USA’s Track and Field Olympic Champion Celebrates Rare Achievement Amid Black History Month

Published 02/20/2024, 9:10 AM HKT

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An American track and field legend has recently come forward and raised a toast to herself. The Olympic champ gave herself and her followers online a boost amid Black History Month. Interestingly, the 3x Olympic medalist is also the former fastest woman alive.

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Carmelita Jeter, 44, held the fastest woman alive tag for 12 long years from 2009 to 2021. Popularly known as ‘The Jet’, Jeter has made immense contributions to the current dominance of American women in track. Now, the track and field veteran has made a social media upload highlighting a rare achievement. In fact, she is the only black athlete today who lays claim to this rare feat.

Olympic gold medalist aids the creation of more gold earners

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Carmelita Jeter added a new tweet on X with the caption, “I am a Member of The World Record Breaking Olympic 4×100 2012. I am the most decorated athlete @TorosAthletics. Held the Fastest Women Alive Title 10.64 2009 over 10 years. I am currently The Only Black Head Coach @unlv. I am Black History #CoachJet #BlackHistoryMonth #CoachJet.”

The tweet highlights The Jet’s position as the lone black head coach of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Paired with all the other achievements she mentioned, the Olympic champ truly is a rare national gem. Jeter also added several images of herself training her students while they’re sprinting on the tracks.

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The Olympic gold medalist is using her experience and her expertise to forge more women who can win the gold. Interestingly, while she’s not the fastest woman alive right now, she still remains the fourth fastest of all time. In fact, the US veteran is a millisecond faster than both Sha’Carri Richardson and Shericka Jackson.

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Leaving today’s champions in the dust

Coach Jet’s fastest 100m performance stands at 10.64 seconds, while SCR and Shericka Jackson are tied at 10.65 seconds. Apart from Florence Griffith Joyner, only Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce have managed to surpass the Olympic champ. However, Fraser-Pryce, who was Jeter’s arch-rival, took 12 years to dethrone her.

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However, Carmelita Jeter had already beaten Fraser-Pryce fair and square at the 2011 World Championship in Daegu, South Korea. The Jamaican sprinter was the favorite of the race and many vouched for her quick start, which is a vital advantage in the 100m. However, the Olympic champ came from behind and defeated Fraser-Pryce as well as her 2007 nemesis Veronica Campbell-Brown. With her potent guidance, the US will receive even more and even better sprinters in the future. Truly, Coach Jet really is ‘Black History.’

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Written by:

Ankit Singh

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Ankit Singh is a senior Olympic Sports correspondent at EssentiallySports who covers gymnastics, track and field, and the NCAA Women's Division 1 Volleyball. In his early days at ES, Ankit covered two prime track and field events - the 2023 World Athletics Championships and the 2023 Prefontaine Classic. During the 2023 NCAA Division 1 women’s Volleyball championships, Ankit covered the Nebraska Huskers and the Wisconsin Badgers rivalry, and later covered the transfer portals after the Texas Longhorns lifted the victory.
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Edited by:

Suman Varandani

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