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Carmelita Jeter has owned the distinction of being the “fastest woman alive” since 2009 after coming close to the late Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record in the 100m race. Jeter will now hang up the track shoes after retiring earlier this month, but plans to remain in the sport as a coach.

Jeter was born November 24, 1979 in Los Angeles, California. Although basketball was her initial choice, she focused on sprinting at the urging of her coach. As a student at California State University, Dominguez Hills, Jeter set school records for the most NCAA medals and was also the school’s first U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier.

International acclaim came Jeter’s way in 2009 after she won the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix 100m race with a time of 10.64. Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 10.49 remains unbroken since being set in 1988. In 2012, Jeter made the U.S. Olympic team for the first and only time, winning a gold medal in the 4X100 relays, a silver in the 100m and a bronze in the 200m. She is also a three-time gold medalist in the World Championships.

Jeter, who hasn’t competed since 2016, now works as a motivational speaker and coach. During the USATF Black Tie and Sneakers Gala in New York where news of her retirement broke, she said that she hopes to one day coach “a better Carmelita Jeter.”

PHOTO: Carmelita Jeter promo

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