Vernon Larnard Norwood (born April 10, 1992) 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 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 ...

Biography

Raised in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, he is the son of Curtis Norwood and Charliette Ray. Norwood started running track in his junior year at

Morgan City High School Morgan City High School is a public secondary school located in Morgan City, Louisiana, United States. It is operated by the St. Mary Parish School Board. The school colors are green and white. The school opened in 1911 and celebrated its cent ...

College

For

South Plains College South Plains College (SPC) is a public community college in Levelland, Texas. It also has five locations in Plainview, at the Reese Technology Center (formerly Reese Air Force Base), in western Lubbock, the Lubbock Downtown Center and th ...

, Norwood was a multiple time

NJCAA The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) is the governing association of community college, State college (disambiguation), state college, and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 sepa ...

national champion. For the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

, he was a four time

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. ...

national champion.

Professional

In 2015, Norwood finished 3rd at the US Outdoor Championships, to secure a spot in the United States team 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 ...

in the 400 meters. He made it to the semi-final and did not advance to the final in the 400 m, and won a gold medal as part of the 4 × 400 m relay squad. During the 2016 indoor season, Norwood made his second USA team by winning the 400m at the US Indoor Championships. At the World Indoor Championships, he was disqualified for stepping on the inside of his lane during the first round of the 400 meters, and won gold in the 4 × 400 m relay. Norwood won a silver medal as part of the 4 × 400 relay team at the 2018 World Indoor Championships. In 2019, Norwood finished 4th at the US Outdoor Championships in a new personal best of 44.40. He competed at the 2019 World Championships, where he went out in the semi-finals of the 400 metres and won gold in the 4 × 400 m relay. In 2021, Norwood ran a new 200 m personal best of 20.30s in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

. He finished 5th at the US Olympic trials and qualified for the 4x400 relay teams at the

Tokyo Olympics Tokyo Olympics may refer to: * 1940 Summer Olympics, Games of the XII Olympiad, cancelled due to World War II * 1964 Summer Olympics, Games of the XVIII Olympiad * 2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an ...

. Norwood won a bronze medal as part of the Mixed 4 × 400 m relay team and a gold medal as part of the Men's 4 × 400 m relay team. Norwood finished 4th in the 400 m at the 2022 US Outdoor Championships in a new personal best of 44.35s. He competed at the 2022 World Championships Where he won bronze as part of the Mixed 4 × 400 m relay team and gold as part of the Men's 4 × 400 relay team. In 2023, Norwood finished 2nd at the US Outdoor Championships, qualifying for the

2023 World Athletics Championships The 2023 World Athletics Championships (), the nineteenth edition of the World Athletics Championships, were held from 19 to 27 August 2023 at the National Athletics Centre (Budapest), National Athletics Centre, in Budapest, Hungary. The tourna ...

, where he finished 4th in the 400 m, having run a new personal best of 44.26s in the semi-final, he won a gold medal as part of the Men's 4 × 400 m relay team. At the 2024 US Olympic Trials, Norwood finished 4th in the 400 m with a time of 44.47s. He ran a personal best of 44.10s over 400m at the

London Athletics Meet The London Athletics Meet, formerly known as the London Grand Prix and subsequently as the Anniversary Games and London Diamond League, is an annual athletics event held in London, England. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events ...

. Norwood competed at the

2024 Paris Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

, he won a silver medal as part of the Mixed 4 × 400 m relay team, having broken the world record in the heats and a gold medal as part of the Men's 4 × 400 relay team.

USA National Track and field Championships

International competitions

Circuit performances

References

External links

*
Vernon Norwood at All-Athletics.com
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Norwood, Vernon 1992 births Living people American male sprinters African-American track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics People from Morgan City, Louisiana Track and field athletes from Louisiana LSU Tigers track and field athletes Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships winners World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships winners 21st-century African-American sportsmen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Junior college men's track and field athletes in the United States South Plains Texans track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field 21st-century American sportsmen