Leroy Burrell

Template:Short description Template:BLP sources Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox sportsperson Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967)<ref name="usatf.org">Template:Cite web</ref> is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint.<ref name="usatf.org"/>

Early life

Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School, where he single-handedly won the state championship by winning the 100 m, 200 m, long jump, and triple jump. Suffering from poor eyesight accentuated by a childhood eye injury, he was poor at other sports, but excelled on the track from an early age. He attended the University of Houston from 1986 to 1990, where he was a nine-time NCAA All-American and set the NCAA outdoor record in the long jump.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Professional career

Burrell was plagued by injuries and bad luck throughout his career, particularly around major championships. He won gold in the 100 m ahead of Carl Lewis at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle. He won the silver in the 100 m behind Lewis at the 1991 World Championships. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Burrell false-started in the 100 m final. When the race finally restarted, his reaction off the line was slow, and he finished fifth. He did manage to win a relay gold as part of the U.S. 4 × 100 m team.Template:Citation needed

On May 19, 1990, Burrell ran a wind-assisted 200 m at College Station, Texas, in a time of 19.61 seconds. The wind speed was +4.0 m per second. This was the fastest time for the 200 m for over six years until the 1996 Olympic final in Atlanta, where Michael Johnson ran 19.32 seconds.

He first set the 100 m world record in June 1991 with a time of 9.90 seconds. This was broken that September by Carl Lewis who ran 9.86 sec at the 1991 World Track and Field Championships where Burrell finished second in a new personal best time of 9.88 sec. In July 1994, Burrell set the world record for the second time when he ran 9.85 sec at Athletissima, in Lausanne, Switzerland (a record that stood until the 1996 Olympics when Donovan Bailey ran 9.84 sec).Template:Citation needed

Since his retirement in 1998, Burrell has replaced his old college mentor, Tom Tellez, as coach of the University of Houston's track and field team. Burrell has led UH to 14 men's Conference USA titles (nine indoor, five outdoor) and nine women's titles (four indoor, five outdoor). He was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In June 2022, Burrell stepped down as head coach at Houston and accepted the head coaching position for Auburn track and field.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Burrell married Michelle Finn, also a sprinter, in 1994, and they have three sons together: Cameron who was a sprinter for the Houston Cougars and died in 2021,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Joshua, and Jaden. On June 7, 2017, Cameron joined his father in the sub-10 second club. Burrell's younger sister Dawn also competed in track and field at the highest level, as a member of the 2000 US Olympic team and world indoor champion in the long jump.<ref name=BBC>Burrell strikes gold. BBC Sport (2001-03-10). Retrieved on 2011-01-05.</ref>

Statistics

Information from IAAF profile unless otherwise noted.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

World records

Includes former all-conditions world best in the 200 meters. All world records are former as of May 24, 2014.

Event	Time (s)	Competition	Venue	Date	Notes
60 m	6.48	Madrid indoor meet	Madrid, Spain	February 13, 1991	Template:Refn <ref name=60mWR/><ref name=60mWR1.2/>
100 m	9.90	U.S. Championships	New York, New York, U.S.	June 14, 1991	+1.8 m/s wind Template:Refn <ref name=1991100mWR>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=1991100mWR2>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=1991100mWR3>Template:Cite web</ref>
	9.85	Athletissima Lausanne	Lausanne, Switzerland	July 6, 1994	+1.2 m/s wind Template:Refn <ref name=1994100mWR/><ref name=1994100mWR2/>
200 m	19.61	SWC Championships	College Station, Texas, U.S.	May 19, 1990	+4.1 m/s wind, Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=200mw/>
[[4 × 100 m relay|Template:Nowrap relay]]	37.79	Herculis Monaco	Monaco	August 3, 1991	Template:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR>Template:Cite web</ref>
	37.67	Weltklasse Zürich	Zürich, Switzerland	August 7, 1991	Template:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR2>Template:Cite web</ref>
	37.50	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	September 1, 1991	Former Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR3>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
	37.40	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	August 8, 1992	Former Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR4/><ref name=4x100mWR4.2/>
	37.40	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	August 21, 1993	Former Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR5>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=4x100mWR5.2>Template:Cite web</ref>
[[4 × 200 m relay|Template:Nowrap relay]]	1:19.38	Koblenz meet	Koblenz, Germany	August 23, 1989	Template:Refn <ref name=4x200mWR>Template:Cite web</ref>
	1:19.11	Penn Relays	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.	April 23, 1992	Template:Refn <ref name=4x200mWR2>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=4x200mWR2.2>Template:Cite web</ref>
	1:18.68	Mt. SAC Relays	Walnut, California, U.S.	April 17, 1994	Template:Refn <ref name=4x200mWR3/>

Personal bests

Sprints

Event	Time (s)	Wind (m/s)	Competition	Venue	Date	Notes
55 m	6.09	n/a	Houston indoor meet	Houston, Texas, U.S.	January 28, 1991
60 m	6.48	n/a	Madrid indoor meet	Madrid, Spain	February 13, 1991	Former Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=60mWR>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=60mWR1.2>Template:Cite news</ref>
100 m	9.85	+1.2	Athletissima Lausanne	Lausanne, Switzerland	July 6, 1994	Former Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=1994100mWR>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=1994100mWR2>Template:Cite web</ref>
200 m	20.12	−0.8	U.S. Olympic Trials	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	June 27, 1992
	19.61	+4.1	SWC Championships	College Station, Texas, U.S.	May 19, 1990	Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=200mw>Template:Cite web</ref>
[[4 × 100 m relay|Template:Nowrap relay]]	37.40	n/a	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	August 8, 1992	Former Template:AthAbbr, Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR4>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=4x100mWR4.2>Template:Cite web</ref>
			World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	August 21, 1993	Former Template:AthAbbr, Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR5/><ref name=4x100mWR5.2/>
[[4 × 200 m relay|Template:Nowrap relay]]	1:18.68	n/a	Mt. SAC Relays	Walnut, California, U.S.	April 17, 1994	Former Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x200mWR3>Template:Cite web</ref>

Jumps

Event	Mark (m)	Wind (m/s)	Competition	Venue	Date	Notes
Long jump	8.37	+0.4	NCAA Division I Championships	Provo, Utah, U.S.	June 2, 1989
Long jump indoor	8.23	n/a	NCAA Division I Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.	March 9, 1990

International championship results

Representing the Template:USA
1989	World Cup	Barcelona, Spain	2nd	100 m	10.15	+0.5
1990	Goodwill Games	Seattle, Washington, U.S.	1st	100 m	10.05	+1.1
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	2nd	100 m	9.88	+1.2	Template:AthAbbr
			6th (qf 4)	200 m	21.21	−0.7
			1st	[[1991 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|Template:Nowrap relay]]	37.50	n/a	Template:AthAbbr, Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR3/>
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	5th	100 m	10.10	+0.5
			1st	[[Athletics at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|Template:Nowrap relay]]	37.40	n/a	Template:AthAbbr, Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR4/><ref name=4x100mWR4.2/>
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	[[1993 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 4 × 100 metres relay|Template:Nowrap relay]]	37.40	n/a	Template:AthAbbr, Template:AthAbbrTemplate:Refn <ref name=4x100mWR5/><ref name=4x100mWR5.2/>
1994	Goodwill Games	St. Petersburg, Russia	2nd	100 m	10.11	−1.9

National championship results

Representing the Houston Cougars and Santa Monica Track Club
1988	NCAA Division I Championships	Eugene, Oregon, U.S.	7th	Long jump	n/a	+4.1	8.06 m, Template:AthAbbr
			5th	100 m	10.31	+0.4
	U.S. Olympic Trials	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.	6th (semi 2)	100 m	10.10	+4.9	Template:AthAbbr
1989	U.S. Indoor Championships	New York, New York, U.S.	1st	55 m	6.15	n/a
	NCAA Division I Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.	1st	Long jump	n/a	n/a	8.09 m
			2nd	55 m	6.11	n/a
	NCAA Division I Championships	Provo, Utah, U.S.	2nd	Long jump	n/a	+0.4	8.37 m, Template:AthAbbr
			5th	100 m	10.19	+2.4	Template:AthAbbr
	U.S. Championships	Houston, Texas, U.S.	1st	100 m	9.94	+0.8	Template:AthAbbr, Template:AthAbbr
1990	NCAA Division I Indoor Championships	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.	1st	Long jump	n/a	n/a	8.23 m
	NCAA Division I Championships	Durham, North Carolina, U.S.	1st	100 m	9.94	+2.4	Template:AthAbbr
	U.S. Championships	Norwalk, California, U.S.	4th	Long jump	n/a	+4.1	8.06 m, Template:AthAbbr
1991	U.S. Championships	New York, New York, U.S.	1st	100 m	9.90	+1.9	Template:AthAbbr <ref name=1991100mWR/><ref name=1991100mWR2/><ref name=1991100mWR3/>
			2nd	200 m	20.42	−2.0
1992	U.S. Indoor Championships	New York, New York, U.S.	1st	60 m	6.55	n/a
	U.S. Olympic Trials	New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.	3rd	100 m	10.10	−0.7
			5th	200 m	20.16	+1.0
1993	U.S. Championships	Eugene, Oregon, U.S.	5th	100 m	10.15	+4.8	Template:AthAbbr
			4th	200 m	20.35	+2.5	Template:AthAbbr
1995	U.S. Championships	Sacramento, California, U.S.	5th	100 m	10.31	−1.2
1996	U.S. Indoor Championships	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.	4th	60 m	6.60	n/a	<ref name=1996OT>Template:Cite web</ref>
	U.S. Olympic Trials	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.	6th	100 m	10.07	+1.1	<ref name=1996OT/>
1997	U.S. Championships	Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.	6th	100 m	10.09	+0.2

Circuit wins

Overall

• IAAF Grand Prix: 1990<ref name=1990GPFinal>Template:Cite web</ref>

100 meters

• IAAF Grand Prix: 1990<ref name=1990GPFinal/>
  • Athens: 1990<ref name=1990GPFinal/>

External links

• Template:World Athletics
• Leroy Burrell hall of fame bio at USATF
• Leroy Burrell bio at the Houston Cougars

Videos

• Carl Lewis & friends: The fantastic four in Barcelona 1992 by the Olympic Channel via YouTube