Willie Hordge

Last updated
Willie Hordge
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Born (1984-02-09) February 9, 1984 (age 40)
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight212 lb (96 kg)
Sport
Sport Track & Field
Event(s)100m, Relays
College team Arkansas/Butler County CC
Achievements and titles
Personal best100m: 10.03
Medal record
Men’s athletics
Representing Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
World Junior Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2002 Kingston 4×100 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2002 Kingston 100 m
Pan American Junior Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2003 Bridgetown 4×100 m
World Youth Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2001 Debrecen 100 m

Willie Hordge (born February 9, 1984) is an American sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters.

At the 2001 World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, Hordge won a silver medal in 100 meters, finishing behind only Darrel Brown (10.31 to 10.41). In his junior season at Forest Brook High School in Houston, Texas, Hordge narrowly missed winning the Texas 4A 100-meter title to Brendan Christian 10.15 to 10.16. The following month, he won the 100 meters over Kelly Willie and Jonathan Wade in the Great Southwest Classic in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a 10.21 clocking (+2.0 m/s wind). Horde still holds the 17-18 USATF Gulf Association record the 100 meters at 10.11 from that era. [1]

Hordge participated in the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica, and finished with a bronze medal in 100 meters, placing third behind Darrel Brown and Marc Burns. Known for his slow start out of the blocks, officials at the meet were in amazement at how he closed at the finish. A few days later at the same meet, he anchored the United States 4x100 relay squad to Gold. Hordge received the baton identical to Usain Bolt of Jamaica, and then pulled away from him down the stretch, as he and teammates Ashton Collins, Wes Felix, and Ivory Williams set a new world junior record of 38.92. It was the fourth and fastest of five different 4x100 relays he anchored under 40 seconds in the space of three weeks. [2] Just like he is today, Usain Bolt was the talk of the meet back then, and Hordge showed him up on his own soil in Kingston. Bolt was visibly upset after the finish. The day before Bolt had just won the 200 meters.

Hordge was the cover boy of the September 2002 edition of track & Field News. [3] He was the 2002 "Nike Athlete of the Year." [2]

At the 2003 Pan Am Junior Championships in Bridgetown, Barbados, the pair faced off again on anchor leg of the 4x100 meter relay. Hordge shocked Bolt again, and the United States won the gold in 39.29 to Jamaica's 39.40. This was just one day after Bolt had set the World Youth Best and equalled the World Junior Record in the 200 meters.

As a 181 pounds (82 kg) football player with reputed 4.1 (actual 4.3) speed he was invited to play in the 2003 Oil Bowl. [4] He was recruited to several high profile schools, including the University of Arkansas, Texas A&M [5] and Mississippi State University. [6] He committed to Arkansas.

Hordge's entry was dependent on achieving NCAA eligibility. He struggled with the ACT test following football games, [7] but was reported to have passed on his fourth attempt. [8] Arkansas fell through, Hordge ended up going to Butler Community College along with Ivory Williams. He won the 2004 Kansas Relays while representing Butler. [9] He held the 200 meters meet record at the Masked Rider Open for ten years. [10] He ended up at SUNY, Buffalo, winning the 2007 NCAA D3 National Championship at both 100 meters and 200 meters his junior year, [11] but at a reported 212 pounds (96 kg), [12] he was no longer running world class times. He was "New York State Track Athlete of the Year" that year. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Merlene Ottey</span> Jamaican-born Slovenian track athlete

Merlene Joyce Ottey is a Jamaican-Slovenian former track and field sprinter. She began her career representing Jamaica in 1978, and continued to do so for 24 years, before representing Slovenia from 2002 to 2012. She is ranked fourth on the all-time list over 60 metres (indoor), eighth on the all-time list over 100 metres and sixth on the all-time list over 200 metres. She is the current world indoor record holder for 200 metres with 21.87 seconds, set in 1993. She was named Jamaican Sportswoman of the Year 13 times between 1979 and 1995.

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

Asafa Powell, CD 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

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.

Vicente Lenílson de Lima is a Brazilian sprinter specializing in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and the 4×100 metres relay.

<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">Wallace Spearmon</span> American sprinter

Wallace Spearmon Jr. is a retired American sprint athlete, who specializes in the 200 meters. He is a two-time NCAA outdoor champion in the 200 m and won the silver medal in the event at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. He has a personal best of 19.65 seconds for the distance, making him the thirteenth fastest 200 meter runner of all time, and he formerly held the indoor American record.

<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">Dwight Thomas</span> Jamaican sprinter

Dwight Thomas O.D is a Jamaican sprinter, mainly competing in the 100 metres event and more recently the 110 m hurdles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Armstrong</span> American track and field sprint athlete

Aaron Nigel Armstrong is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for Trinidad and Tobago. He is the 2008 Olympic champion in 4 × 100 metres relay.

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

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nobuharu Asahara</span> Japanese athlete

Nobuharu Asahara is a former Japanese athlete who specialized in the 100 meters and long jump. He won the 100 m at the Japanese national championship on five occasions in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002, and he took part in the Olympics four times in 1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008. He represented Japan six times at the World Championships in Athletics.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerron Stewart</span> Jamaican sprinter

Kerron Stewart is a retired Jamaican sprinter who specialized in the 100 metres and 200 metres. She is the 2008 Jamaican national champion in the 100 m clocking 10.80s. She defeated World Champion Veronica Campbell-Brown in the process and now is the 2008 Summer Olympics silver medalist after she tied with Sherone Simpson in a time of 10.98s. She also earned a bronze medal in the 200 metres at the 2008 Summer Olympics with a time of 22.00s. She was born in Kingston and retired after the 2018 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yohan Blake</span> Jamaican sprinter

Yohan Blake is a Jamaican sprinter specialising in the 100-metre and 200-metre sprint races. He won gold at the 100m at the 2011 World Athletics Championships as the youngest 100m world champion ever, and a silver medal in the 2012 Olympic Games in London in the 100m and 200m races for the Jamaican team behind Usain Bolt. His times of 9.75 in 100m and 19.44 in 200m are the fastest 100m and 200m Olympic sprints in history to not win the gold medal.

<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 retired Jamaican 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">Nickel Ashmeade</span> Jamaican sprinter

Nickel Ashmeade is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 and 200 meters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zharnel Hughes</span> British sprinter

Zharnel Hughes is an Anguilla-born British sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres and 200 metres. Born and raised in the British Overseas Territory of Anguilla, he has competed internationally for Great Britain in the Olympic Games, World Athletics and European Athletics events, and for England at the Commonwealth Games, since 2015. A double Commonwealth Games, double European Championships gold medalist as part of the 4 x 100 metres relay, Hughes has twice been European champion individually; over 100 metres in 2018, and 200 metres in 2022. In 2023, he broke both British sprint records, before winning his first global individual medal, a bronze in the 100 metres at the 2023 World championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trayvon Bromell</span> American sprinter

Trayvon Jaquez Bromell is an American professional track and field athlete specializing in sprinting events. He won bronze medals in the 100 meters at the 2015 and 2022 World Championships. Bromell was the 2016 World indoor 60 meters champion, and competed for the United States at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He was the first junior to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters with a time of 9.97 seconds, the former junior world record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaica at the 2016 Summer Olympics</span> Sporting event delegation

Jamaica competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, from August 5 to 21, 2016. This marked its sixteenth Summer Olympic appearance as an independent nation, although it had previously competed in four other editions as a British colony, and as part of the West Indies Federation.

References

  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-26.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. 1 2 "Willie Hordge 2002 Nike Athletes of the Year - DyeStat high school track and field".
  3. "Past Covers 2002". Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-26.
  4. http://www.oilbowl.com/archives/2003/story_rosters.php
  5. https://sports.yahoo.com/footballrecruiting/football/recruiting/player-Willie-Hordge-9991 [ dead link ]
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-11-23. Retrieved 2012-07-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Defensive Backs: Hordge hopes to clear ACT hump, get on with college career". 26 January 2003.
  8. http://thecabin.net/stories/061603/spo_0616030028.shtml#.VWT4xs73g2k
  9. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=20040418&id=YlsyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xucFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6921,4873454&hl=en Lawrence World-Journal, April 18, 2004 P11C
  10. "Butler track qualifies 11 individuals for nationals". 2 February 2015.
  11. "MIT Cross Country and Track and Field".
  12. "Willie Hordge - 2009 - Men's Track and Field".
  13. "All Years".