![]() Clement at the 2016 Summer Olympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Kerron Stephon Clement | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Trinidadian-American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Port of Spain, Trinidad | October 31, 1985||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 185 lb (84 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Track and field | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event(s) | 400 meters, 400 meters hurdles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
College team | University of Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Kerron Stephon Clement (born October 31, 1985) is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Johnson's mark in 2005. [1]
Clement won the hurdles at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and took the silver behind Angelo Taylor at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He retained his world title at the 2009 World Championships. He is a frequent member of the American 4x400-meter relay and is a two-time world champion and Olympic gold medalist in the event. [2]
As a junior athlete, he set a championship record at the 2004 World Junior Championships [3] and as a University of Florida Gator won back-to-back NCAA titles in 2004/2005. He quickly progressed on the senior circuit, taking the hurdles title at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in both 2005 [4] and 2006. He was fourth in his first global appearance at the 2005 World Championships and won his first global gold at the 2006 IAAF World Cup. [5]
Clement was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. His family moved to the United States in 1998, where he became a successful high school athlete at La Porte High School in La Porte, Texas. He won both 110 and 400-meter hurdles at the USATF Youth Athletics Championships. He also won the (high school) National Scholastic Championship in the 110-meter high hurdles in 2002, and finished fifth in that same event his senior year in 2003. He won the 400-meter hurdles at the 2003 National Scholastic meet. [6]
Clement accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he ran for coach Mike Holloway's Florida Gators track and field team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition in 2004 and 2005. [7] At the end of his freshman year in 2004, he won the NCAA outdoor championships in the 400-meter hurdles (a feat he would repeat in 2005). Clement became a U.S. citizen in June 2004 and was eligible to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team, but instead opted to skip the Olympic Trials in favor of competing at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics. At the World Junior Championships in July, he won the gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles in a championship record time of 48.51 seconds. [5] Clement also ran a leg for the American 4x400-meter relay team and set a world junior record of 3:01.09.
On March 12, 2005, representing the University of Florida, he broke the indoor world record for the 400-meter sprint at the NCAA indoor championships in Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas with a time of 44.57 seconds. His split at 200-meter was 21.08 seconds. The record was held for ten years previously by Michael Johnson at 44.63 seconds. Afterwards, Clement anchored Florida's 4x400-meter indoor relay to a time of 3:03.51. [8]
Clement set a personal best and 2005 world leading performance in the 400-meter hurdles with a 47.24 seconds, winning the 2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships title at Carson, California. This was the fastest time posted for the 400-meter hurdles in seven years. He opted to turn professional in the summer of 2005 and, while he no longer represented the University of Florida he continued to live and train in Gainesville. Clement faded during the 2005 World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland and missed out on the medals, finishing fourth. He represented the United States at the 2006 IAAF World Cup and won the hurdles title ahead of South African L. J. van Zyl.
Clement earned a gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2007 World Championship in Osaka. His time of 47.61 seconds was a season's best, and he was ranked the number 1 400-meter hurdler in the world. [9] In the fall of 2007, he decided to leave Gainesville, and moved to California to train under legendary track coach Bob Kersee to prepare for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. [9]
Clement qualified in the 400-meter hurdles for the 2008 Summer Olympics on June 29, 2008, at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon. [10] Clement advanced to the final where he was a slight favourite over compatriot Angelo Taylor, but Taylor ran a personal best time to win the gold medal. Clement came second for silver, and later won a gold medal in the 4x400-meter relay despite not racing in the final. He closed the year on the top of the podium with a gold medal at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final.
The following year he competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. Reigning Olympic champion, Taylor, was eliminated in the heats. Clement won the gold medal in a season's best time of 47.91, beating Javier Culson and Bershawn Jackson to the title. He took another gold at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final, which was the last edition of the competition.
In 2011 he started off the outdoor season well, running a 48.74 on May 7, but he failed to improve on that time the rest of the year. As the two-time defending champion, Clement received an automatic entry to the 13th IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, but his time of 52.11 on 30 August was not good enough to advance to the finals.
Clement finished 3rd in the 400 metres hurdles in 48.44 at 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships [11] to qualify for the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. [12]
Event | Time (s) | Venue | Date |
---|---|---|---|
100 meters | 10.23 | Coral Gables, Florida | April 14, 2007 |
200 meters | 20.49 | Coral Gables, Florida | April 14, 2007 |
300 meters (indoor) | 31.94 | Fayetteville, Arkansas | June 26, 2005 |
400 meters | 44.48 | Stockholm, Sweden | August 7, 2007 |
55 meters hurdles (indoor) | 7.28 | Gainesville, Florida | January 15, 2005 |
60 meters hurdles (indoor) | 7.80 | Lexington, Kentucky | February 28, 2004 |
110 meters hurdles | 13.77 | Omaha, Nebraska | August 8, 2002 |
400 meters hurdles | 47.24 | Carson, California | June 26, 2005 |
On October 11, 2019, during the annual National Coming Out Day (USA), Clement came out as gay during a Nike event, saying "It's who I am and it's what made me become the athlete I am today." [13] [14] [15] He had struggled with his sexuality since his teens and decided it was time "to be free." [16] [17]
The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women.
Angelo F. Taylor is an American track and field athlete, winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics. His personal record for the hurdles event is 47.25 seconds. His time puts him in a tie with Félix Sánchez for the #14 performer of all time. Sánchez also won two Olympic gold medals, in 2004 between Taylor's two golds and 2012, immediately following. Taylor also has a 400-meter dash best of 44.05 seconds, ranking him as the #25 performer of all time, superior to any other athlete who has made a serious effort in the 400 metres hurdles. He won the bronze medal in the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.
Marek Plawgo is a Polish athlete. He mainly competes in the 400 meters hurdles, but he also starts in the 400 meters and the 4 x 400 meters relay.
Jason Richardson is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 110 meter hurdles. He won the gold medal in the 110 meter hurdles at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, and the silver medal in the same event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. His personal best for the event is 12.98 seconds, set in June 2012 at the U.S. Olympic Trials.
Louis Jacobus van Zyl, better known as L. J. van Zyl, is a South African athlete competing in the 400 metre hurdles. He is the South African record holder in the event with a personal best of 47.66 seconds, which he achieved twice, three months apart. His time ranks him in the all-time top 25. He is a three-time African Champion in the event and competed for his country at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Lashinda Demus is a retired American hurdler who specialized in the 400 meter hurdles, an event in which she was the 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist, becoming the first woman from the United States to win the Olympic 400 m hurdles title.
Greg Nixon is an American sprinter who specialises in the 400 meters. His success has come mostly in the 400m and 4×400-meter relay, he is a 3x World Champion and a 2x USA Champion.
Jeshua Anderson is a retired American sprinter, who specializes in the 400 meter hurdles. He is a 3 time NCAA champion in the 400m hurdles and was the second freshman from Washington State University to ever win the NCAA title. In 2008 Anderson was 400 meter hurdles Junior World Champion and holds the second fastest high school time recorded in the 300m hurdles. He was born and raised in Woodland Hills, California and attended Taft High School. After winning the 2011 Outdoor Championships, Anderson had the competed for team USA at the world championships. He also participated in the 2016 Olympic trials in which he finished as a finalist.
Tony McQuay is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. He is a member of the 2012 and 2016 United States Olympic teams, winning a silver medal in the 4 × 400 m relay in 2012 and a gold in the same event in 2016. He is also a two time World Champion in this event.
Dalilah Muhammad is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2016 Rio Olympics champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, becoming at the latter the then-second-fastest woman of all time in the event with her personal best of 51.58 seconds. Muhammad was second at both the 2013 and 2017 World Championships to take her first gold in 2019, setting the former world record of 52.16 s. She was the second female 400 m hurdler in history, after Sally Gunnell, to have won the Olympic, World titles and broken the world record. At both the 2019 World Championships and Tokyo Games, she also took gold as part of women's 4 × 400 metres relay team.
Ashley Spencer is an American track and field athlete who competes in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles. In the 400m hurdles, she is the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist. In the 400m, she is the 2012 World Junior Champion and the 2016 World Indoor silver medalist. She is coached by 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Tonya Buford-Bailey.
David Verburg is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters. He holds gold medals in the 4 × 400 m relay from the 2016 Olympics; the 2013 and 2015 World Championships; and the 2014 Indoor World Championships.
The men's 400 metres hurdles event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 15–18 August at the Olympic Stadium. There were 47 competitors from 33 nations. The event was won by Kerron Clement of the United States, the nation's 19th victory in the men's long hurdles. Clement was the ninth man to win multiple medals in the event. Both Kenya and Turkey earned their first medals in the men's 400 metres hurdles, the former with Boniface Mucheru Tumuti's silver and the latter with Yasmani Copello's bronze.
Michael Arthur Norman Jr. is an American sprinter. He previously held the world best time in the indoor 400 meters at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays is tied as the #4 on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the world champion in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.
Derrick Williams is an American former track and field athlete who competed in the 400-meter hurdles. He was a finalist at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics and holds a personal record of 48.26 seconds.
Fredrick Lee Kerley is an American professional track and field sprinter who started his career competing in the 400 meters until 2020, when he transitioned to the 100 meters and 200 meters. He has earned several medals at the World Championships in the 400 m and 4 × 400 m relay including an individual bronze and a relay gold at the 2019 edition. Kerley claimed 100 m gold in the 2022 edition.
Kendall Ellis is an American sprinter. Ellis won gold in the 4x400 m relay and bronze in the Mixed 4x400 metres at the Tokyo Olympics. She competed in the 400 meters at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, winning gold medals as a part of prelim 4×400 m relays. As a junior, Ellis took gold in the 4×400 m relay and bronze in the 400 meters at the 2015 Pan American Junior Championships.
Abderrahman Almoubarrake Samba Alsaleck is a Qatari male track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. He was born and grew up in Saudi Arabia but chose to represent Mauritania – his father's homeland – before eventually switching allegiance to Qatar and moving to Doha in 2015. He became eligible to compete for his adopted country in May 2016. He was the second person to run the 400m hurdle event in less than 47 seconds.
Nathan Strother is an American sprinter. Nathan Strother is a 2019 IAAF World Indoor Tour Winner. Strother is a member of gold medal 4x400 m relays at 2018 Toronto NACAC Championships, 2018 Athletics World Cup, and bronze in 400 m 2018 IAAF Continental Cup.
Ricky Babineaux is an American male former track and field sprinter who specialized in the 400-meter dash, in which he has a personal record of 46.16 seconds. He was a gold medallist in the 4 × 400-meter relay at the 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, running for the United States in the heats to top the qualifiers with a time of 3:04.36 minutes alongside Clayton Parros, Kind Butler III, and Calvin Smith Jr.