Jen Toomey

Last updated

Jennifer "Jen" Toomey (born December 19, 1971) is an American middle-distance runner who won three US national titles, broke an American record, and was a world ranked runner from 2001 to 2006.

Career

Toomey, now Boyd, grew up in Connecticut, graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Biology, and was later based in Salem. [1] In high school, she had quit her track team hating the sport. Almost ten years later, she took up running seriously in 1999 after training for the Boston Marathon and by 2001 had a third-place finish in the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. [1]

In February 2004 she broke the US indoor record for 1,000m in Birmingham, England, making her the 4th fastest woman all-time in this event. [2] She won her first US indoor titles in 2004, winning the 800m final in 2:00.02 and the 1500m final in 4:09.82, the first female athlete to accomplish this double. [1] [3] [4] She won the 1500m again in 2005. [5] [6]

With an outdoor 800m personal best of 1:59.75 outdoors and 1:59:64 indoors, gained in 2003 and 2004 respectively, Toomey was regarded as one of the best 800-meter runners in the world in the mid-2000s. [7] [8]

She finished second in the 1500m at the US Olympic trials but was prevented from competing in the 2004 Athens Olympics by a knee injury and an adductor strain. [8] She subsequently relocated to Flagstaff, Arizona where she worked with coach Jack Daniels. [5] She returned to competition, clocking personal bests at 1500m in 2005 (indoors) and a mile in 2006 (outdoors), but had to again take a break due to injuries including stress fractures in both feet, and a torn meniscus. [5] [7] She returned to Salem and her old coach Tom McDermott, and made a competitive comeback in 2008. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hasna Benhassi</span> Moroccan middle-distance runner

Hasna Benhassi is a retired Moroccan middle-distance runner. She competed at the 2000, 2004 and 2008 Olympics and won two medals in the 800 m event, in 2004 and 2008. At the world championships she won a gold medal over 1500 m indoors in 2001 and silver medals over 800 m outdoors in 2005 and 2007. In 2004, she was named Sportsperson of the Year in Morocco after a survey conducted by the Moroccan Radio among 43 press institutions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tetiana Petlyuk</span> Ukrainian middle-distance runner (born 1982)

Tetiana Hryhorivna Petlyuk or Tetiana Hryhorivna Petliuk is a Ukrainian runner who specializes in the 800 metres. Her personal best time is 1:57.34 minutes, achieved in June 2006 in Kyiv. She has an indoor best of 1:58.67 minutes, set in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sentayehu Ejigu</span> Ethiopian long-distance runner

Sentayehu Ejigu Tamerat is an Ethiopian long-distance runner, who specializes in the 3000 and 5000 metres. She represented Ethiopia at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Symmonds</span> American retired middle-distance track athlete

Nicholas Boone Symmonds is an American YouTube personality and retired middle-distance track athlete, from Boise, Idaho, who specialized in the 800 meters and 1500 meters distances. Symmonds signed with Brooks Running in January 2014 after a 7-year sponsorship with Nike. In college at Willamette University he won seven NCAA Division III titles in outdoor track. Symmonds is a 6-time US National 800 meters champion. He has competed in the 800m at two Olympic Games, reaching the semi-finals in Beijing 2008, while in London 2012, he finished fifth in the final, running a personal best of 1:42.95 behind David Rudisha's world record. He won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 World Championships, having previously finished sixth in the 2009 final and fifth in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geena Gall</span> American middle-distance runner

Geena Gall, is an Olympic American mid-distance runner who ran for the University of Michigan. Gall's achievements include back to back NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800m in 2008 and 2009, representing the USA at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, Germany in the 800m. She also competed at the North American Central American Caribbean Championships in San Salvador, El Salvador in 2007 and Toluca, Mexico in 2008. Gall was a member of the "Fab Four" who set two collegiate records at the 2007 Penn Relays, a ten-time NCAA All-American, owning two Big Ten 800 meter records and two DMR records, 10 Big Ten championships, numerous U of M school records, and at Grand Blanc High School she was a three-time national champion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Rowbury</span> American middle-distance runner

Shannon Rowbury is an American middle-distance runner from San Francisco, California. After competing collegiately for Duke University, she turned professional in 2007. Rowbury has represented the United States at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympics. She also represented the United States at the World Championships in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, winning the bronze medal in the 1500 meters in 2009. In 2015, Rowbury helped set the world record with the U.S. team for the distance medley relay event, and set a then-American record for 1500 meters on July 17, 2015, breaking Mary Slaney's 32 year-old mark with a time of 3:56.29.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anna Willard</span> American middle-distance runner

Anna Willard is an American middle distance runner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karin Krebs</span> East German middle-distance runner

Karin Krebs is a retired East German middle-distance runner. She won the 800 metres race at the 1968 European Indoor Games, but failed to reach the 800 m Olympic final the same year. She then focused on the 1500 m event and won it at the 1971 European Championships, setting a new world record at 4:09.6 minutes. She placed fourth at the 1972 Olympics, and her world record was broken earlier in July 1972 by the future Olympic gold medalist Lyudmila Bragina. Krebs had her last intentional success in 1974 when she won the silver medal over 1500 m at the European Indoor Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenny Simpson</span> American middle-distance runner and steeplechaser

Jennifer Simpson is an American middle distance runner and steeplechaser. She represented the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, 2012 London Olympics and 2016 Rio Olympics. She is a former American record holder for the 3000 metres steeplechase. In the 1500 metres, she won a gold medal at the 2011 World Championships, a silver medal at the 2013 and 2017 World Championships, and a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Sarah Schwald is an American middle-distance runner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jillian Schwartz</span> American-born female former pole vaulter (born 1979)

Jillian Schwartz is an American-born female former pole vaulter who competed internationally for Israel. She represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics and competed at five consecutive World Championships in Athletics from 2003 to 2011. Her best placing in international competition was fourth at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Carmen Douma-Hussar is a Canadian middle-distance runner. She is a member of the Guelph Track and Field Club and is coached by Marcus O'Sullivan and Albert Tschirhart. She was the silver medalist in the 1500 m at the 2004 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

Alice Schmidt Kehaya is an American middle distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters. She represented the United States at the 2008 Summer Olympics and 2012 London Olympics and has competed at the World Championships in Athletics on three occasions.

Mary Cecilia Cain is an American professional middle distance runner from Bronxville, New York. Cain was the 2014 World Junior Champion in the 3000 meter event. She is the youngest American athlete ever to represent the United States at a track and field World Championships meet after competing in the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow aged 17 years and 3 months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brenda Martinez</span> American middle-distance runner

Brenda Martinez is an American middle-distance runner and Olympian. Born in Upland, California, she won a silver medal in the 800 meters at the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow and finished first in the 800 meters at the 2014 Diamond League Final. She represented the US at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 1500 meters. Martinez twice set the world record in the Distance Medley Relay at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston; first on February 7, 2015 and then breaking her own record on January 28, 2017. In 2016, Martinez qualified for the U.S. Olympic team competing in the 1500 meters after beating Amanda Eccleston by 0.03 seconds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriele Grunewald</span> American athlete (1986–2019)

Gabriele Ivy Grunewald was an American professional middle-distance runner who competed in distances from 800 meters to 5000 meters. She represented the United States at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships and finished in ninth place in the 3000 meters. Grunewald was the national champion in the 3000 meters at the 2014 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tori Bowie</span> American sprinter and long jumper

Frentorish"Tori" Bowie is an American track and field athlete, who primarily competes in the 100 m and the 200 m. She has a personal record of 6.95 m for the long jump, set in 2014. She is the 2017 100m world champion, a 2016 Olympian and a three-time Olympic medalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chanelle Price</span> American middle-distance runner

Chanelle Price is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800-meter run. She has a personal record of 1:59.10 for the distance. She was the gold medalist at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Selina Rutz-Büchel</span> Swiss middle-distance runner

Selina Rutz-Büchel is a Swiss middle-distance runner who competes in the 800 metres. She holds a personal best of 1:57.95 minutes for the event, which she set in 2015 in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Krumins</span> Dutch middle- and long-distance runner

Susan Krumins is a Dutch middle- and long-distance runner. She was the 5000 metres bronze medalist at the 2014 European Athletics Championships and also won a 3000 metres bronze at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "On the Fast Track: The Dot-Com Bust Sent Salem's Jennifer Toomey to a Track to See Just How Fast She Could Run Two Loops. The Answer: Very. Are the Olympics Next?", The Boston Globe , June 13, 2004. Retrieved January 26, 2013
  2. ↑ Shipley, Amy (2004) "Toomey: All in Good Time; American Record Holder Is Hitting Her Stride at 32", The Washington Post , February 28, 2004. Retrieved January 26, 2013
  3. ↑ Golen, Jimmy (2004) "Jen Toomey Takes Double at U.S. Indoors", AP Online, March 1, 2004.
  4. ↑ Thompson, Rich (2004) "Toomey doubles winnings in 1,500.", Boston Herald , March 1, 2004.}
  5. 1 2 3 4 Golen, Jimmy (2008) "Toomey hoping to propel comeback at Boston Indoor meet", USA Today , January 24, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2013
  6. ↑ Marrapese-Burrell, Nancy (2005) "Toomey feeling good about win in 1,500", The Boston Globe, February 27, 2005. Retrieved January 26, 2013
  7. 1 2 "Athlete Profile: Jennifer Toomey", iaaf.org. Retrieved January 26, 2013
  8. 1 2 Matson, Barbara (2008) "Home run was timely", The Boston Globe, January 26, 2008
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.