Shawn Crawford Shawn Crawford during the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin Personal information Nationality  United States Date of birth January 14, 1978 (1978-01-14) (age 33) Place of birth Van Wyck, South Carolina Sport Sport Running Achievements and titles Personal best(s) 100m: 9.88 200m: 19.79 Medal record Men's athletics Competitor for the  United States Olympic Games Gold 2004 Athens 200 m Silver 2004 Athens 4x100 m relay Silver 2008 Beijing 200 m World Championships Bronze 2001 Edmonton 200 m World Indoor Championships Gold 2001 Lisbon 200 m Silver 2004 Budapest 60 m Shawn Crawford (born January 14, 1978) is an American sprint athlete from the United States. He competes in the 100 meters and 200 meters events. He won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 200 metres. Crawford holds the record for the fastest 100 metres run to place fourth. In August 2004, he ran 9.89 seconds in the Olympic final in Athens. Contents 1 Biography 2 Statistics 2.1 Personal bests 2.2 Major achievements 3 References 4 External links Biography

Crawford was born in Van Wyck, South Carolina. He attended Indian Land High School before leaving for Clemson University, where he claimed 11 All-America honors and three National Championships. In a successful 2001 Crawford started the year with a victory at the Indoor World Championships in the 200m. He then went to the World Athletics Championships where he tied with Kim Collins of Saint Kitts and Nevis for the 200m. bronze medal. He then travelled to the Goodwill Games where he claimed his second gold medal of the year. Shawn Crawford in the 2008 US trials in Eugene The next two years of Crawford's career were most memorable for his outrageous antics and lack of focus. At a 2002 meet in Milan, he put on a Phantom of the Opera mask just prior to the beginning of his 200m race. The mask became dislodged during the race obstructing his vision and causing him to run out of his lane and be disqualified.1 He claimed to have tested the mask in advance by sticking his head out of a car window while wearing it.

In January 2003, Crawford starred in an episode of the Fox TV show Man vs. Beast in which he raced a zebra and a giraffe over 100m on dirt. In the first race he easily bested the giraffe (which was separated from him by a metal fence and may have been a bit disoriented). The zebra race was very close with the zebra slowly pulling ahead for victory. Accusing the zebra of a false start, he re-raced the zebra getting out of the blocks first and taking a lead. This caused the zebra to speed up, finishing in 9.90s to Crawford's 10.14s time. Later he boasted to ESPN the Magazine, "tell the zebra I coulda whooped him."1 According to the USATF website Crawford refers to himself as "Cheetah Man." He has publicly expressed his desire to run in war paint and urges spectators to look out for him at every meet. After the relatively unsuccessful and unfocused 2002 and 2003 Crawford burst back in March 2004 where he was fancied for the 60m. world indoor title. However, he came up against an in-form Jason Gardener from Great Britain who edged him into the silver medal position by three hundredths of a second.

In the trials for the 2004 Summer Olympics Crawford gained his place in the team by claiming third in the 100m. with a personal best of 9.93s. behind winner Maurice Greene and second placed Justin Gatlin but bettered that seven days later with first place in the 200m. with a time of 19.99s. this time pushing Gatlin into second with Bernard Williams taking third. In June Crawford improved on his 100m personal best when running 9.88s in Eugene, Oregon, to leave him as a real medal contender for the Athens Games. Shawn Crawford (left) and Walter Dix (right) at the 2008 Olympics 200 m final At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Crawford ran the 100m final in 9.89s finishing in fourth place just 0.04s behind first place finisher, Justin Gatlin, his friend and training partner. That was the first race in history with four competitors under 9.90s. Crawford went on to win the gold medal in the 200m in 19.79s. Later, he claimed a silver as part of the US 4x100m relay team.

He qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 200m dash, finishing second at the trials after failing to qualify in the 100m. He originally finished fourth in the 200m final but was later promoted to 2nd, winning silver, after fellow countryman Wallace Spearmon and Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles were both disqualified for lane infringements. Crawford gave his medal to Martina on August 28, 2008 in a tremendous show of sportsmanship.2 On March 6, 2009, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected an appeal by the National Olympic Committee of the Netherlands Antilles against Martina's disqualification.3 He won the 200m at the 2009 US Championships, and qualified to represent the United States at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. He ran 19.89seconds in the final of the competition, his best of the season. However, he was pipped to the bronze medal by Spearmon, and was some distance behind winner Usain Bolt who set a new world record of 19.19seconds. Statistics As of 5 July 2009 (2009 -07-05)[update] Personal bests Date Event Venue Time (seconds) February 28, 2004 60 meters Boston, Massachusetts, United States 6.47 June 19, 2004 100 meters Eugene, Oregon, United States 9.88 August 26, 2004 200 meters Athens, Greece 19.79 June 7, 2009 300 meters Eugene, Oregon, United States 32.47 All information from IAAF Profile4 Major achievements 2001 World Championships in Athletics - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 200 m bronze medalist World Indoor Championships - Lisbon, Portugal. 200 m gold medal Goodwill Games - Brisbane, Australia. 200 m gold medal 2004 World Indoor Championships - Budapest, Hungary. 60 m silver medal Olympic Games - Athens, Greece. 200 m gold medal 4x100 m relay silver medal 2008 2008 Summer Olympics 200 m Silver Medal On January 31, 2009 according to the Associated Press "Shawn Crawford confirmed that he gave his Olympic silver medal to Churandy Martina, the sprinter who finished second in the 200 meters but was later disqualified for running out of his lane" References ^ a b "Crawford's the happiest, fastest guy out of the medals in the 100". http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040823/news_lz1x23sulli.html. Retrieved 2007-07-27.  ^ "Crawford confirms he gave Olympic medal to Martina". AP. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jQ3at8HhzW2x9sdbR7OPsmhMwFGQD961S9G81. Retrieved 2009-02-01.  ^ Martina's bid to reclaim silver rejected, ESPN.com, March 6, 2009. ^ "Crawford, Shawn biography". IAAF.org. http://www.iaaf.org/athletes/biographies/letter=0/athcode=136061/index.html. Retrieved 2008-09-08.  External links IAAF profile for Shawn Crawford Shawn Crawford's U.S. Olympic Team bio Video Interview of Shawn Crawford during the 100th Millrose Games

v · d · eOlympic Champions in Men's 200 m 1900: Walter Tewksbury (USA)  · 1904: Archie Hahn (USA)  · 1908: Robert Kerr (CAN)  · 1912: Ralph Craig (USA)  · 1920: Allen Woodring (USA)  · 1924: Jackson Scholz (USA)  · 1928: Percy Williams (CAN)  · 1932: Eddie Tolan (USA)  · 1936: Jesse Owens (USA)  · 1948: Mel Patton (USA)  · 1952: Andy Stanfield (USA)  · 1956: Bobby Morrow (USA)  · 1960: Livio Berruti (ITA)  · 1964: Henry Carr (USA)  · 1968: Tommie Smith (USA)  · 1972: Valeri Borzov (URS)  · 1976: Don Quarrie (JAM)  · 1980: Pietro Mennea (ITA)  · 1984: Carl Lewis (USA)  · 1988: Joe DeLoach (USA)  · 1992: Michael Marsh (USA)  · 1996: Michael Johnson (USA)  · 2000: Konstantinos Kenteris (GRE)  · 2004: Shawn Crawford (USA)  · 2008: Usain Bolt (JAM) v · d · eWorld Indoor Champions in Men's 200 m

 1985: Aleksandr Yevgenyev (URS)  •  1987: Kirk Baptiste (USA)  •  1989: John Regis (GBR)  •  1991: Nikolay Antonov (BUL)  •  1993: James Trapp (USA)  •  1995: Geir Moen (NOR)  •  1997: Kevin Little (USA)  •  1999: Frankie Fredericks (NAM)  •  2001: Shawn Crawford (USA)  •  2003: Marlon Devonish (GBR)  •  2004: Dominic Demeritte (BAH) Sporting positions Preceded by Joshua J. Johnson Men's 200 m Best Year Performance alongside Konstadinos Kederis 2002 Succeeded by Bernard Williams Preceded by Bernard Williams Men's 200 m Best Year Performance 2004 Succeeded by Wallace Spearmon Persondata Name Crawford, Shawn Alternative names Short description American sprinter Date of birth January 14, 1978 Place of birth Van Wyck, South Carolina Date of death Place of death