Francena McCorory: Difference between revisions

| image = Francena McCorory 2015.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption= Francena= McCorory in 2015

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|10|20}}

| countryweight = {{USA}}150 lb

| club = Adidas, Herzogenaurach (GER)<ref name=sr>[{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mc/francena-mccorory-1.html |title=Francena McCorory] {{webarchive |urlarchiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001062005/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/mc/francena-mccorory-1.html |datearchivedate=October 1, 2015 |url-status=dead}}. sports-reference.com</ref>

| event = [[400 meters]]

McCorory attended [[Bethel High School (Hampton, Virginia)|Bethel High School]] in her hometown of [[Hampton, Virginia]] where she displayed her talent for the 400 metres.<ref>[http://www.hamptonpirates.com/roster.aspx?rp_id=861 Francena McCorory]. Hampton Pirates. Retrieved on 2012-06-11.</ref> A notable performance was at the 2005 Virginia Group AAA Eastern Region meet, where McCorory took her team's baton as much as 80 metres behind the leaders of the race, but cruised to victory past six other teams.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hsrn.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=428&Itemid=5 |title=Heritage Sports Radio Network |publisher=HSRN |access-date= |accessdate=2012-06-09}}</ref> Later, she set the National High School Indoor record at 51.93, a record previously held by future champion World Champion [[Sanya Richards]], in her only attempt at the distance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/hs/aom/200603.html |title=Track & Field News: High School: Athlete of the Month: Francena McCorory |publisher=Trackandfieldnews.com |access-date= |accessdate=2012-06-09 |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504194341/http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/hs/aom/200603.html |archivedatearchive-date=2007-05-04 |df= }}</ref>

Despite being recruited by larger universities, McCorory attended her hometown school of [[Hampton University]]. She won the 2009 [[NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship]]s<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/NCAANewsArchive/2009/Division+I/lady%2bvols%2bshow%2bworld-class%2bdistance%2bdominance.html |title=NCAA News Archive – Lady Vols show world-class distance dominance |publisher=Fs.ncaa.org |date=2009-03-16 |accessdateaccess-date=2012-06-09 |deadurlurl-status=yesdead |archiveurlarchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120817032754/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/NCAANewsArchive/2009/Division+I/lady%2Bvols%2Bshow%2Bworld-class%2Bdistance%2Bdominance.html |archivedatearchive-date=2012-08-17 |df= }}</ref> and later in the year finished third in the [[NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship]]s.<ref>[http://www.flashresults.com/2009_Meets/outdoor/NCAA/090610F023.htm Women 400 Meter Dash]. NCAA Division I 2009 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Fayetteville, AR – 6/10/2009 to 6/13/2009</ref> In 2010, she went to [[Fayetteville, Arkansas]] to defend her championship. Instead of merely repeating as champion, she won the race by over a second, setting the NCAA record and beating [[Diane Dixon]]'s 19-year-old American record in the event, running 50.54.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://flashresults.com/2010_Meets/indoor/NCAA/Results19-2.htm |title=Flash Results, Inc |publisher=Flashresults.com |access-date= |accessdate=2012-06-09}}</ref> Later that year she won the NCAA Outdoor championship, in 50.69, actually slower than her Indoor record.<ref>[http://flashresults.com/2010_Meets/outdoor/NCAA/100609F023.htm Women 400 Meter Dash]. NCAA Division I 2010 Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Eugene, Or – 6/9/2010 to 6/12/2010</ref> A few weeks later, she improved her personal best to 50.52 while finishing second at the [[USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.usatf.org/events/2010/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/F6.asp |title=Events – 2010 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships |publisher=USATF |access-date=2012-06-09 |accessdatearchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007215058/http://www.usatf.org/events/2010/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/F6.asp |archive-date=2012-0610-0907 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

After graduating Hampton, she improved her best to 50.49 again in second at the [[USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legacy.usatf.org/events/2011/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/6-3.asp |title=Events – 2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships |publisher=USATF |access-date=2012-06-09 |accessdatearchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121007215102/http://www.usatf.org/events/2011/USAOutdoorTFChampionships/results/6-3.asp |archive-date=2012-0610-0907 |url-status=dead }}</ref> which qualified her for the [[2011 World Championships in Athletics]]. A month after that, she took her best down to 50.29 at the [[Herculis]] meet in [[Monaco]]. She took it down one more time to 50.24 in the semi-finals of the [[2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 400 metres|2011 World Championships in Athletics]]. In the finals, she wasn't quite as fast, finishing in fourth place in her first experience on the world stage. A few days later she anchored the United States team to a gold medal in the [[2011 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay|4 × 400 m relay]]. In 2016, individual 3rd place [[Anastasia Kapachinskaya]]'s 2008 Olympic samples were retested and found to have stanozol and turinabol. Being her second offense she was banned for life, disqualifying her position ahead of McCorory. In 2017, McCorory was advanced to the bronze medal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/medal-reallocations-iaaf-world-championships|title=IAAF: Ennis-Hill and US women’swomen's 4x400m team to receive reallocated gold medals in London- News - iaaf.org|author=|date=|website=iaaf.org}}</ref>

Leading into the [[2012 United States Olympic Trials (track and field)|Olympic Trials]], she improved her personal best to 50.06 at the [[Adidas Grand Prix]]. At the Olympic Trials, she qualified for the final and was assigned lane 7, just outside [[Sanya Richards-Ross]] in lane 6. Richards-Ross ran hard from the start closing down the stagger on McCorory. Sensing the challenge, McCorory exploded down the backstretch, leading around the turn to the head of the home stretch, but she paid the price for the early effort and struggled to the finish. Richards-Ross charged past her, in the process setting the best time of the year, followed by [[Dee Dee Trotter]], who made her third straight Olympic team. McCorory managed to hold off [[Debbie Dunn]] to claim third place and a trip to the Olympics.<ref>[http://www.legacy.usatf.org/events/2012/OlympicTrials-TF/Results/Results6-3.htm Women's 400 Meter Dash] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915130539/http://www.usatf.org/events/2012/OlympicTrials-TF/results/Results6-3.htm |date=2012-09-15 }}. 2012 Olympic Trials. usatf.org.</ref>

At the [[2012 Summer Olympics]], McCorory competed in the 400m and 4 × 400 m relay. In the 400m final, McCorory finished 7th with a time of 50.33. On the relay, McCorory ran the 3rd leg of the women's 4 × 400 m (in a leg time of 49.39), with [[DeeDee Trotter]], [[Allyson Felix]], and [[Sanya Richards-Ross]], with the winning time being 3:16.87, the 3rd fastest time in Olympic history behind the [[Soviet Union]] and United States at the [[1988 Summer Olympics]], and the 5th fastest time overall.<ref>[http://www.alltime-athletics.com/w4x400ok.htm Women's 4x400m relay]. Alltime-athletics.com. Retrieved on 2015-05-28.</ref> In 2012 Penn Relays, Francena McCorory won the 4x400 with Allyson Felix, Natasha Hastings, and Sanya Richards Ross.

At the 2014 World Indoor Championships, she was a double gold medal winner taking the [[2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's 400 metres|400 metres]] and the [[2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's 4 × 400 metres relay|4x400 relay]] titles. Later in the season at the [[2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships]] another improvement of her personal record to 49.48, defeating [[Sanya Richards]] to take the win. Later that year McCorory added to her titles by being named HBCU Top 30 Under 30,<ref>{{cite web|author1=Tommy Meade|title=HBCU Top 30 Under 30|url=http://hbcubuzz.com/2014-hbcu-top-30-under-30-3/|website=hbcubuzz.com|publisher=HBCU Buzz|accessdateaccess-date=5 June 2014|location=Washington DC|page=3}}</ref> in June 2014. McCorory finished 4th at [[2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships]] in 50.88.

* {{IAAFWorld name|205239Athletics}}

*[http://usatf.org/Athlete-Bios/ {{USATF|Francena-McCorory.aspx USATF profile]}}

[[Category:HamptonTrack Universityand alumnifield athletes from Virginia]]

[[Category:World Athletics Championships in Athletics medalists]]

[[Category:World Athletics Championships in Athletics athletes for the United States]]