Derrick Atkins

Last updated

Derrick Atkins
Personal information
NationalityFlag of the Bahamas.svg  The Bahamas
Born (1984-01-05) 5 January 1984 (age 40)
Jamaica
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Sport
Sport Running
Event(s) 100 metres, 200 metres
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)100m: 9.91 s (Osaka 2007)
200m: 20.35 s (Athens 2009)
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Flag of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas
World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2007 Osaka 100 m
Central American and Caribbean Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2006 Cartagena 100 m
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2006 Cartagena 4×100 m relay
CAC Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2008 Cali 4x100 m relay
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2005 Nassau 4x100 m relay
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2009 Havana 4x100 m relay

Derrick Atkins (born 5 January 1984) is a Bahamian sprinter. [1] Atkins specializes in the 100 metres event and also holds the national record, with a time of 9.91 seconds. He is the second cousin of former world record holder Asafa Powell. [2]

Contents

Atkins is now a head coach for the women's Track and field team at Utah Tech University, formerly known as Dixie State University. [3]

University

While attending Dickinson State University in Dickinson, North Dakota, Atkins was a 3 time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) national champion in the 100 meter dash, 2 times national champion in the 200 meter dash and also 2 times national champion in the 55m meter dash indoor. He helped lead those DSU track teams to back-to-back national team titles. He was also inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of fame in Track and field 2013 class.

Career

2005

Atkins participated at the 2005 World Championships but failed to progress past the first round.

With the Bahamian 4 x 100 metres relay team he finished fourth at the 2003 Central American and Caribbean Championships and won a bronze medal at the 2005 Central American and Caribbean Championships.

2006

At the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games, Atkins won the silver medal, [4] having established a national record of 10.08 seconds during the heats.

2007

On 28 April 2007 in Berkeley, California, Atkins again lowered the national record, to 9.98 seconds. He also ran 9.86 s and 9.83 s, though with tail winds of 2.3 and 2.4 m/s. [5]

On 26 August 2007 at the 2007 World Championships, Atkins came second with a national record time of 9.91s (wind speed -0.5 m/s). The event was won by Tyson Gay who ran 9.85 s. Atkins beat the world record holder and favorite for the event, Asafa Powell who ran 9.96 seconds.

2008

Atkins represented the Bahamas at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing where he competed at the 100 metres sprint and placed 1st in his heat in a time of 10.28 seconds in front of Andrey Yepishin and Jaysuma Saidy Ndure. In the second round he improved his time to 10.14 seconds, finishing third in his heat behind Asafa Powell and Walter Dix, qualifying for the semi-finals. There a 10.13 seconds race was unable to bring him in the final, finishing in sixth place of his semi final. [1]

2012

Atkins represented the Bahamas at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London where he competed at the 100 metres sprint and placed 4th in his semi finals in a time of 10.08. [6]

2013

Derrick Atkins was inducted in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics NAIA Hall of fame, [7] His College career includes 3 Team National Track and field Championships, 7 time individual National champion, 15 National NAIA All-American Honors, 9 times DAC-10 All Conference Honors and Dickinson State University Male Athlete of the year.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurice Greene (sprinter)</span> American sprinter

Maurice Greene is an American former track and field sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is a former 100 m world record holder with a time of 9.79 seconds. During the height of his career (1997–2004) he won four Olympic medals and was a five-time World Champion. This included three golds at the 1999 World Championships, a feat which had previously only been achieved by Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson and has since been equaled by three others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darvis Patton</span> American sprinter

Darvis "Doc" Darell Patton is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events. He is a two-time US Champion in the 200-meter dash and won the silver medal in the event at the 2003 World Championships. He is a three-time Olympian and a four-time participant at the World Athletics Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asafa Powell</span> Jamaican sprinter (born 1982)

Asafa PowellCD is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres. He set the 100 metres world record twice, between June 2005 and May 2008 with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of 9.72 s ranking fourth on the all-time list of men's 100-metre athletes. As of 1 September 2016, Powell has broken the ten-second barrier more times than anyone else—97 times. He currently holds the world record for the 100-yard dash with a time of 9.09 s, set on 27 May 2010 in Ostrava, Czech Republic. In 2016, he became Olympic champion in the 4 x 100 metres relay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Gatlin</span> American sprinter (born 1982)

Justin Alexander Gatlin is a retired American sprinter who competed in the 60 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters. He is the 2004 Olympic Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 and 2017 World Champion in the 100 meters, the 2005 World Champion in the 200 meters, and the 2019 World Champion in the 4 x 100 meters relay. In addition, Gatlin is the 2003 and 2012 World Indoor Champion in the 60 meters. He is a 5-time Olympic medalist and a 12-time World Championship medalist. At the World Athletics Relays, Gatlin won two gold medals in the 4 x 100 meters relay in 2015 and 2017. Gatlin is also a record 3-time Diamond League Champion in the 100 meters. He won the Diamond League trophy in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">60 metres</span> Track and field sprint race

60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the middle of the 'field', as is the hurdles event over the same distance, thus avoiding some of the effects of the banked track encircling the venue, upon which other track events in indoor events are run. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes. The format of the event is similar to other sprint distances. The sprinters follow three initial instructions: 'on your marks', instructing them to take up position in the starting blocks; 'set', instructing them to adopt a more efficient starting posture, which also isometrically preloads their muscles. This will enable them to start faster. The final instruction is the firing of the starter's pistol. Upon hearing this the sprinters stride forwards from the blocks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Frater</span> Jamaican sprinter

Michael Frater O.D is a Jamaican retired sprinter who specialised in the 100 metres event. He won a silver medal at the 2005 World Championships and a gold medal at the 2003 Pan American Games for the event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tyson Gay</span> American sprinter (born 1982)

Tyson Gay is a retired American track and field sprinter who competed in the 100 and 200 meters. His 100 m personal best of 9.69 seconds is the American record and makes him tied for the second fastest athlete over 100 m ever, along with Yohan Blake of Jamaica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Usain Bolt</span> Jamaican sprinter (born 1986)

Usain St. Leo Bolt is a Jamaican retired sprinter, widely considered to be the greatest sprinter of all time. He is an eight-time Olympic gold medalist and the world record holder in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4 × 100 metres relay.

Lerone Ephraime Clarke is a Jamaican track and field sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and the 60 metres. He is the former Commonwealth Games champion in the 100 m. His personal best for that distance is 9.99 seconds, set in 2009. He has represented Jamaica three times at the IAAF World Indoor Championships and holds the Jamaican record for the indoor 150m.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Dix</span> American sprinter

Walter Dix is a retired American sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the sixth-fastest 200-meter runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters, with a best of 9.88 (9.80w) seconds. He was the only track athlete from USA to win 2 individual Olympic medals in Beijing.

Since the early 20th century, Jamaica has won 42 Commonwealth Golds, 14 World Championship Golds and 17 Olympic gold medals in athletics alone. Jamaica has a population of 2.85 million people, making it the 138th most populous country in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Thompson (sprinter)</span> Trinidadian athlete

Richard "Torpedo" Thompson is a sprinter from Trinidad and Tobago who specializes in the 100 metres. His personal best of 9.82 seconds, set in June 2014, was one of the top ten fastest of all time, and a national record. In the 200 meters, he has the fourth fastest time by a Trinidad and Tobago athlete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nesta Carter</span> Jamaican sprinter (born 1985)

Nesta Carter OD is a Jamaican retired sprinter who specialized in the 100 metres event. Carter was successful as part of the Jamaican 4 x 100 metres relay team, taking gold and setting successive world records at the 2011 World Championships and 2012 London Olympics. He also won a 4 x 100m silver medal at the 2007 World Championship and a gold at the 2015 World Championships. On August 11, 2013, Carter secured an individual 100m World Championship bronze medal in Moscow, behind Justin Gatlin and teammate Usain Bolt. He followed this with another gold in the 4 x 100 metres relay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 100 metres</span>

The men's 100 metres at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics were held at the Olympic Stadium on August 15 and August 16. The two main contenders for the event were the reigning World Champion Tyson Gay and Usain Bolt, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder. Gay entered the competition with a season's best of 9.77 seconds while Bolt's season's best was 9.79 seconds. Four other competitors had broken the 10-second barrier during the last months before the World Championship: former world record holder Asafa Powell, Olympic finalist Churandy Martina and emerging sprinters Daniel Bailey and Mike Rodgers.

Donovan Powell is a former sprinter who specialised in the 60 metres and 100 metres events. He is the brother of Asafa Powell, a former 100 m world record holder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Griffith (athlete)</span> Bahamian sprinter

Adrian Griffith is a Bahamian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marvin Bracy</span> American sprinter and football player (born 1993)

Marvin Bracy-Williams is an American sprinter, and a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, and quit just prior to their 2013 national championship season to pursue a professional career in track. He holds personal bests of 9.85s in the 100 m and 6.44 s in the 60 m, which he set in 2022 at the 2022 World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. He won three straight U.S. National Championships at 60 meters in 2014–16. In July 2016, Bracy came in third in the 100 meters at the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Julien Dunkley is a retired Jamaican track and field athlete who specialised in sprint events.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shavez Hart</span> Bahamian sprinter (1992–2022)

Shavez Hart was a Bahamian track and field sprinter from Coopers Town Abaco Islands, who mainly competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres. His 100 metres personal best of 10.10 seconds makes him the third fastest Bahamian of all time behind Derrick Atkins, and second fastest Bahamian-born sprinter. His 200 metres personal best of 20.23 makes him the fourth fastest Bahamian of all time.

Michael Sands is a Bahamian former track and field sprinter. During his peak he held the Bahamian records from 100 metres to 400 metres.

References

  1. 1 2 "Athlete biography: Derrick Atkins". Beijing2008.cn. Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2008.
  2. Powell, David (8 August 2009). Focus on Athletes - Derrick Atkins. IAAF. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
  3. "Dixie State Names Derrick Atkins New Head Women's Track and Field Coach". Dixiestateathletics. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  4. 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games official results - men's 100 metres final [ permanent dead link ]
  5. Gordon, Ed (29 April 2007). "9.98 for unheralded Atkins in Berkeley". IAAF.org. Retrieved 30 April 2007.
  6. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Derrick Atkins". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  7. "HOF". NAIA. Retrieved 4 September 2013.