Deon Hemmings, 1996

Deon Hemmings

IF MERLENE Ottey is Jamaica's queen of the track, Deon Hem-mings is the Golden Girl.

In a glittering career, 400-metre hurdler Hemmings attained the one thing Ottey could not ­ an Olympic gold medal.

At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Hemmings held off her Ameri-can arch-rivals Kim Batten and Tonya Buford-Bailey in the final to become the first English-speaking Caribbean woman to win an individual Olympic gold. Her incredible feat was celebrated throughout Jamaica and the region.

Hemmings, now 33 and in the twilight of her career, has been unable to scale such golden heights since but has maintained her drive and competitive edge.

Last year she won in Poznan and Athens. At the Sydney Olmypics in 2000 she snared silver behind Irina Privalova of Russia. In 1999, she claimed bronze in the event at the World Championships.

In 1998 she was the Goodwill Games champion and the year before was runner-up at the World Championships and was also a member of the bronze medal winning 4x400m relay team.

However, Hemmings will always be remembered for her golden day in Atlanta.