Ato Boldon

Ato Boldon
Medal record
Men’s athletics
Olympic Games
World Championships

Ato Boldon (born December 30, 1973) is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago, a four-time Olympic medal winner. Only 2 other men in history, Frankie Fredericks of Namibia and Carl Lewis of the USA, have as many Olympic individual event sprint medals. He is currently an Opposition Senator representing the United National Congress.

Born in Port of Spain, Boldon left for the United States at age fourteen, in 1988, and became a football player. There, his sprinting capacities were discovered while he attended Jamaica High School in Queens, NY, and he quit playing football (soccer) in the early 1990s.

At 18, Boldon was sent to represent Trinidad and Tobago at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and later that year he won the 100 m and 200 m titles at the World Junior Championships; becoming the first sprint double champion in World Junior Championship history.

Boldon won his first international medal at the 1995 World Championships, taking home the bronze in the 100 m. At the time he was the youngest to do so. He repeated that performance at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where he also placed third in the 100 m and 200 m events, both behind world records. In 1997, he won his first World title, taking the 200 m at the World Championships, his country's first world title in that competition.

The following year, Ato picked up gold in the 100 m 1998 Commonwealth Games held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, recording a record time of 9.88 seconds, beating Namibia's Frankie Fredericks (9.96) into silver and Barbados' Obadele Thompson (10.00) into bronze.

A silver medal in the 100 m and a bronze in the 200 m were his results of the 2000 Summer Olympics, after he had been hampered by injuries the year before.

In 2001, Boldon tested positive for the stimulant ephedrine, and was given a warning, but was not suspended, since ephedrine is a substance found in many over the counter remedies. Also in 2001, Boldon finished fourth in the men's 100 m sprint and was in the men's 4x100metre relay team that finished third at the 2001 World Championships, but was later upgraded to bronze and silver medals in 2005 after the times and performances of the American Tim Montgomery were removed from the record for doping violations.

Ato Boldon is the eighth person to win a medal for Trinidad and Tobago at the Summer Olympics and currently is the 2nd most prolific "legal sub 10" 100m sprinter in history, with 28, behind former training partner Maurice Greene who has 52. Frankie Fredericks of Namibia is the 3rd most prolific sub 10 sprinter, with 27. Ato Boldon retired after the Olympics in 2004 in Athens, when he failed to advance out of the first round of the 100m, after an injury riddled season, but not before he guided his country to its first ever Olympic 4x100m final, where they finished 7th.

Politics

Boldon was sworn in on February 14, 2006, as a Senator representing the Opposition United National Congress following the resignation of former Senator Roy Augustus, who resigned on February 13 in a dispute over the leadership style of then Leader of the Opposition Basdeo Panday.

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
1992	IAAF World Junior Championships	Seoul, Korea	1st	100 m
1992	IAAF World Junior Championships	Seoul, Korea	1st	200 m
1995	IAAF World Championships	Göteborg, Sweden	3rd	100 m
1996	1996 Summer Olympics	Atlanta, Georgia	3rd	100 m
1996	1996 Summer Olympics	Atlanta, Georgia	3rd	200 m
1997	IAAF World Championships	Athens, Greece	1st	200m
1998	Commonwealth Games	Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	1st	100 m
1998	Goodwill Games	New York City, New York	1st	200 m
1998	Goodwill Games	New York City, New York	2nd	100m
2000	2000 Summer Olympics	Sydney, Australia	2nd	100 m
2000	2000 Summer Olympics	Sydney, Australia	3rd	200 m
2001	IAAF World Championships	Edmonton, Alberta	3rd	100 m
2001	IAAF World Championships	Edmonton, Alberta	2nd	4x100m Relay

Personal bests

Date	Event	Venue	Time
February 23, 1997	60m	Birmingham	6.49
April 19, 1998, June 17, 1998, June 16, 1999, July 2, 1999	100 m	Walnut, CA, Athens, Athens & Lausanne	9.86 +1.8, -0.4, +0.1 & +0.4
July 13, 1997	200 m	Stuttgart, Germany	19.77

External links