Jeremy Wariner: biography

Jeremy Wariner is an American 400 meter sprinter and is the former Olympic and World Champion. He is now on track looking to regain his titles in this year’s World Championships in Daegu and next year’s London Olympics.

Beginnings

Born in Arlington, Texas on 31 January 1984, he originally took part in lots of different sports during his time at Lamar high school. He was soon spotted by coach Mike Nelson who took him under his wing because of his obvious speed and coached him to the title of Texan 5A State Sprint Champion in both the 200 and 400 meters with respective times of 20.41 and 45.57 seconds. At university he changed coaches and began working with Clyde Hart who also coached Michael Johnson the current 400 meter world record holder. While at university he suffered from a lot of injuries but in 2004 he managed to win both NCAA Division 1 indoor and outdoor titles and later the same year won the USATF Championships which in turn made him a favourite to compete at the Olympics and come home with the gold medal.

Career

In 2004 he competed at his first Olympics coming home with the Gold medal in both the 400m and the 400m relay. The next year (2005) he turned professional and again won the USATF Championships in a time of 44.20 seconds and went on later that year to win the Gold at the World Championships in Helsinki again in both the 400m and the 400m relay, a feat he achieved again in 2007. In 2008 he lost his Olympic title in Beijing to LaShawn Merritt and again in 2009 lost to Merritt at the World Championships in Berlin after dropping Clyde Hart as his coach in order to train with Michael Ford. After losing in 2009 he realized his mistake in leaving his coach Clyde Hart especially when Michael Johnson pointed out areas in his training that were lacking. Both 2011 and 2012 will be massive years for Wariner who is looking to gain back his titles at both the Worlds and Olympics.

Achievments

Wariner has many achievements to his name including personal bests of: 200 meters - 20.19 seconds
300 meters - 31.61 seconds
400 meters - 43.45 seconds He is also the winner of 3 Olympic Golds and one Silver in the 2004 and 2008 games and also the winner of 5 World Championship Golds and one Silver in the 2005, 2007 and 2009 championships.