BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " NATASHA HASTING " IS AN AMERICAN SPRINT ATHLETE : GOES INTO THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

        BLACK     SOCIAL    HISTORY                                                                                                                

Natasha Hastings

Natasha Hastings

Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	July 23, 1986 (age 28) Brooklyn, New York
Residence	Locust Grove, Georgia
Height	5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight	135 lb (61 kg)
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres
College team	University of South Carolina
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	100 m: 11.40 s (Athens 2010) 200 m: 22.61 s (Gainesville 2007) 400 m: 49.84 s (Indianapolis 2007)
Medal record[hide] Women's athletics Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games GOLD 2008 Beijing 4×400 m relay World Championships GOLD 2007 Osaka 4×400 m relay GOLD 2009 Berlin 4×400 m relay GOLD 2011 Daegu 4×400 m relay Silver 2013 Moscow 4×400 m relay World Indoor Championships GOLD 2010 Doha 4×400 m relay GOLD 2014 Sopot 4×400 m relay Silver 2012 Istanbul 4x400 m relay Bronze 2012 Istanbul 400 m World Junior Championships Gold 2004 Grosseto 400 m Gold 2004 Grosseto 4×400 m relay Pan American Junior Championships Gold 2003 Bridgetown 4×400 m relay Gold 2005 Windsor 400 m Gold 2005 Windsor 4×400 m relay World Youth Championships Gold 2003 Sherbrooke 400 m Gold 2003 Sherbrooke Medley Relay

Natasha Monique Hastings (born July 23, 1986) is an American sprint athlete of Jamaican and Trinidadian descent.^[1]

Hastings began her track career at a very early age and made a first place win at the USATF Junior Olympics in the 400 metres in the Youth Girls division.^[1] She attended A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in Harlem, New York,^[2] where she was able to take her track and field interest to a more competitive level.

Hastings attended the University of South Carolina to work under Curtis Frye.^[3] There, Hastings started to become known as "the 400M Diva” after accidentally describing the ladies track team as the "Gamecock Divas" in honor of the school's mascot,^[4] the Gamecock. After coming back from a key injury, 2007 was considered Hastings' breakout year. Hastings went home to New York for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational and won the 400 m race in 51.70, a personal record at the time, and anchored the 4×400m to a win with the fastest collegiate time for the year. Also in 2007, she won the SEC Championships by running a 50.84. Hastings went on to win the NCAA Championship title and her time in the 400 m at 50.15 was the second fastest time ever on the collegiate level and she had successfully competed undefeated all season becoming the Indoor and Outdoor 400 m champion.^[5]

In 2008 at the age of 22, Hastings made the USA Olympic Track and Field Team.^[6] She won an Olympic GOLD Medal in the Women’s 4×400 m relay team by running a 49.87 split at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

In 2013, Hastings made the USA World Moscow Track and Field Team. She won the USATF 400 meters outdoor title in 49.94 on 22 June 2013.^[7]

She is the cousin of Trinidadian and Tobagonian former footballer Shaka Hislop.^[8]