LaVerne Janet Jones-Ferrette (born September 16, 1981) is a sprinter from the

United States Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

who specializes in the 100 and

200 meters 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 ...

. She represented her country at 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 ...

in 2004, 2008 and 2012. She won the

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

over

60 meters 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in a time of 6.97 seconds; a subsequent drug test revealed a banned substance in her system and she was stripped of her medal. Jones-Ferrette competed at the

World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

in 2005, 2007 and 2009, but did not reach an event final on any of those occasions. Her first international medal came 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 ...

, where she was the 100 m silver medalist. She represented her country at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games () and commonly known as Rio 2007, were a major Americas, continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of ...

. She holds all the US Virgin Islands records for the sprint events from 60 to 400 meters.

Career

She grew up on

Saint Croix Saint Croix ( ; ; ; ; Danish language, Danish and ; ) is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands, district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an Unin ...

and later moved to the United States on an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

. She attended Barton County Community College and was coached by Lance Brauman, who also coached

Tyson Gay Tyson Gay (born August 9, 1982) is a retired American track and field sprint (running), sprinter who competed in the 100 metres, 100 and 200 metres, 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the United States records in track ...

and Veronica Campbell. She attended the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

and represented the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Championships before graduating in 2003.Powell, David (2009-07-25)
Focus on Athletes - Laverne Jones-Ferrette

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

. Retrieved on 2010-11-29. She made her Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Olympics, reaching the second round in both the 100 m and 200 m. She was one of only two athletes from the country to compete in the athletics competition that year and was chosen to be the 2004 Olympic flag bearer for the US Virgin Islands. She came fourth in the 100 m at the 2005 CAC Championships and ran at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics (, ), under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first ...

later that season, reaching the semi-finals of the 200 m. She also reached the semi-final stage of the 60 m at the

2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) was held in Moscow from March 10 to March 12, 2006 in the Olympic Stadium (Moscow arena), Olimpiyski Sport are ...

. At the

she entered both the 100 m and 200 m – she just missed out on a medal in the 200 m, finishing fourth, but was the runner-up in the 100 m, taking the

behind Tahesia Harrigan. In 2007, she competed at the

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 ...

for the first time and was seventh in the women's 100 m final. She reached the 200 m semis for a second time running at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

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 ...

. Jones-Ferrette represented the US Virgin Islands at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

competing at the

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 ...

sprint. In her first round heat she placed third behind Kerron Stewart and Ezinne Okparaebo in a time of 11.41 to advance to the second round. There she failed to qualify for the semi-finals as her time of 11.55 was only the fifth time of her heat, causing elimination. She further improved her 100 and 200 meter national records at the Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa meeting in May 2009. Breaking both records in just over an hour, she ran 11.18 in the 100 m and 22.49 seconds in the 200 m. She competed at the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

but she just missed out on making the 200 metres final. She ended the year with seventh-place finishes in the sprints at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final. Jones-Ferrette made a strong start to 2010, building up to the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships by running the fastest 60 m time recorded in eleven years. Her time of 6.97 seconds made her the sixth fastest woman over the distance and even she was surprised to have run such a quick time. An absence from competition that summer was later explained when she announced that she and her husband, Stephen Ferrette, were expecting a child. However, on December 16, 2010, it was made public that she was banned from competition for 6 months from April to October of the same year due to a positive test of a banned substance, as well as had her world indoor medal stripped. She stated though that the substance was used to help her fertility. She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing in 9th in the 200 m and in 14th in the 100 m, not qualifying for either final.

Competition record

Personal bests

* 60 meters - 6.97 s (2010) - national record. * 100 meters - 11.07 s (2012) - national record.United States Virgin Islands athletics records
* 200 meters - 22.46 s (2009) - national record. * 400 meters - 51.47 s (2007) - national record.

References

External links

*
Tilastopaja biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones-Ferrette, Laverne 1981 births Living people United States Virgin Islands female sprinters Doping cases in athletics United States Virgin Islands sportspeople in doping cases Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Virgin Islands Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games competitors for the United States Virgin Islands Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Virgin Islands Oklahoma Sooners women's track and field athletes Barton Cougars women's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Central American and Caribbean Games silver medalists for the United States Virgin Islands Competitors at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics Olympic female sprinters 21st-century American sportswomen