Monique Marie Henderson (born February 18, 1983, in

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

) is an American

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 ...

athlete, who specializes in the 400-meter dash. Henderson was a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

ist in both the

2004 Olympic Games 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 ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and the

2008 Olympic Games 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 fr ...

Beijing, China 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 ...

as a member of the American 4 × 400-meter relay squad. As a young runner, she set the still standing American record for 9-10-year-old girls in the 400 meters. Henderson prepped at Morse High School in San Diego '01. She is the only four-time

400 meters 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 ...

California State Champion in the state's history from 98–01. In 1999 while in high school, age 16, she won the 400 m at the World Youth Championship in Bydgoszcz, Poland. At age 17, she set a US junior class, as well as high school national record (since broken), at 50.74 in the 400 m at the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

. In 2000, still in high school, she was named to the US Olympic track and field team. Selected as an alternate (Pool) for the 4 × 400 m squad but did not run. That year she was named the national Girl's "High School Athlete of the Year" by ''

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

''. After graduating from high school in 2001 she accepted a scholarship to attend UCLA. While at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

in 2002, she place 1st in the 400 m at the World Junior Championship held in Kingston Jamaica. Also at UCLA she went on to be a five-time Pac-10 champion. In 2004, she placed second at the NCAA championships at 400 m. The next year she became the 2005 NCAA outdoor champion at 400 m, establishing a new NCAA record (50.10). In 2005, she won the Honda Award as the nation's best female collegiate track and field athlete. Since 2010, the gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004 has been in doubt as

Crystal Cox Crystal Shinelle Cox (born March 28, 1979, in Norfolk, Virginia) is an American track and field athlete who was on the national team at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics and appeared as a contestant on the seventeenth season of the reality seri ...

, who ran for the team in a preliminary round, admitted to doping. However, as of 2012 the original result still stands. She holds 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 ...

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

and worked as a professor in the exercise science department at San Diego Mesa College until 2015 when she became the head coach at Golden West College in Summer 2015.moniquesbootcamp.com

Honors

Monique Henderson was nominated and inducted into the San Diego County Women's Hall of Fame in 2009 hosted by

Women's Museum of California The Women's Museum of California (WMC) is a nonprofit museum in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park in San Diego, California, dedicated to women's history. It was founded in 1983. It was first organized under the names the Women's History Reclam ...

, Commission on the Status of Women,

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...

Women's Center, and

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

Women's Studies.

References

External links

* *
archive August 23, 2004
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Monique 1983 births Living people American female sprinters Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics African-American track and field athletes Track and field athletes from San Diego UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes Olympic female sprinters 21st-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century African-American sportswomen 20th-century American sportswomen San Diego Mesa College alumni NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportswomen Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games