When Merlene Ottey became the first Jamaican Woman to win an Olympic Medal

Track and Field Black History

English - April 27, 2022 10:30 - 10 minutes - 9.5 MB - ★★★★★ - 8 ratings
Running Sports History Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed

Previous Episode: A Conversation with 2-time Olympic Champion Antonio McKay

Next Episode: A Conversation with World Champion and 3-Time Olympian Mark Everett

Over the course of 30 plus years, Merlene Ottey competed in 7 Olympic Games, 9 World Championships, and earned almost 40 global medals both indoors and outdoors. Her longevity and career accolades led to her being called the "Queen of the Track”.

Though she has already been running for a few years, after watching Jamaica’s Don Quarrie’s win Olympic 200m Gold and 100m Silver medal at the 1976 Olympics, Ottey was further inspired to one day become an Olympic medalist herself.

Ottey won her first major medal at the 1979 Pan American Games when she finished 3rd place in the 200m. This would be a prelude to her Olympic success as just a year later, at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, she earned a Bronze medal in the 200m, becoming the first ever Jamaican woman to win an Olympic medal.