The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Walker wins gold in 400-meter hurdles at Summer Olympics
08.20.2008 | Track & Field / Cross Country w, Track & Field / Cross Country
Aug. 20, 2008
BEIJING -- Former Longhorn Melaine Walker set an Olympic record en route to winning her first gold medal Wednesday in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Competing for Jamaica, Walker finished the event in 52.64, a full second ahead of USA's Sheena Tosta. She bested the previous Olympic record (52.77) set in 2004 by just over one-tenth of a second.
The seven-time All-American became the first women's track and field Longhorn to earn an individual gold medal at the Olympics. UT's previous four gold medalists all earned the honor as part of a relay team.
Walker becomes UT's first women's track and field individual Olympic medalist since 1992, when Juliet Cuthbert won silver in the 100m and 200m events. She is the first current or former Longhorn to medal in the 400m hurdles.
Walker competed at Texas during the 2005 and 2006 seasons and helped the Horns to the 2005 NCAA outdoor team title and the 2006 NCAA indoor team title. Walker earned seven All-America honors at UT and was a member of three NCAA Champion relays as a Longhorn (2005 NCAA outdoor 4x400m, 2005 NCAA outdoor 4x100m, 2006 NCAA outdoor 4x100m). Walker won the 400m hurdles at the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships in what would have been a UT and NCAA meet-record mark of 53.84, but officials ruled that her lead leg did not clear the sixth hurdle of the race, though video replays did not reveal an infraction.
