MERLENE Ottey, born May 10, 1960 in Cold Spring, Hanover is the first woman from the English-speaking Caribbean to win an Olympic medal.
Rated by many as the most durable sprinter of all time Ottey has won 34 medals in major international championships, including seven in the Olympics and a record 14 in world championships.
In the Olympics, Ottey won bronze in the 200 metres (22.19 seconds) at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, was third in the 100m (11.16) and 200m (22.09) at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
At the Barcelona Games in 1992 she won bronze in the 200m. Four years later in Atlanta she won silver medals in the 100m (10.94) and 200 metres (22.24) and a bronze as an anchor on the 4x100m team (42.24).
In World Championships, she won silver in the 200m and bronze in the 4x100 relay at Helsinki, Finland, in 1983; bronze in the 100 and 200m at Rome in 1987; bronze in the 100 (11.06), 200m (22.21) and gold in the 4x100 relay (41.94) at Tokyo, Japan, in 1991; silver in 100m (10.82), gold in the 200m and bronze in the 4x100 relay (41.94) at Stuttgart, Germany, in 1993.
Two years later, she retained her 200m title (22.12) in Gothenburg, Sweden to become the oldest women's outdoor champion at the age of 35. At the same championships she captured silver in the 100 (10.85) and (42.25) in the 4x100. At Athens, Greece, in 1997 she won bronze in the 200m in 22.40.
Ottey has won the prestigious Carreras 'Sportswoman of the Year' award an unprecedented 13 times.
In 1980, she was awarded the Jamaican National honour, Officer of the Order of Distinction (O.D.), gaining the higher award of Commander of the same Order later in the decade.
In 1995, following her success at Gothenburg was appointed Ambassador at Large for Jamaica and granted a diplomatic passport by the Government.
