Melaine Walker O.D

Order of distinction

The Order of Distinction in Jamaica is the fifth in order of precedence of the Orders of Societies of Honour, which were instituted by an Act of Parliament – The National Honours and Awards Act.The Motto of the Order is "Distinction Through Service"....

(born 1 January 1983, Kingston

Kingston, Jamaica

Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island...

) is a Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

n 400 metres hurdler

400 metres hurdles

The 400 metres hurdles is an Olympic athletics event in track and field. On a standard outdoor track 400 metres is the length of the inside lane once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lane the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly...

. Walker is the reigning World and Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 400 m hurdles champion. She holds the Olympic record of 52.64, set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...

, and her time of 52.42 seconds at the 2009 World Championships

2009 World Championships in Athletics

The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....

 in Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 is the second fastest time in history.

Biography

Walker is a past student of the St. Jago High School

St. Jago High School

St Jago High School in Spanish Town, St Catherine, Jamaica, founded in 1744, is one of the oldest, continuously operated schools in the Western Hemisphere...

. She won Gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics

Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics were held during the last 10 days of the games, from August 15 to August 24, 2008, at the Beijing National Stadium. The Olympic sport of athletics is split into four distinct sets of events: track and field events, road running events, and racewalking...

 in a new Olympic record time of 52.64 seconds. Walker won the Jamaica national championships in 54.70 seconds, narrowly beating new-comer Kaliese Spencer

Kaliese Spencer

Kaliese Spencer is a Jamaican track and field athlete who specialises in the 400 metres hurdles. She has finished fourth at both the 2009 World Championships in Athletics and the 2011 World Championships in Athletics. She was heavy favourite to win the Gold Medal in 2011 but performed poorly in...

 and qualifying for her first World Championships in Athletics.

On 20 August 2009, she set the second fastest time in history of 52.42 seconds to win the women's 400m hurdles final at the 2009 World Championships

2009 World Championships in Athletics

The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....

 in Berlin. She leapt on the back of the mascot Berlino the Bear

Berlino

Berlino, an anthropomorphic bear, was the mascot for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics held in Berlin, Germany, noted for his hyperactivity and celebrations with various athletes during the Championships.Up until now, Berlino appears to be mute...

 to do a victory lap but Berlino crashed into a cart of hurdles and dropped her.

Achievements

Year	Tournament	Venue	Result	Event
1998	World Junior Championships 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1998 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 1998 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Annecy, France from July 28 to August 2, 1998.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:...	Annecy Annecy Annecy is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy , 35 kilometres south of Geneva.-Administration:... , France	5th	200 m
			3rd	4x100 m relay
1999	World Youth Championships 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics The 1999 World Youth Championships in Athletics was the first edition of the World Youth Championships in Athletics. It was held in Bydgoszcz, Poland from July 16 to July 18, 1999.-Boys:-Girls:-Medals table:...	Bydgoszcz, Poland	2nd	200 m
			6th	100 m hurdles
2000	World Junior Championships 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2000 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Santiago, Chile.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:...	Santiago, Chile Chile Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...	3rd	400 m hurdles
			2nd	4x400 m relay
2002	World Junior Championships 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2002 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2002 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Kingston, Jamaica from July 16 to July 21, 2002.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:...	Kingston Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley International Airport to the rest of the island... , Jamaica Jamaica Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...	2nd	400 m hurdles
2006	Central American and Caribbean Games Athletics at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games The athletics competition at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games took place at the Estadio Pedro de Heredia in Cartagena, Colombia and lasted from July 25 to July 29. There were 23 events for men and 21 for women...	Cartagena, Colombia Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...	3rd	400 m hurdles
			2nd	4x400 m relay
2007	World Athletics Final 2007 IAAF World Athletics Final The 5th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion in Stuttgart, Germany on September 22 and September 23, 2007.-Men:- Women :-External links:*...	Stuttgart Stuttgart Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million .... , Germany	3rd	400 m hurdles
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	1st	400 m hurdles
	World Athletics Final 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final The 6th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on September 13 and September 14, 2008.A number of road races also took place on the second day of competition. There were seven different starting points around the Stuttgart area and the distances varied...	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	400 m hurdles
2009	World Championships 2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenburg Gate....	Berlin, Germany	1st	400 m hurdles
	IAAF World Athletics Final 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics meetings which began on September 20, 2008 at the...	Thesaloniki, Greece	1st	400 m hurdles

Personal bests

• 60 metres hurdles
  60 metres hurdles
  60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 60 metres including the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds and 7.30 seconds ,...
  
   – 8.05 s (2006, indoor)
• 100 metres hurdles
  100 metres hurdles
  The 100 m hurdles are an Olympic track and field athletics discipline run by women . For the race ten hurdles of a height of 83.8 cm are placed evenly spaced along a straight course of 100 meters. They are positioned so that they will fall over if bumped into by the runner...
  
   – 12.75 s (2006)
• 400 metres hurdles
  400 metres hurdles
  The 400 metres hurdles is an Olympic athletics event in track and field. On a standard outdoor track 400 metres is the length of the inside lane once around the stadium. Runners stay in their lane the entire way after starting out of the blocks and must clear ten hurdles that are evenly...
  
   – 52.42 s (2009)
• 60 metres
  60 metres
  60 metres is a sprint event in track and field athletics. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior athletes...
  
   – 7.40 s (2005, indoor)
• 200 metres
  200 metres
  A 200 metres race is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 m track, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques are needed to successfully run the race. A slightly shorter race, called the stadion and run on a straight track, was the first...
  
   – 23.67 s (1998)
• 400 metres
  400 metres
  The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...
  
  – 51.61 s (2008)