Leroy Burrell

Leroy Burrell was an Olympic gold medalist in the 1992 4x100 relay, and finished fifth that year in the 100 at the Olympics. Burrell competed at the University of Houston and the Santa Monica Track Club, following in the steps of Carl Lewis. Like Lewis he started as both a sprinter and long jumper, but tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) at the 1986 Southwest Conference Championship. After surgery he returned to win the 1989 NCAA Indoors in the long jump, and finished second outdoors, but he eventually became primarily a sprinter.

In addition to his Olympic appearance, Burrell won golds in the 4x100 relay at the 1991 and 1993 World Championships, and took a silver in the 100 in 1991. At the 1991 USA Championship Burrell won the title in 9.90 seconds, breaking the world record for 100 metres. He bettered that at the 1991 World Championship with 9.88 but finished second to Carl Lewis, who set a new record of 9.86. On 6 July 1994, at a Grand Prix meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, Burrell took back the 100 record, running 9.85, a record which stood until Donovan Bailey ran 9.84 at the 1996 Olympics.

After his competitive career ended Burrell went into coaching, eventually becoming a renowned coach at his alma mater, the University of Houston, and was named to the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014. He was also inducted into Houston’s Hall of Honor in 2000. He married Olympic sprinter Michelle Finn, and his sister, Dawn Burrell, also competed at the Olympics in the 2000 long jump. Leroy and Michelle’s son, Cameron Burrell, won the 2018 NCAA title at 100 metres, after finishing second in 2017, and won a bronze medal at the 2017 World University Games in the 4x100 relay.

Personal Bests: 100 – 9.85 (1994); 200 – 20.12 (1992), 19.61w (1990); LJ – 20-5½A (8.37A) (1989), 26-9 (8.15) (1986).