BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " FRANCENA McCORORY " IS AN AMERICAN TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE AND KNOWN PRIMARILY FOR RUNNING THE 400 METRES : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

BLACK        SOCIAL        HISTORY                                                                                                      

 Francena McCorory

Francena McCorory

McCorory at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships.
Personal information
Born	October 20, 1988 (age 26) Hampton, Virginia, U.S.
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	132 lb (60 kg)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	400 meters
Medal record[hide] Women's athletics Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2012 London 4×400 m relay World Championships Gold 2011 Daegu 4×400 m relay Silver 2013 Moscow 4×400 m relay World Indoor Championships Gold 2014 Sopot 400 m Gold 2014 Sopot 4×400 m relay

Francena McCorory (born October 20, 1988) is an American track and field athlete, known primarily for running the 400 metres, and is the NCAA and American indoor record holder in that event. She was a member of the 2012 United States Olympic team and won the GOLD medal in the 4×400 m relay at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She is the reigning IAAF 400 meter Indoor World Champion (2014).

Career

McCorory attended Bethel High School in her hometown of Hampton, Virginia where she displayed her talent for the 400 metres.^[1] A notable performance was at the 2005 Virginia Group AAA Eastern Region meet, where McCorory took her team's baton as much as 80 metres behind the leaders of the race, but cruised to victory past six other teams.^[2] Later, she set the National High School Indoor record at 51.93, a record previously held by future champion World Champion Sanya Richards, in her only attempt at the distance.^[3]

Despite being recruited by larger universities, McCorory CONTINUED to Hampton University. She won the 2009 NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championships^[4] and later in the year finished third in the NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships.^[5] In 2010, she went to Fayetteville, Arkansas to defend her championship. Instead of merely repeating as champion, she won the race by over a second, setting the NCAA record and beating Diane Dixon's 19 year old American record in the event, running 50.54.^[6] Later that year she won the NCAA Outdoor championship, in 50.69, actually slower than her Indoor record.^[7] A few weeks later, she improved her personal best to 50.52 while finishing second at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.^[8]

After graduating Hampton, she improved her best to 50.49 again in second at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships,^[9]which qualified her for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. A month after that, she took her best down to 50.29 at theHerculis meet in Monaco. She took it down one more time to 50.24 in the semi-finals of the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. In the finals, she wasn't quite as fast, finishing in fourth place in her first experience on the world stage. A few days later she anchored the United States team to a GOLD medal in the 4×400 m relay.

Leading into the Olympic Trials, she improved her personal best to 50.06 at the Adidas Grand Prix. At the Olympic Trials, she qualified for the final and was assigned lane 7, just outside of Sanya Richards-Ross in lane 6. Richards-Ross ran hard from the start closing down the stagger on McCorory. Sensing the challenge, McCorory exploded down the backstretch, leading around the turn to the head of the home stretch, but she paid the price for the early effort and struggled to the finish. Richards-Ross charged past her, in the process setting the best time of the year, followed by Dee Dee Trotter, who made her third straight Olympic team. McCorory managed to hold off Debbie Dunn to claim third place and a trip to the Olympics.^[10]

At the 2012 Summer Olympics, McCorory competed in the 400m and 4x400m relay. In the 400m final, McCorory finished 7th with a time of 50.33. On the relay, McCorory ran the 3rd leg of the women's 4 x 400m (in a leg time of 49.39), with DeeDee Trotter, Allyson Felix, and Sanya Richards-Ross, with the winning time being 3:16.87, the 3rd fastest time in Olympic history behind the Soviet Union and USA at the 1988 Summer Olympics, and the 5th fastest time overall.^[11]

At the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships she improved her personal record to 50.01. In finishing second, she qualified for the 2013 World Championships where she improved her personal best under 50 to 49.86 in the semi-final round.

At the 2014 World Indoor Championships, she was a double gold medal WINNER taking the 400 metres and the 4x400 relay titles. Later in the season at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships another improvement of her personal record to 49.48, defeating Sanya Richards to take the win. Later that year McCorory added to her titles by being named HBCU Top 30 Under 30,^[12] in June 2014

Major competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the  United States
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	4th	400 m	50.45
			1st	4x400 m relay	3:18.09
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	7th	400 m	50.33
			1st	4x400 m relay	3:16.88
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	6th	400 m	50.68
			2nd	4x400 m relay	3:20.41
2014	World Indoor Championships	Sopot, Poland	1st	400 m	51.12
			1st	4x400 m relay	3:24.83