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LaShinda Demus
- Ran a personal best in the 400m hurdles to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Team – despite crashing into the ninth hurdle
- Outstanding in sprints as well as hurdles, she’s a six-time All-American and five-time NCAA Champion
- As a freshman track star in 2002, led the University of South Carolina Gamecocks to the NCAA Track & Field title: the school’s first national team championship in any sport
- Majoring in Business at the University of South Carolina.
- Chose University of South Carolina to run for Coach Curtis Frye
- Her mother, Yolanda Rich, ran for Cal State L.A. and was a two-time National Collegiate Champion in the 400 meters
- Won 2004 SEC Championship in 400m hurdles
- Took the 2003 NCAA Championship in the 400m dash and was part of gold-medal-winning 4x400m team at 2003 SEC Indoor Championships
- Had a breakout freshman season in 2002: named Track and Field News Female Athlete of the Year, SEC Outdoor Female Athlete of the Year, SEC Indoor and Outdoor Freshman of the Year, and USC Freshman and Female Athlete of the Year
- Ran the anchor leg of USC’s NCAA Champion 4x400m relay at the national meet in 2002, where they broke the collegiate record.
- Collected three All-American honors while scoring more points than any other female at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships
- At the 2002 World Junior Championships, won two golds, breaking her own World Junior Record in the 400m hurdles and contributing to Team USA’s American Junior Record in the 4x400m relay
- A two-time Track and Field News High School athlete of the year, in 2001 she was a named to the Track and Field News High School All-American team in five different events
- Was a University Games competitor while still a high school senior
As soon as Demus qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team with an outstanding effort in the 400m hurdles at U.S.A. Olympic Team Trials in Sacramento, she caught a red-eye back to South Carolina, so that she could be in her History class the next morning.
“I busted the ninth hurdle up pretty good [at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials]. I screamed ‘oh, no,’ but luckily was still able to maintain my balance and finish it off. . . . I knew I deserved to be on the team and this feels great.”
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Height: 5’7”
Born: 10-Mar-83
Hometown: Palmdale, Ca.
Resides: Columbia, S.C.
Sport: Track & Field
Event: Hurdles and Sprints
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