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{{Short description|American hurdler (born 1983)}}

factoids

| birth_place = | nationality = American| height = 5 ft 7in| weight = 130 lbs| country = United StatesSport of athletics>Athletics400 metres hurdles>400 m hurdles| retired = 2016| worlds = 2005 Helsinki 400 m hurdles, {{silver medal}} 2009 Berlin 400 m hurdles, {{silver medal}} 4x400 m relay, {{gold medal}} 2011 Daegu 400 m hurdles, {{gold medal}} 2013 Moscow 400 m hurdles, {{bronze medal}}| olympics = 2004 Athens 400 m hurdles, 7th (sf) 2012 London 400 m hurdles, {{gold medal}}| pb = {{ubl {{Medal|Sport|Women's athletics}}{{Medal|Country|the {{USA}}}}{{Medal|Competition|Olympic Games}}{{Medal|Gold| 2012 London|400 m hurdles}}{{Medal|Competition|World Championships}}{{Medal|Gold |2009 Berlin|4x400 m relay}}{{Medal|Gold|2011 Daegu|400 m hurdles}}{{Medal|Silver|2005 Helsinki|400 m hurdles}}{{Medal|Silver|2009 Berlin|400 m hurdles}}{{Medal|Bronze|2013 Moscow|400 m hurdles}}{{Medal|Competition|World U20 Championships}}{{Medal|Gold|2002 Kingston|400 m hurdles}}{{Medal|Gold|2002 Kingston|4x400 m relay}}{{Medal|Competition|Pan American U20 Athletics Championships}}{{Medal|Gold|1999 Tampa|400 m hurdles}}}}Lashinda Demus (born March 10, 1983, in Inglewood, California) 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.Demus' personal best time over 400 m hurdles is 52.47 seconds, set in Daegu, South Korea on September 1, 2011, making her as of December 2022 the seventh fastest woman in history in the event. At the time it was the American record.WEB, czatletika,weblink Videos – Womens 400 Hurdles Final – Lashinda Demus 52.47 American Record – IAAF World Outdoor Championships 2011, Runnerspace.com, 2011-09-01, 2012-08-09,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20160303231015weblink">weblink 2016-03-03, dead, She is a five-time national champion (400 m hurdles), and a four-time NCAA champion (400 m hurdles, 400 m indoors and 4 × 400 m relay out and indoors).

Career

1998–2001: High school years

She is an alumna of the Long Beach Wilson High School where she ran and until 2017 held the national high school record for the 300 m hurdles.National High School Records {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100616171733weblink |date=2010-06-16 }} She ran on the 4x400 m relay team that set the national record in 1998, ran the second fastest time in history in 1999, and then broke its own national record in 2001Record Progression {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215040206weblink |date=December 15, 2008 }} (since surpassed by cross town rival Long Beach Polytechnic High School in 2004). She also competed in the 100 meter hurdles, winning the CIF California State Meet in 2001, on the 4x100 m relay team, champions in 2001,2001 State Meet Results {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721155113weblink |date=2011-07-21 }} as well as many of the sprint medley teams. In 1999 and again in 2001, she was named the national Girl's "High School Athlete of the Year" by Track and Field News. She is the only person to be so honored twice, non-consecutively.Track and Field News High School AOY {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013091646weblink |date=October 13, 2011 }}

2001–2005: Collegiate years

After High School, Lashinda attended the University of South Carolina to work under Curtis Frye. Her top times in college were as follows: 55 m H: 7.80; 60 m H: 8.32; 100 m H: 13.35; 400 m H: 54.70; 400 m: 51.38; 800 m: 2:13.77.WEB,weblink Retrieved on 2009-08-24., 2009-08-24,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20091206224115weblink">weblink 2009-12-06, dead, While at South Carolina, Demus won the World Junior Championship in 2002, the NCAA Indoor Championship at 400 meters in 2004, the first of three National ChampionshipsNational Championships {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091209122833weblink |date=2009-12-09 }} and a silver medal in the 2005 World Championships. Demus also was a member of the school's first NCAA team national championship when the women's track and field team won the 2002 NCAA Outdoor National Championship.

2004 Summer Olympics

Demus qualified for the American team at the 2004 Athens Olympics. In the semi-final, she ran exactly the same time as her teammate Sheena Johnson and .7 seconds faster than Brenda Taylor who qualified in the first semi, but Demus had the misfortune to run in the much faster second semi. Her fifth place did not advance her to the final.

2008–2011: World champion at 28 years old

Leaving behind the memory of failure to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, she won the 2009 US Championships in the 400 m hurdles, with a world-leading 53.78 seconds, gaining herself a place at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics.Morse, Parker (2009-06-28). World season leads for Demus and Merritt as team takes shape in Eugene – USA Champs, Day 3. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-06-30. She improved upon this with a time of 52.63 seconds at the Herculis meeting in July. This was a meeting record and was then the fourth fastest time ever for the event.Turner, Chris (2009-07-28). Hurdlers delight on a spectacular evening in Monaco – IAAF World Athletics Tour. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-07-31. With that time she was the favorite to win the World Championships but faltered over the last two hurdles as she was passed by Olympic gold medalist Melaine Walker of Jamaica who was en route to the #2 time in history, leaving Demus to take home a second silver medal. However, Demus got her revenge at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics in Daegu, South Korea, when she won the gold medal in 52.47 seconds, a new American Record and the third fastest time in history. She beat reigning Olympic Champion and defending World Champion Melaine Walker, who finished second. Heavy favorite Kaliese Spencer who had set the fastest time in 2011, could only finish fourth behind Demus, Walker and 2010 European Champion and 2004 Olympic 400 m bronze medalist Natalya Antyukh.Berlin results {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203204011weblink |date=February 3, 2010 }}

2012 Summer Olympics

At the 2012 Summer Olympics held in London, Demus originally won the silver medal for the women's 400 m hurdles behind Russia's Natalya Antyukh.Lashinda Demus Out of the Blocks with Jasmine Todd & Katelyn Hutchison | A Track And Field PodcastIn 2019, following a re-test of doping samples, Antyukh was disqualified with all her results 2013 onward deleted but her 2012 Olympic results were initially not affected.WEB,weblink London 2012 400m hurdles women Results - Olympic athletics, Two Olympic champions among four Russians with new doping charges from Associated Press, via Sky Sports.CAS Media Release (tas-cas.org) However, following further re-tests in October 2022, Antyukh's results from July 15, 2012, onward were retroactively voided. On 20 December, it was announced that she had been stripped of her 400 m hurdles gold and Demus was upgraded to gold medal in her place, becoming the first woman from the United States to win the Olympic 400 m hurdles title.NEWS, 2022-12-21, Russia's Antyukh stripped of London 2012 gold, en-GB, BBC Sport,weblink 2022-12-21, NEWS, 2022-12-21, LONDON 2012 ATHLETICS 400M HURDLES WOMEN RESULTS, en-GB, olympics.org,weblink 2023-09-09,

Achievements{|{{AchievementTable|nationUSA|Eventyes|Timeyes|NotesOffyes}}

|19991999 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships>Pan American U20 Athletics ChampionshipsTampa, Florida>Tampa, Florida1st|400 m hurdles1999 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships#Women>57.04|2001Athletics at the 2001 Summer Universiade>World University ChampionshipsUniversiade|Beijing, China|16th|400 m hurdlesAthletics at the 2001 Summer Universiade – Women's 400 metres hurdles#Semifinals>60.782002World Junior ChampionshipsKingston, Jamaica1st|400 m hurdles2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres hurdles>54.701st|4 × 400 m relay3:29.95)|2004Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics>Olympic Games|Athens, Greece|7th (sf)|400 m hurdlesAthletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres hurdles>54.3220052005 World Championships in Athletics>World Championships|Helsinki, Finland2nd|400 m hurdles2005 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres hurdles>53.272005 IAAF World Athletics Final>World Athletics Final|Monte Carlo, Monaco1st|400 m hurdles2005 IAAF World Athletics Final#Women>53.3720062006 IAAF World Athletics Final>World Athletics Final|Stuttgart, Germany1st|400 m hurdles2006 IAAF World Athletics Final#Women>53.422006 IAAF World Cup>World Cup|Athens, Greece2nd|400 m hurdles2006 IAAF World Cup – Results#400 m hurdles>54.062009World ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany2nd|400 m hurdles2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres hurdles>52.961st|4 × 400 m relay3:17.83) |20112011 World Championships in Athletics>World Championships|Daegu, Korea1st|400 m hurdles2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres hurdles>52.47|2012Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics>Olympic Games|London, United Kingdom1st|400 m hurdlesAthletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's 400 metres hurdles>52.77|20132013 World Championships in Athletics>World Championships|Moscow, Russia3rd|400 m hurdles2013 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres hurdles>54.27

References

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External links

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