Judith Lynne Brown Clarke (née Brown, formerly Brown-King, born July 14, 1961) is an American politician and former

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

who competed mainly in the

400 metre hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, onc ...

. She is the 1984 Olympic silver medalist and two-time

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 ...

champion. She later was a member of the

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

City Council.

Sports career

Born 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 ...

, Clarke (under the name Judi Brown) won the gold medal in the 400m hurdles at the 1983 Pan American Games, narrowly ahead of her team-mate Sharrieffa Barksdale. In 1984, she won her first US national 400m hurdles title before going on to win the silver medal in the event 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 ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, finishing behind

Nawal El Moutawakel Nawal El Moutawakel ( Amazigh: ⵏⴰⵡⴰⵍ ⵍⵎⵓⵜⴰⵡⴰⵇⵇⵍ ; ; born 15 April 1962) is a Moroccan former hurdler, who won the inaugural women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and is the first Moroccan, ...

. Under her then married name of Judi Brown King, she won three more US 400m hurdles titles from 1985 to 1987 and successfully defended her

title in 1987, finishing ahead of Sandra Farmer. She was also a twelve-time

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...

champion in

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 ...

events during her career. In 1987, she was selected Sportsman of the Year by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

'' magazine for her community involvement.

Education

Clarke holds two degrees from

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Audiology and Speech Science, and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in Education. She was inducted into the Michigan State University Hall of Fame in 1986. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Public Policy from

Western Michigan University Western Michigan University (Western Michigan, Western or WMU) is a Public university, public research university in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. It was initially established as Western State Normal School in 1903 by Governor Aaron T. B ...

, from which she graduated with honors.

Political career

Clarke was elected to the

City Council in 2013 and remained in office until 2017, and unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Lansing in the 2017 election.

International competitions

All results regarding 400m hurdles

References

Notes

*
USATF 400 Hurdles list

USATF Olympic Trials Champions
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown Clarke, Judi 1961 births Living people People from East Lansing, Michigan American female hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1983 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1987 Pan American Games Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Michigan State University alumni Western Michigan University alumni Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field) Politicians from Lansing, Michigan 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Michigan politicians Big Ten Athlete of the Year winners Competitors at the 1986 Goodwill Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games Michigan State Spartans women's track and field athletes NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American sportswomen