Torri Edwards: Sprinting back into contention

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Edwards
Firstname
Torri
Country
United States
Date of birth
1977-01-31
Birthplace
Fontana
Height
162 cm
Weight
58.0 kg
Sport
Athletics
Discipline
100m, 200m, 4x100m relay
Olympic Games
4x100m: 1st (2000) - then disqualified following doping of Marion Jones
World Championships (4 medals - 2 gold, 2 silver)
100m: 1st (2003)200m: 2nd (2003)4x100m relay: 1st (2007), 2nd (2003)
World Indoor Championships (1 medal - 1 bronze)
60 m: 3rd (2003)
Edwards overcomes adversity to sprint back into contention
The glorious yet troubled career of US sprinter Torrie Edwards is back on track after a doping ban in 2004 as she targets a full turnaround in her career by winning the glamour 100 metres race at the Beijing Olympics.
The 2003 world champion had her world crash around her, one year after sprinting to gold in Paris when she was banned just ahead of the Athens Olympics in 2004 for taking the illegal substance nikethamide.
Her subsequent two year ban was lifted in November 2005 when the IAAF accepted her appeal and degraded the substance, but the damage to her career has already been inflicted.
She was set to be a gold medal contender at Athens and also lost her 4x100m relay gold from Sydney 2000 when compatriot Marion Jones admitted doping and the team were stripped of their title.
Now back to her best after a relay gold in 2007 at the world championships in Osaka and a national title the same year, her personal best of 10.78 at the US Olympic trials in 2008 sent out a strong warning to her rivals that she will be a strong candidate for Olympic gold this summer.
California dreaming
Born at Fontana, California on January 31, 1977, Edwards first took up athletics at high school although she readily admits her performances were nothing more than average.
It was only when she became part of the sports programme at the University of Southern California that her confidence blossomed, thanks to winning runs in the highly competitive Pac 10 championships.
Apart from the ruined performance in the relay at Sydney, she failed to make the semi-finals of the 100m and came home sixth in the 200m semi-finals and failed to make the gold medal race.
She climbed the American rankings one year later and had a highest placing of sixth in the country before steady improvement led to a stunning personal best of 10.93 in the world final in Paris in 2003, her greatest moment to date.
The doping ban may have permanently damaged the career of many athletes but Edwards has worked hard to return to the top and proof of that was her emotional triumph at the US championships in 2007, a gold in the relay at the worlds and a 4th place finish in both the 100m and 200m races at Osaka.
Although she ran her fastest 100m at the US trials in July 2008, she was still beaten by Muna Lee while Lauryn Williams completes the women's sprint line-up for Beijing.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - AFP)first published:August 01, 2008, 17:26 ISTlast updated:August 01, 2008, 17:26 IST
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