Merlene Ottey

Name- O’neillia williamson

Grade – 9s2
Subject- social studies

Family
Father- Hubert Ottey
Mother- Joan Ottey
Siblings- Ruthven Ottey, Janet Ottey, Desmond Ottey, Beverly Ottey, Yvonne
Ottey

D.O.B- May 10, 1960

Place of birth – Hanover

Merlene Joyce Ottey OD (born 10 May 1960) is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and

field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978, and continued to do so for 24
years, before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ranked fourth on the all-time list
over 60 metres (indoor), seventh on the all-time list over 100 metres and fourth on the all-time list
over 200 metres. She is the current world indoor record holder for 200 metres with 21.87
seconds, set in 1993.
Ottey had the longest career as a top level international sprinter appearing at the Pan Am games
in 1979 as a 19 year old fresh from U20 and Junior competitions, and concluding her career at
age 52 when she anchored the Slovene 4 × 100 m relay team at the 2012 European
Championships.[2][3] A nine-time Olympic medallist, she holds the record for the most Olympic
appearances (seven) of any track and field athlete. Although gold medal success at the Olympics
eluded Ottey, she was able to bring home three silvers and six bronze medals. She won
14 World Championship medals,[4] and still holds the record (as of 2017) for most medals in
individual events with 10.[5] Her career achievements and longevity led to her being called the
"Queen of the Track". Her proclivity for earning bronze medals in major championships earned
her the title of "Bronze Queen" in track circles.[6]
Ottey was formerly married to the American high jumper and 400 m hurdler Nat Page and was
known as Merlene Ottey-Page during the mid-eighties.[7]

On May 10, 1960, Jamaican sprinter Merlene Joyce Ottey was born in Cold
Spring, Hanover, Jamaica. Ottey became the most-honoured student-athlete in
the history of athletics in Nebraska. She received several NCAA titles in each one
of her five competitive seasons at Nebraska. These included five combined
indoor and outdoor titles in 1982 and four in 1981. She also earned multiple All-
America accolades in each of her five seasons, with seven combined All-America
awards in 1982, six in 1980, and five in 1981. Ottey won 14 individual national
titles and 24 All-America awards. Both honours represented the highest number
ever earned by any Nebraska student-athlete. She also belonged to the indoor
national championship team from Nebraska in 1982, 1983, and 1984. Ottey still
holds the highest indoor scores in the 55-meter and 200-meter events, as well as
the top marks in the outdoor 100-meter and 200-meter events.

While her college athletics career was impressive, Ottey achieved even greater
highest in her sport, including being the most decorated Olympic athlete in
Nebraska history. She participated in seven Olympic Games and won nine
Olympic medals. The medal included three Silver and six bronze. She competed
in more Olympic events than any other track and field athlete in history, male or
female. She represented Jamaica at the Olympics six times and represented
Slovenia once.  She won her last Olympic medal at the age of 40, which made
her the oldest track and field medallist of either sex in Olympic history. Ottey
won the highest number of medals in the history of the World Championships as
well, with 14; these included three gold medals. Over her entire career, she won
29 medals between the World Indoor Championships and the Olympics. Ottey
was the first female athlete to compete for the 60-meter dash in under seven
seconds and the first female runner to finish the 200-meter dash in under 22
seconds.  Her time in the 200-meter indoor event of 21:67 seconds, which she
achieved in 1993, remains the world record.
Ottey’s parents were Hubert and Joan Ottey. It was her mother who introduced her to
track and field sports, purchasing her a manual on the sport during her early years at
school in the 1970s. Ottey was a student at Gurneys Mount and Pondside School and
graduated from Ruses and Vere Technical High School, where she often competed in
local races. She graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science in Education,
majoring in art

Ottey was inspired to run by listening to radio broadcasts of track and field events at the 1967
Olympics in Montreal, Canada, in which Donald Quarrie competed in the sprint finals. Her
athletics career received a boost when she moved to the United States in 1979 to attend the
University of Nebraska and became a member of its track team. She represented Jamaica at
the 1979 Pan American Games and won a bronze medal in the 200-meter event there.  After
graduating from the University, with a BA she married Nathaniel Page in 1984 and competed
for a short time as Merlene Ottey Page. The couple ultimately divorced.

Ottey received the title of Ambassador of Jamaica after she won a gold medal at the 1993
World Championships. She has awarded the title of Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 13
times between the years of 1979 and 1995. As a result of the disqualification of Marion Jones
as the winner of the 100-meter event at the 2000 Olympic Games due to drug abuse, Ottey
was retroactively awarded a bronze medal, bringing her total to nine Olympic medals.

Following a disagreement with the Jamaican team, Ottey moved to Slovenia in 1998 and
became a Slovenian citizen in 2002. She trained with the Slovenian team and subsequently
represented her new country in various events afterward. At the age of 40, Ottey competed at
the European Championships in Athletics. She finished fifth in the semi-finals of the 100
meters but failed to qualify for the finals.

She competed in her eighth Olympic Games in 2008 at the age of 48, and in 2010, she
qualified for the Slovenian 4 x 100-meter relay squad at the European Athletics
Championships where she became the oldest athlete in the history of the event to participate.
At age 52, Ottey competed in the 4×100 relay at the 2012 European Athletics
Championships.

Since 2014, Ottey has lived in Switzerland.