Mechelle Chanai Lewis Freeman (born September 20, 1980) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100 meters and 4x100 meter relay.

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the 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 ...

Retrieved 2 September 2010. Mechelle, an Oxon Hill, Maryland native, was a 2007

Pan American Pan-American, Pan American, Panamerican, Pan-America, Pan America or Panamerica may refer to: * Collectively, the Americas: North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean * Something of, from, or related to the Americas * Pan-Ame ...

double silver medalist, 2007

World Champion 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, ...

and 2008 USA Olympian.Athlete bio: Mechelle Lewis

(2008). Retrieved 2 September 2010. Lewis represented the United States at the

2008 Summer Olympic The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

Games in

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She competed on the 4x100 meter relay together with Angela Williams,

Torri Edwards Torri Edwards (born January 31, 1977) is an American sprinter. She competes in 100 and 200 meters, winning an Olympic medal in 4×100-meter relay in 2000. In 2003, she won six medals in major international competitions, including one World Cham ...

and

Lauryn Williams Lauryn Williams (born September 11, 1983) is an American sprinter and bobsledder. She was the gold medalist in the 100 meter dash at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2007 World Cham ...

. In their first round heat they were however disqualified and eliminated.Olympic Results
(2008). Retrieved 2 September 2010 Through motivational speaking, Mechelle is committed to inspiring others to acknowledge, understand and reach their full potential and serve as a vessel in helping raise a healthier generation of American youth. She has a prestigious client list including, the

Girl Scouts Girl Guides (known as Girl Scouts in the United States and some other countries) is a worldwide movement, originally and largely still designed for girls and women only. The movement began in 1909 when girls requested to join the then-grassroot ...

, Duke Children's Hospital and Health Center,

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

, and Anulex Technologies. Mechelle was the Commencement Speaker at the 2009 Graduation for Thomas A. Edison High School (Fairfax County, Virginia). Mechelle is also a committed member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, Raleigh Alumnae Chapter and is currently training for the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

Younger Years

Born in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to Eddie and Chandra Lewis, and raised in

Fort Washington, Maryland Fort Washington is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. It borders the Potomac River, situated 20 miles south of the downtown Washington, DC. As of the 2020 census it had a p ...

, Mechelle is the youngest of a set of twin girls. Both were highly active and successful in sports at a young age taking on basketball and soccer. They spent their summers competing in AAU basketball tournaments and their fall seasons winning soccer championships for the Oxon Hill Boys & Girls Club. Ironically however, after easily winning all of her events at a track meet held during her 8th grade P.E. class, Mechelle was approached by a high school scout who told her that she should look into taking on track and field. Once in high school, Mechelle and her sister would make one of the most significant decisions in their lives and decided to quit basketball to begin their Track & Field career.

High school

Mechelle really came into her own as an athlete at

Oxon Hill High School Oxon Hill High School (OHHS) is a public senior high school, located in Oxon Hill, an unincorporated area in Prince George's County, Maryland, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. in the United States.High School Career
Retrieved 2 September 2010. Mechelle was also the 300m regional champion and the MVP of her high school indoor and outdoor track team three years in a row. She made the Prince George's County All-County Team three years as well as the All-Metropolitan team, representing the best select few athletes in the Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia area. Her high school track team was third in the county three times and finished in the top three twice at the state championships. Mechelle's 4 × 400 m relay team won the state title three consecutive years and came in third at the National High School Indoor Track & Field Championships in 1997. With nationally recognized success, Mechelle also brought home championships competing in the USATF Junior Olympics for the Rising Stars track club.2008 Junior Olympics
Retrieved 2 September 2010. Mechelle kept busy off the track as well, winning Homecoming queen her senior year and operating in her role as the Senior Class Vice President. She also enjoyed playing in the band, mastering both the flute and the oboe. After going through a rigorous process of elimination, both Mechelle and her sister chose to run track at the University of South Carolina where they both received full scholarships to do so.

College Years

Lewis attended the University of South Carolina, from 1998 to 2004 where she obtained her bachelor's degree and master's degrees in Mass Communications. She was a three-time All-American athlete in the 60m, 200m, and the 4 × 100 m relay. She held the school record in the 55m for two years with a time of 6.84s. Mechelle also competed on the team that brought the first national championship in any sport to her school when her team won the 2002 Track & Field Outdoor Championships. She accompanied the team to the White House to meet President Bush for the honor. In the classroom, Lewis received the Highest GPA honor in her freshman class at the University of South Carolina with a 4.0 GPA and went on to graduate with honors. She was also honored as one of the 2002 "Top 25 Most Promising Minority Students" in the country from the American Advertising Federation during her senior year.

After College

Mechelle graduated from college ''cum laude'' with a 3.6 GPA, and from graduate school with a 3.8 GPA. After experiencing several injuries in college, she left sports to pursue a business career. She moved to New York City and worked at one of the world's top advertising agencies,

Young & Rubicam VMLY&R is an American marketing and Marketing communications, communications company specializing in advertising, Digital media, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting, formed from the merger of ...

, serving

Xerox Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from St ...

and the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universities ...

. After two years at Young & Rubicam, Mechelle decided to return her focus to track and field; she relocated to North Carolina to begin a fully committed training regimen. Although briefly sidelined by further injuries, Mechelle rebounded and went on to become a 2007 Pan American double silver medalist, 2007 World Champion, and 2008 Olympian.

USA Track & Field

2008 Olympics

2010 USATF Annual Meeting

In December, Mechelle was elected to serve as the USATF Elite Athlete Communications Liaison, as well as the USATF Athletes Advisory Committee Women's Sprints Event Leader. Mechelle is excited about her new role as she gears up for the 2011 season.

Off the Track

Outside of track & field, Mechelle uses her platform, Do It Afraid!, to encourage individuals to recognize their self-worth and move forward in life facing their fears head on. Mechelle is also involved with Athletes for Hope. She enjoys hosting and speaking at events, participating in fitness clinics, and advocating for healthy-living awareness. Her mission is to enable individuals to be transformed throughout their mind, body and spirit by providing essential knowledge and exposure to prepare individuals to live overall healthy lives. Mechelle is also a certified

Zumba Zumba is a fitness program that involves cardio and Latin-inspired dance. It was founded by Colombian dancer and choreographer Beto Pérez in 2001, and by 2012, it had 110,000 locations and 12 million people taking classes weekly. Zumba is a ...

Instructor. In addition, she founded the non-profit TrackGirlz, a 501c3 to promote mentorship to girls through track and field, in 2015.

Achievements

Personal bests

*All information from IAAF Profile

Competition record

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Mechelle 1980 births Living people American female sprinters South Carolina Gamecocks women's track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Track and field athletes from Raleigh, North Carolina People from Fort Washington, Maryland Sportspeople from Prince George's County, Maryland African-American female track and field athletes People from Oxon Hill, Maryland Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships winners Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Olympic female sprinters