Merlene Joyce Ottey (born 10 May 1960) 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 ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

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 began her career representing Jamaica in 1978 and continued to do so for 24 years before representing

from 2002 to 2012. She is ranked sixth on the all-time list over

60 metres 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 ...

(indoor), eleventh on the all-time list over

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 ...

and seventh on the all-time list over

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 ...

. She is the current world indoor record holder for 200 metres with 21.87 seconds, set in 1993. She was named Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 13 times between 1979 and 1995. Ottey had the longest career as a top-level international sprinter appearing at the

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 ...

as a 19-year-old fresh from U-20 and Junior competitions, and concluding her career at age 52 when she anchored the Slovene 4 × 100 m relay team at the 2012 European Championships. A nine-time Olympic medalist, she holds the record for the most Olympic appearances (seven) of any track and field athlete. Although gold medal success at the Olympics eluded Ottey, she was able to bring home three silvers and six bronze medals. She won 14

World Championship 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 ...

medals, and still holds the record (as of 2017) for most medals in individual events with 10. Her career achievements and longevity led to her being called the "Queen of the Track". Her proclivity for earning bronze medals in major championships earned her the title of "Bronze Queen" in track circles. Ottey was formerly married to the American high jumper and 400 m hurdler Nat Page and was known as Merlene Ottey-Page during the mid-1980s.

Life and sprinting career

Merlene Ottey was born to Hubert and Joan Ottey in Cold Spring, Hanover, Jamaica. She was introduced to the sport by her mother, who bought her a manual on track and field. In her early school years in the 1970s, Ottey attended Gurneys Mount and Pondside Schools before graduating from Rusea's and Vere Technical High Schools. There, she frequently competed barefoot in local races. Ottey's inspiration came from listening to the track and field broadcast from 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 ...

in Montreal, where Donald Quarrie ran in the sprint finals. Her athletics career took off when she moved to the US and attended the

University of Nebraska A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

in 1979, where she joined the track team. She won 14 individual national titles and earned 24 All-America awards, both of which are the most by any Husker student-athlete. Ottey won multiple NCAA titles in each of her five total seasons, including five combined indoor and outdoor titles in 1982 and four in 1981. She earned multiple All-America accolades in each of her five seasons, with seven combined All-America awards in 1982, six in 1980 and five in 1981. Ottey was also a member of Nebraska's indoor national championship teams in 1982, 1983 and 1984. She still holds Nebraska's top indoor marks in the 55- and 200-meter dashes and the program's top outdoor marks in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. She represented Jamaica in the

, winning a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the 200 m. She graduated from university with a Bachelor of Arts degree, married fellow athlete Nathaniel Page in 1984, and briefly used the name Merlene Ottey-Page. The couple later divorced. In the 1980 Moscow games, Ottey became the first female English-speaking

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

athlete to win an Olympic medal. Back in Jamaica, she was awarded an Officer of the Order of Nation and the Order of Distinction for "services in the field of sport". In the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

, Ottey won a gold medal in the 200 m and a silver medal in the 100 m. Nearly a decade later, in the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games () were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Participants competed in ten sports: at ...

, she won gold in both events. Ottey was named Ambassador of Jamaica after winning her gold medal at the 1993 World Championships. She has also been named Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 13 times between 1979 and 1995. Throughout her career, she has won nine Olympic medals, which is second to Allyson Felix's eleven medals for the most by any woman in track and field histor

These include three silver and six bronze medals. She had never won an Olympic gold medal but lost by five-thousandths of a second to

Gail Devers Yolanda Gail Devers ( ; born November 19, 1966) is an American retired track and field sprinter who competed in the 60 metres, 60 m hurdles, 100 m and 100 m hurdles. One of the greatest and most decorated female sprinters of all time, she was ...

in the 100 m final at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

in Atlanta when they both recorded the same time of 10.94 seconds. This was not her closest finish to Devers – she recorded a time of 10.812 seconds to Devers' 10.811 seconds in the 1993 World Championships in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

– still the closest finish at an international athletics meet. Her seven Olympic appearances from 1980 to 2004 are the second most by any

Track & Field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and ...

athlete, after Spanish race walker Jesús Ángel García. She held the record for most World Championship medals, winning 14 (three gold, three silver, eight bronze) between 1983 and 1997 until

Allyson Felix Allyson Michelle Felix (born November 18, 1985) is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 meter ...

took her total from 13 to 16 in 2017, to 18 in 2019, and to 20 in 2022. Ottey still holds the record for most World Championship medals in individual events, with 10. 13 of her medals at the Olympics and World Championships were bronze, earning her the nickname "the Bronze Queen" in racing circles. Ottey was appointed an Ambassador at Large by the Jamaican government in 1993. She was inducted into Nebraska's first Athletics Hall of Fame Class in 2015.

Controversy

In 1999, during a meet in

Lucerne, Switzerland Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the district of the same name. With a population of ...

, a

urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (mal ...

sample submitted had returned positive for the banned

anabolic steroid Anabolic steroids, also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS), are a class of drugs that are structurally related to testosterone, the main male sex hormone, and produce effects by binding to the androgen receptor (AR). Anabolism, Anaboli ...

nandrolone Nandrolone, also known as 19-nortestosterone, is an endogenous androgen. It is also an anabolic steroid (AAS) which is medically used in the form of esters such as nandrolone decanoate (brand name Deca-Durabolin) and nandrolone phenylpropionate ...

. Her 'B' sample also contained higher than normal levels of the substance. Ottey was subsequently banned by the

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 ...

from competing in the World Championships in

Seville, Spain Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

. Ottey fought to clear her name, asserting that charge was a "terrible mistake", and that she was innocent of knowingly taking steroids. In the summer of 2000, Ottey was cleared of all charges by the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association; the IAAF lifted its two-year ban after the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the case. The case was dismissed because the retesting order by the CAS was not completed in the time frame allotted. In Jamaica, at the National Senior Trials before selection for the Olympics, Ottey placed a disappointing fourth. According to the rules of the Jamaica Amateur Athletics Association (JAAA), only athletes who had finished in the top three at the trials were eligible to run at the Olympics; she was only qualified to run on the 4 × 100 m relay team. Ottey asked that she be substituted for another team member, a courtesy that had been extended to others in the past. The JAAA's decision to replace Peta-Gaye Dowdie with Ottey caused widespread controversy. Dowdie's team members and many Jamaicans believed that Ottey had bullied her way onto the team. Jamaican 400 m Olympian and championship medallist Gregory Haughton led the notorious "Games Village" protests to oust Ottey, which made international headlines. The protest ended when the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

(IOC) threatened to throw the Jamaicans out of the Games if the team managers were not able to control their athletes. At the 2000 Olympics, Ottey finished fourth in the 100 m, beaten from a medal by fellow Jamaican sprinter Tayna Lawrence. The race was won by

Marion Jones Marion Lois Jones (born October 12, 1975), also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is an American former world champion track-and-field athlete and former professional basketball player. She won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the 2000 ...

, who registered 10.75 seconds, followed by

Ekaterini Thanou Ekaterini Thanou (, ; born 1 February 1975), also known as Katerina Thanou, is a Greek former sprinter. She won numerous medals in the 100 metres, including an Olympic silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, while she wa ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

in 11.12 seconds. Lawrence posted 11.18 seconds to Ottey's 11.19 seconds. In the 4 × 100 relay, the Jamaican team – bronze medalist Lawrence, teenager and newcomer Veronica Campbell, and Beverly McDonald – was anchored by Ottey to a silver medal. This medal gave Ottey her eighth medal, the most ever for a female athlete. Nine years later, after the disqualification of Jones for steroid abuse, Ottey's fourth place in the 100 m was retroactively promoted to third – giving Ottey her ninth medal – and Lawrence to second. Due to the controversy, Ottey decided that "after Sydney, I said I wasn't going to run another race for Jamaica ... because I felt like the Jamaicans were trying to push me out of the sport, and I really needed to prove my point, that I might be 40 but I can still run."

Slovenia

In 1998 Ottey moved to

and began training with Slovene coach Srđan Đorđević. There, she was still representing Jamaica. However, in May 2002, she became a Slovene citizen and resided in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, where she represented her new country in international events. Ottey competed for Slovenia in the

at the

2004 Summer Olympics 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 ...

in Athens, where she reached the semifinals. She finished 5th, missing out on qualification for the final by just 0.03s. At age 46, she competed in the

2006 European Championships in Athletics The 19th European Athletics Championships were held in Gothenburg, Sweden, between 7 August and 13 August 2006. The competition arena was the Ullevi Stadium and the official motto "Catch the Spirit". Gothenburg also hosted the 1995 World Champions ...

. She finished fifth in the semi-finals of the 100 metres and did not qualify for the final, which was won by

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

's Kim Gevaert. Ottey failed by 0.28 seconds to reach her eighth Olympic Games, aged 48 in 2008. Despite this, two years later, she qualified for the Slovenian 4 × 100-meter relay squad at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, C ...

, where she became the oldest athlete ever to participate in the history of the European championships. At the age of 52, Ottey competed in the 4 × 100 meters relay at the

2012 European Athletics Championships The 2012 European Athletics Championships were held in Helsinki, Finland between 27 June and 1 July 2012. This edition marks the beginning of a new two-year cycle of the European Athletics Championships which were previously held every four years. ...

. The Slovenian team were ranked 22nd in the world before the 2012 Olympics with only the top 16 teams qualifying. Since 2014, Ottey has lived in

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Records and achievements

Merlene Ottey 2011 European Team Championships

*Ottey ranks at number seven on the all-time list of the

, and number eleven on the 100 metres list. *In 1990, Ottey was awarded the World Athlete of the Year and the Track & Field News Athlete of the Year awards. *Ottey is the first female athlete to run 60 metres under seven seconds (6.96 in 1992). *Ottey is the only woman to have run the 200 metres under 22 seconds indoors (21.87 in 1993). *Ottey has the second 100 and 200 metres one day combination, with 10.93 and 21.66 (32.59 total) at the 1990 Weltklasse Zurich grand prix. *Ottey has run 100 metres under eleven seconds – 68 times (plus 9 wind-assisted) a record among female sprinters. *Ottey has run 200 metres under twenty-two seconds - 16 times (plus 1 wind-assisted), another record among female sprinters. *Ottey has 57 consecutive wins in 100 metres – the most consecutive wins over 100 metres for a female and 34 consecutive wins at 200 metres. *Ottey holds the official

World Masters Athletics World Masters Athletics (WMA) is the worldwide governing body for the sport of masters athletics – which includes track and field, cross country, and road running events – as participated by people over 35 years of age. As the need became ...

world records A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

in the 100 m and 200 m for the age groups W35 ( 100- 10.74 in 1996, 200- 21.93 in 1995 ) W40 ( 100- 10.99 in 2000, 200- 22.74 in 2004 ) W45 ( 100- 11.34 in 2006, 200- 23.82 in 2006 ) W50 ( 100- 11.67 in 2010, 200- 24.33 in 2010 ).World Masters Athletics World Records
*Ottey is the first from the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...

(outside the USA) to win two individual medals at the same Olympic Games. *At the 1995 World Championships, Ottey became the oldest ever female gold medallist when she won the 200 m at age 35 years 92 days. At the 1997 World Championships in Athens, she became the oldest female medallist ever at 37 years 90 days, when she won the bronze medal. In the 2000 Olympics, at age 40, Ottey became the oldest female track and field medalist when she anchored the Jamaican women's 4 × 100 metres to a silver medal. With the disqualification of

, she was awarded the bronze medal in the 100 metres, making her the oldest individual medallist. *Ottey, along with

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 ...

Usain Bolt Usain St. Leo Bolt (; born 21 August 1986) is a Jamaican retired sprinter who is widely regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, ...

and

, is one of four athletes to win twenty or more medals at the Olympic Games and the World Championships (combined). *Ottey holds the record for running the fastest women's Indoor

in 21.87 seconds. This record has stood since 1993 and remains (as of 2016) the only sub-22sec clocking by a woman indoors. *In six World Championships competing for Jamaica, Ottey has won fourteen medals: three gold, four silver, and seven bronze medals, while at the Olympics, she has earned three silver and six bronze medals. *Ottey was the first female

athlete to win an Olympic medal. *Ottey has won the most career Olympic medals (9 medals: 3 silver and 6 bronze) in women's track and field, a record now shared with American sprinter

(6 gold and 3 silver). *Ottey has the quickest 200 m performance ever into a headwind (-1.0 m/sec or more ) achieved when clocking 21.66 (-1.0) in Zurich, 1990. *Ottey has won the Jamaican Sportsperson of the Year (sportswoman) a record 13 times, first winning in 1979 and last winning in 1995. No man or woman has won the award more.

International competitions

References

External links