Leroy Burrell
Leroy Russel Burrell is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint.
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.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.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 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.
Since his retirement in 1998, Burrell has replaced his old college mentor, Tom Tellez, as coach of the University of Houston's track team. Burrell has led UH to 14 men's Conference USA titles and nine women's titles. He was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014.
Personal life
Burrell married Michelle Finn, also a sprinter, in 1994, and they have three sons: Cameron, a sprinter for the Houston Cougars, 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 and she was a world indoor champion in the long jump.Statistics
Information from IAAF profile unless otherwise noted.World records
Includes former all-conditions world best in the 200 meters. All world records are former as of May 24, 2014.| Event | Time | Competition | Venue | Date | Notes |
| 60 m | 6.48 | Madrid indoor meet | Madrid, Spain | February 13, 1991 | |
| 100 m | 9.90 | U.S. Championships | New York, New York, U.S. | June 14, 1991 | +1.8 m/s wind |
| 100 m | 9.85 | Athletissima Lausanne | Lausanne, Switzerland | July 6, 1994 | +1.2 m/s wind |
| 200 m | 19.61 | SWC Championships | College Station, Texas, U.S. | May 19, 1990 | +4.1 m/s wind, |
| relay | 37.79 | Herculis Monaco | Monaco | August 3, 1991 | |
| relay | 37.67 | Weltklasse Zürich | Zürich, Switzerland | August 7, 1991 | |
| relay | 37.50 | World Championships | Tokyo, Japan | September 1, 1991 | Former |
| relay | 37.40 | Olympic Games | Barcelona, Spain | August 8, 1992 | Former |
| relay | 37.40 | World Championships | Stuttgart, Germany | August 21, 1993 | Former |
| relay | 1:19.38 | Koblenz meet | Koblenz, Germany | August 23, 1989 | |
| relay | 1:19.11 | Penn Relays | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | April 23, 1992 | |
| relay | 1:18.68 | Mt. SAC Relays | Walnut, California, U.S. | April 17, 1994 |
Personal bests
Sprints
Jumps
International championship results
National championship results
Circuit wins
Overall
- IAAF Grand Prix: 1990
100 meters
- IAAF Grand Prix: 1990
- *Athens: 1990
Videos
- by the Olympic Channel via YouTube