural

. She formed a team with her national rival Ottey, as well as Hodges and

Juliet Cuthbert Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn (born 9 April 1964) is a Jamaican politician and retired track and field sprinter who competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. As an athlete, Cuthbert-Flynn competed at four Olympic Games, winning two silver medals at ...

. The group completed the event in 42.73 seconds to win the bronze medal, which was the first ever world championships relay medal for their country. Pusey's final international outing (one day before her 24th birthday) was a run in the 4×400 m heats, where a team including Rattray, Ovrill Dwyer-Brown and

Grace Jackson Grace Jackson (born Juny 14, 1961) is a Jamaican former athlete who competed mainly in the 100 and 200 metres. She won an Olympic silver medal in the 200 metres at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, and is a former Jamaican record-holder in th ...

were eliminated in fourth place.Butler, Mark et al. (2013)
IAAF Statistics Book Moscow 2013archived
. IAAF. Retrieved on 2015-07-06.

Personal bests

– 11.29 seconds (1981) *

– 22.82 seconds (1980) *

– 51.38 seconds (1981)

International competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pusey, Jacqueline Living people 1959 births Sportspeople from Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica Jamaican female sprinters Olympic athletes for Jamaica Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Jamaica World Athletics Championships medalists Pan American Games athletes for Jamaica Athletes (track and field) at the 1975 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for Jamaica Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for Jamaica Competitors at the 1978 Central American and Caribbean Games Competitors at the 1982 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Olympic female sprinters 20th-century Jamaican sportswomen 21st-century Jamaican women Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles women's track and field athletes