Merlene Ottey

Jamaican-Slovenian sprinter who competed in seven Olympic Games and won nine Olympic medals, making her one of athletics' most decorated athletes

Merlene Joyce Ottey was born in Cold Spring, Jamaica in 1960 and competed internationally from 1978 to 2012 — a 32-year span of competitive excellence without parallel in athletics history. She won 9 Olympic medals across 6 Games from Moscow 1980 to Sydney 2000, representing Jamaica until 2001 and then Slovenia until 2012 — becoming the oldest woman to win a major international sprint medal at 52. Her personal bests of 10.74 seconds for 100m and 21.64 seconds for 200m were world class across three decades of competition. She won 7 World Championship gold medals — 100m (1993, 1995) and 200m (1991, 1993) among them — and holds the record for most medals in World Athletics Championships history with 14. She was nicknamed the Empress of the Sprints. She never won an Olympic gold medal — her 9 Olympic medals consist entirely of silver and bronze — including a silver at the 1996 Atlanta Games after a photo finish so close the judges awarded Marion Jones gold by the smallest measurable margin. She competed at the World Championships aged 50 for Slovenia. Her longevity, consistency and medal collection make her career record the most extraordinary in the history of women's sprinting.

One of the greatest female sprinters, competed in 7 Olympics spanning 24 years

• Olympic Silver 200m 1980, 1996
• Olympic Bronze 100m 1984, 1996, 2000
• Olympic Bronze 200m 1984, 1996
• Olympic Bronze 4x100m 1980, 2000
• World Champion 100m 1993, 1995
• World Champion 200m 1991, 1993
• Most medals in World Athletics Championships history