Natasha Monique Hastings (born July 23, 1986) is an American 400 meter track and field sprinter.
Natasha Monique Hastings (born July 23, 1986) is an American 400 meter track and field sprinter.
Hastings began her track career at a very early age and made a first place win at the USATF Junior Olympics in the 400 metres in the Youth Girls division. [1] She attended A. Philip Randolph Campus High School in Harlem, New York, [2] where she was able to take her track and field interest to a more competitive level.
Hastings attended the University of South Carolina to work under Curtis Frye. [3] There, Hastings started to become known as "the 400M Diva" after accidentally describing the ladies track team as the "Gamecock Divas" in honor of the school's mascot, [4] the Gamecock. After coming back from a key injury, 2007 was considered Hastings' breakout year. Hastings went home to New York for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational and won the 400 m race in 51.70, a personal record at the time, and anchored the 4 × 400 m to a win with the fastest collegiate time for the year. Also in 2007, she won the SEC Championships by running a 50.84. Hastings went on to win the NCAA Championship title and her time in the 400 m at 50.15 was the second fastest time ever on the collegiate level and she had successfully competed undefeated all season becoming the Indoor and Outdoor 400 m champion. [5]
In 2008 at the age of 22, Hastings made the USA Olympic Track and Field Team. [6] She won an Olympic Gold Medal in the Women's 4 × 400 m relay team by running a 49.97 split in heat two at the 2008 Summer Olympics, where the United States won their heat in 3:22.45 with the team of Mary Wineberg, Monique Henderson, Hastings, and Sanya Richards-Ross. Hastings was replaced in the final by Allyson Felix as the U.S. won gold in 3:18.54. Athletes who run in the heats for medal-winning teams are awarded a medal.
In 2013 Hastings won the USATF 400 meters outdoor title in 49.94 on 22 June 2013, [7] thus making the US Track and Field Team for the 2013 World Championships in Athletics in Moscow, where she finished in fourth place.
In 2015 Hastings also made the US Track and Field Team for the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. She finished 5th in her semifinal and did not advance to the final. She was part of the 4 x 400 meters women team and they finished in second place for a silver medal.
In 2016, Natasha Hastings qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics, finishing third in the US trials with a time of 50.17 seconds in the 400 m. In Rio, Hastings finished fourth in the final of the 400 m, running the race in 50.34 seconds. [8]
At the 2016 Great North City Games in the UK, Hastings ran a personal best of 16.67 in a 150 m straight track race, finishing second. [9]
In 2017, Hastings won the 400 m at the Golden Gala meet in Rome, with a time of 50.52 seconds. [10] She ran a season's best of 50.14 in the 400 m at the 2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, finishing fourth.
Hastings has a YouTube channel, which includes behind the scenes footage of her races, workouts, and preparation. [11] She also has a series of videos called "Tea Time" , during which she talks about topics ranging from dating to mental preparation, often with friends and fellow athletes such as Michelle Carter. She got engaged to former NFL cornerback, William Gay, on July 22, 2018, but the couple never married. They have one son together. [12]
She is the cousin of former Trinidad and Tobago goalkeeper Shaka Hislop and his brother Kona Hislop. [13] [14] [15]
Her mother, Joanne, was one of the United Kingdom's top junior sprinters before she emigrated to the USA. [16]
Allyson Michelle Felix is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters. She specialized in the 200 meters from 2003 to 2013, then gradually shifted to the 400 meters later in her career. At 200 meters, Felix is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion (2005–2009), a two-time Olympic silver medalist, and the 2011 world bronze medalist. At 400 meters, she is the 2015 world champion, 2011 world silver medalist, 2016 Olympic silver medalist, 2017 world bronze medalist, and 2020 Olympic bronze medalist. Across the short distances, Felix is a ten-time U.S. national champion.
Natasha Kaiser-Brown is an American sprinter who specialized in the 400 meter run. As of 2022, she is the head coach of track and field at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.
Monica Hargrove is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 200- and 400-meter dash. She won the silver medal at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships as part of the 4×400-meter relay team, and also set a world best in the sprint medley relay at the Penn Relays that year.
Brenda Taylor is an American track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 meter hurdles. She reached the final of the event at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics and won a medal at the 2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships in the 4×400-meter relay.
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Shalonda Solomon is an American track and field sprinter. Her greatest international accomplishment is a silver medal in the 100 m at the 2010 IAAF Continental Cup, while representing the Americas team. She qualified for the 2011 World Championships in Athletics by winning the 200 m at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Her 22.15 in winning that race was the world-leading time for 2011. While running in the World Championships, she ran far slower than at the National Championships, finishing a fourth-place in the 200 m behind Jamaican Veronica Campbell-Brown, and American teammates Carmelita Jeter and defending champion Allyson Felix. Later in those championships, she won a gold medal by serving on the American 4 × 100 m relay team in the preliminary rounds, being replaced by Felix in the final. She has a distinct head bob while running, something noticeable since high school.
Francena Lynette McCorory is a retired American track and field athlete, known primarily for running the 400 meters. She was the 2011 World bronze medalist in the 400 meters and was a member of the gold medal-winning 2012 and 2016 United States Olympic 4 x 400 m relay teams. She was the IAAF 400 meter Indoor World Champion in 2014. McCorory retired in 2021.
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.
Frentorish "Tori" Bowie was an American track and field athlete, who primarily competed in the long jump, 100 meters, and 200 meters. She won the silver medal in the 100 m and bronze in the 200 m at the 2016 Rio Olympics, bronze and gold in the 100 m at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, respectively, and also earned gold medals as part of U.S. women's 4 × 100 m relays at both the 2016 Olympic Games and 2017 World Championships.
Phyllis Chanez Francis is an American track and field athlete. She won the gold medal at the 2017 World Championships in the 400 metres and 4 × 400 metres relay events.
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D'Andre "DeeDee" Hill is an American track and field coach and former athlete. She competed in sprint events, mainly in 100-meter dash. Her personal record in the event was 10.92 seconds. She represented her country over 100 m at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and shared in a gold medal in the 4×100-meter relay at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics, having run in the heats only.
Courtney Okolo is an American track and field sprinter who usually competes in the 400 metres. She starred at Carrollton (Texas) Newman Smith High School where she won multiple individual state championships.
Suziann Reid is an American-Jamaican former track and field sprinter who specialized in the 400-meter dash. She set a personal record of 50.74 seconds for the distance in 1999. She was a silver medalist with the American women's 4 × 400-meter relay team at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics. She was part of the World Championship team twice more, in 2001 and 2005, and helped the United States to silver at the 2002 IAAF World Cup and gold at the 2001 Goodwill Games.
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.
Wadeline Jonathas is an American track and field athlete. She won gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 meters event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and finished in 4th place in the 400 meters, in 49.60 seconds. Jonathas represents United States in women's 400 meters at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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World U20 Champions in women's 4 × 400 metres relay | |
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World Indoor Champions in women's 4 × 400 metres relay | |
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USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's 400 m (440 yards, 300 m) | |
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| 1959–1979 Amateur Athletic Union |
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| 1980–1992 The Athletics Congress | |
| 1993–present USA Track & Field |
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| Notes | * Distances have varied as follows: 440 yards (1959–1986), 400 meters (1987–date) alternating with 300 meters in odd numbered years starting 2015. The 1958 race was run as an exhibition. |
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| Men's track and road athletes |
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| Men's field athletes |
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| Women's track and road athletes |
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