Walter Dix
Encyclopedia
Walter Dix is an American
sprinter
who specializes in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the fourth fastest 200 m runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier
in the 100 m with a best of 9.88 seconds.
Dix was a highly successful amateur athlete, setting a state record in the 100 m and trying out for the US Olympic Team at the age of eighteen. He joined Florida State University
and in his first year he broke the 100 m American junior record and won at the NCAA Outdoor Championships
. After a fourth place finish at the 2005 US Championships, Dix continued with his collegiate success, setting an NCAA record of 19.69 seconds in the 200 m and coming within one hundredth of the 100 m record. He completed a 100 m, 200 m, and 4×100 meter relay sweep at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the first to do so since John Carlos
. He closed his amateur career in 2008: another NCAA 200 m title made him the third most decorated track athlete in NCAA history, and he won gold and silver at the 2008 US Olympic Trials
.
Dix turned professional in mid-2008, signing a multi-million dollar contract with Nike
. He reached the Olympic finals in the 100 and 200 m, and won two bronze medals; the only American track athlete to win two individual medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He suffered an injury at the 2009 US Championships, thus missing out on the World Championships
, and a contract dispute with his agent resulted in only a handful of appearances that season.
coach, Walter Dix competed at athletics meetings from a young age, specialising in sprinting
and the long jump
. His speed also translated well to the football
field, and he often played the sport at school. Dix was an accomplished high school
runner: in his final year at Coral Springs High School
in 2004 he recorded 10.28 seconds in the 100 meters, then third all-time on the Florida high school record list behind only Houston McTear
and Curtis Johnson, and broke the 200 meters Florida high school record with 20.62 seconds. Aside from J-Mee Samuels
' 10.28 seconds in the 100 m, these were the two fastest marks by a high school athlete that year. Both these times were within the Olympic standard for the events. He competed at the US Olympic Trials
in the 200 m, but did not progress beyond the heats stage.
(FSU) in late 2004, working with coach Bob Braman. At his first regional meeting for the university, he won the 60-meter dash, 200 m and 4×400 meter relay, and was chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference
rookie of the year. He made his first major impact at the NCAA Indoor Championships
: after a sixth place finish in the 60 m, he came second in the 200 m with a world junior record of 20.37 s, beaten only by Wallace Spearmon
. Following this, he became USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after setting an American junior record
in the 100 m. Running in the Icahn Stadium
at the 2005 NCAA East Regional Championships, his heat-winning time of 10.06 seconds bettered Stanley Floyd
's 25-year-old mark. Dix went on to win the 100 m final and also won the 200 m in 20.23 seconds, the fourth fastest time by an American junior sprinter.
At his first NCAA Outdoor Championships
, Dix became FSU's first winner at the championships since 1980, and the first to do so as a freshman
. He won the 100 m in 10.21 seconds, beating the defending NCAA champions DaBryan Blanton and Tyson Gay
to the title. After recording a personal best of 20.18 seconds in the semifinals, he managed a fourth place finish in the 200 m race. Dix competed at his first US senior championships that year and, as the only amateur to reach the 100 m final, he finished fourth. The only athletes to beat him were Leonard Scott
, reigning Olympic Champion Shawn Crawford
and the eventual world champion Justin Gatlin
.
invitational and his time of 20.25 seconds placed him as the 13th fastest runner in 2006. He completed a 200 m NCAA Championship double by taking the outdoor title, and he also finished as runner-up in the 100 m, second to Xavier Carter
.
In his third year as an FSU athlete he won four NCAA Division I titles, starting with a 200 m win indoors. In the 2007 NCAA East Regional final, he won the 100 m dash in 10.05 seconds. His performance in the 200 m was more impressive however: he set the all-time collegiate record of 19.69 seconds in the 200 m, breaking Joe DeLoach
's record that had stood since 1988. This made him the sixth fastest 200 m runner ever and it was the seventh fastest run in history at the time.
At the NCAA Outdoor Championships that year, he won three separate national titles, beating all opposition in the 100 m, 200 m, and 4×100 meter relay races. This achievement made him the first man to win the three races at an NCCA Championships since John Carlos
did so in 1969. Dix's time of 9.93 seconds in the 100 m was a world-leader at that point of the season, and was just 0.01 behind Ato Boldon
's NCAA record. For these accomplishments, he was again named USATF's Athlete of the Week.
In his final year as an amateur athlete, he spent much of early 2008 battling a hamstring
injury. However, he returned in April to win his third 200 m NCAA outdoor title, while placing fourth in the 100 m. Although his personal bests rivalled those of top professional athletes, Dix decided to finish his degree in social science at FSU, as his graduation in May 2008 allowed him to focus on the Olympic Trials thereafter.
Over the course of his college career, Dix became only the second athlete to win three NCAA 200 m outdoor titles (after Ralph Metcalfe
) and, with six outdoor NCAA titles, he is listed as the joint third on all-time list. Furthermore, he finished with two indoor titles and 18 All-America
n honors.
in Eugene, Oregon
, Dix qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics
in both the 100 and 200 m events. After recording a personal-best-equaling 9.93 seconds in the 100 m semifinals, he took second place behind Tyson Gay
with a wind-assisted 9.80 seconds. He stated that his NCAA experience had helped raise his confidence and that he was less nervous than he was at the 2005 US Championships. The 200 m favorite Gay suffered an injury in the qualifying rounds, and Dix and Crawford both finished the 200 m final with 19.86 seconds, with Dix elected the winner by a photo finish
. After signing a sponsorship deal with Nike
worth around $1,000,000 a year, described by his agent as "the largest deal ever for a track athlete just coming out of college", Dix stated that his aims for the Olympics were personal bests in the individual sprints and a gold in the relay race
.
Competing in his first Olympics, Dix qualified for the 100 m final with a season's best of 9.95 seconds. In the final he registered a personal best of 9.91 seconds, finishing behind new world record holder Usain Bolt
of Jamaica
and Richard Thompson
of Trinidad and Tobago
. The Olympic bronze medal was Dix's first medal at a major international competition.
A few days later, he finished fifth in the 200 m final with a time of 19.98 seconds, some distance off the winner Usain Bolt
who had broken the world record. However, it transpired that both the silver and bronze medalists (Churandy Martina
of the Netherlands Antilles
and American Wallace Spearmon
) had stepped out of their lanes thus they were disqualified. As a result, Dix received his second Olympic bronze medal. Further disqualifications occurred in the heats of the Olympic 4×100 meter relay race: Darvis Patton
and Tyson Gay misjudged a baton pass, causing the American team to be eliminated and spoiling any chance of Dix receiving a relay medal. He finished the Olympics as the only American sprinter to medal in two individual events. Dix closed the season with two sub-10 second
runs at the Weltklasse and Athletissima
meetings, finishing second to a Jamaican on both occasions (Bolt and Asafa Powell
).
, Shawn Crawford and Darvis Patton at the Penn Relays
. However, he failed to maintain this strong form through the rest of 2009. Coach Teddy Long planned to improve Dix's start and acceleration in his races, but the two parted company in April. He placed third behind Michael Rodgers and Asafa Powell
at the Prefontaine Classic
but, unusually, this proved to one of the highlights of a low-profile year for Dix. He competed at the US Championships, but injuries forced him out of both the 100 m and 200 m races and he did not qualify for the World Championships
. Furthermore, he entered a legal battle with his management company, regarding whether they merited the 20% portion of his multi-million dollar sponsorship contract with Nike. The dispute with his agent Kimberly Holland was resolved in July: although the terms were undisclosed, Dix left Holland's Icon Management and decided to be his own agent. With his father as his coach, a legal battle and no major races to prepare for, Dix ran only a handful of local meetings in the rest of 2009.
. He took fourth place in the final and set a new 60 m indoor best of 6.58 seconds. Event winner Ivory Williams
was disqualified after testing positive for marijuana and Dix was upgraded to third. He opened his outdoor season at the Seminole Twilight meet in May, recording 9.98 seconds in the 100 m and 19.89 seconds for the 200 m. He began to participate in Diamond League
meetings, competing on the European circuit for the first time. He beat Wallace Spearmon at the Golden Gala
's 200 m race, breaking Michael Johnson
's meet record. He also took to the national stage, winning the 100 m and finishing as the 200 m runner-up at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
. A week later, Dix beat Tyson Gay at the Prefontaine Classic
for another meet record of 19.72 seconds. In August at a meet in Nottwil, Switzerland, Dix ran a new personal best of 9.88 seconds, finishing second behind Nesta Carter who also set a new personal best of 9.86 seconds. In the first meeting of the 2011 IAAF Diamond League, at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix
, he won the 200 m with a time of 20.06 seconds.
, Dix became a member of the Phi Beta Sigma
fraternity
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sprinter
Sprint (race)
Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...
who specializes in the 100 meters and 200 meters. He is the fourth fastest 200 m runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier
10-second barrier
The 10-second barrier is a term used in track and field athletics which refers to the physical and psychological barrier of completing the men's 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds...
in the 100 m with a best of 9.88 seconds.
Dix was a highly successful amateur athlete, setting a state record in the 100 m and trying out for the US Olympic Team at the age of eighteen. He joined Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
and in his first year he broke the 100 m American junior record and won at the NCAA Outdoor Championships
NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It has three divisions: Division I, II, and III. Athlete's individual performances earn points for their institution and...
. After a fourth place finish at the 2005 US Championships, Dix continued with his collegiate success, setting an NCAA record of 19.69 seconds in the 200 m and coming within one hundredth of the 100 m record. He completed a 100 m, 200 m, and 4×100 meter relay sweep at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the first to do so since John Carlos
John Carlos
John Wesley Carlos is a Cuban American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics and his black power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy...
. He closed his amateur career in 2008: another NCAA 200 m title made him the third most decorated track athlete in NCAA history, and he won gold and silver at the 2008 US Olympic Trials
United States Olympic Trials (track and field)
The United States Olympic Trials for the sport of Track and Field is the quadrennial meet to select the United States representatives at the Olympic Games. Since 1992, the meet has also served as the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Because of the depth of competition in some events,...
.
Dix turned professional in mid-2008, signing a multi-million dollar contract with Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
. He reached the Olympic finals in the 100 and 200 m, and won two bronze medals; the only American track athlete to win two individual medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He suffered an injury at the 2009 US Championships, thus missing out on the 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....
, and a contract dispute with his agent resulted in only a handful of appearances that season.
Early life
The son of a track and fieldTrack and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
coach, Walter Dix competed at athletics meetings from a young age, specialising in sprinting
Sprint (race)
Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...
and the long jump
Long jump
The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point...
. His speed also translated well to the football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
field, and he often played the sport at school. Dix was an accomplished high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
runner: in his final year at Coral Springs High School
Coral Springs High School
Coral Springs High School is a public secondary school located in Coral Springs, Florida. It is a part of the Broward County Public Schools district. The school has a population of 2233 as of November 2010....
in 2004 he recorded 10.28 seconds in the 100 meters, then third all-time on the Florida high school record list behind only Houston McTear
Houston McTear
Houston McTear , is a former American sprinter, who emerged from desperate poverty in the Florida Panhandle to become an international track star in the mid-1970s. McTear rated in the top 10 in the 100 meters for the United States from 1975–1980, but he was stronger at shorter distances, including...
and Curtis Johnson, and broke the 200 meters Florida high school record with 20.62 seconds. Aside from J-Mee Samuels
J-Mee Samuels
J-Mee Samuels is an American sprinter who specializes in the 100 meters. He participated for the United States at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, running in the 100 meters and 4 x 100 metres relay....
' 10.28 seconds in the 100 m, these were the two fastest marks by a high school athlete that year. Both these times were within the Olympic standard for the events. He competed at the US Olympic Trials
United States Olympic Trials (track and field)
The United States Olympic Trials for the sport of Track and Field is the quadrennial meet to select the United States representatives at the Olympic Games. Since 1992, the meet has also served as the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Because of the depth of competition in some events,...
in the 200 m, but did not progress beyond the heats stage.
College track athletics
He began attending Florida State UniversityFlorida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
(FSU) in late 2004, working with coach Bob Braman. At his first regional meeting for the university, he won the 60-meter dash, 200 m and 4×400 meter relay, and was chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference
Atlantic Coast Conference
The Atlantic Coast Conference is a collegiate athletic league in the United States. Founded in 1953 in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC sanctions competition in twenty-five sports in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association for its twelve member universities...
rookie of the year. He made his first major impact at the NCAA Indoor Championships
NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship
NCAA team champions for Men's Indoor Track and Field-See also:*NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship*NCAA Women's Indoor Track and Field Championship*NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship*Pre-NCAA Indoor Track and Field Champions...
: after a sixth place finish in the 60 m, he came second in the 200 m with a world junior record of 20.37 s, beaten only by Wallace Spearmon
Wallace Spearmon
Wallace Spearmon, Jr., is a sprint athlete, who specializes in the 200 meters. He is a two-time NCAA outdoor champion in the 200 m and won the silver medal in the event at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics...
. Following this, he became USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after setting an American junior record
United States records in track and field
The following are the national records in track & field in the United States maintained by USA Track & Field .Key:-Men:-Women:-Men:-Women:+ = en route to a longer distanceA = affected by altitude# = not officially ratified by IAAF...
in the 100 m. Running in the Icahn Stadium
Icahn Stadium
Icahn Stadium is a track and field venue located on Randall's Island, in New York City, and is one of only four Class 1 internationally certified tracks in the United States.-Overview:...
at the 2005 NCAA East Regional Championships, his heat-winning time of 10.06 seconds bettered Stanley Floyd
Stanley Floyd
Stanley Floyd is a retired track and field sprinter from the United States. Floyd attended the University of Houston and is perhaps best known for ranking first globally in the 100 metres during 1980. He was also the 1980 US champion in the men's 100 metres...
's 25-year-old mark. Dix went on to win the 100 m final and also won the 200 m in 20.23 seconds, the fourth fastest time by an American junior sprinter.
At his first NCAA Outdoor Championships
NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship
The NCAA Men's Outdoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate outdoor track and field competition for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. It has three divisions: Division I, II, and III. Athlete's individual performances earn points for their institution and...
, Dix became FSU's first winner at the championships since 1980, and the first to do so as a freshman
Freshman
A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...
. He won the 100 m in 10.21 seconds, beating the defending NCAA champions DaBryan Blanton and Tyson Gay
Tyson Gay
Tyson Gay is an American track and field sprinter. His primary events are the 100 meters and 200 meters. His personal bests establish him as the second fastest athlete in the 100 meters and the fifth fastest athlete in the history of the 200 meters, with times of 9.69 and...
to the title. After recording a personal best of 20.18 seconds in the semifinals, he managed a fourth place finish in the 200 m race. Dix competed at his first US senior championships that year and, as the only amateur to reach the 100 m final, he finished fourth. The only athletes to beat him were Leonard Scott
Leonard Scott
Leonard Scott is an American sprinter mainly competing in the 100 meters event. Scott attended the University of Tennessee on a track scholarship and turned professional in 2002. In 2005 he joined the exclusive list of sprinters to run the 100 in less than 10 seconds. A month later he finished...
, reigning Olympic Champion Shawn Crawford
Shawn Crawford
Shawn Crawford is an American sprint athlete. He competes in the 100 meters and 200 meters events. He won gold at the 2004 Summer Olympics and silver at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 200 meters....
and the eventual world champion Justin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin
Justin Gatlin is an American sprinter. He is an Olympic gold medalist, with a 100 m personal best of 9.85 seconds. He served a four-year ban from track and field for testing positive for a banned substance; Gatlin had appealed the ban in 2009, but it was later denied.- Biography :Gatlin attended...
.
Multiple NCAA champion
Dix's second year at FSU was characterised by success in the 200 m. He won his first indoor NCAA title in the 200 m and was runner-up in the 60 m, having set a personal best of 6.59 seconds in the heats. His time of 20.27 seconds in the 200 m final was the fastest indoor run in the world that year. His fastest of the season came at the ReebokReebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
invitational and his time of 20.25 seconds placed him as the 13th fastest runner in 2006. He completed a 200 m NCAA Championship double by taking the outdoor title, and he also finished as runner-up in the 100 m, second to Xavier Carter
Xavier Carter
Xavier Carter is an American professional track and field athlete. He attended Louisiana State University and was a star on the track and field team as well a member of the football team. Prior to LSU, Xavier Carter graduated from Palm Bay Senior High School in Melbourne, FL...
.
In his third year as an FSU athlete he won four NCAA Division I titles, starting with a 200 m win indoors. In the 2007 NCAA East Regional final, he won the 100 m dash in 10.05 seconds. His performance in the 200 m was more impressive however: he set the all-time collegiate record of 19.69 seconds in the 200 m, breaking Joe DeLoach
Joe DeLoach
Joseph Nathaniel DeLoach is a former American sprinter, the 1988 Olympic champion in the 200 m.Born in Bay City, Texas into a family with 11 sisters and one brother, DeLoach enjoyed running at a young age and desired to become a football player, but later set his mind to sprinting...
's record that had stood since 1988. This made him the sixth fastest 200 m runner ever and it was the seventh fastest run in history at the time.
At the NCAA Outdoor Championships that year, he won three separate national titles, beating all opposition in the 100 m, 200 m, and 4×100 meter relay races. This achievement made him the first man to win the three races at an NCCA Championships since John Carlos
John Carlos
John Wesley Carlos is a Cuban American former track and field athlete and professional football player. He was the bronze-medal winner in the 200 meters at the 1968 Summer Olympics and his black power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy...
did so in 1969. Dix's time of 9.93 seconds in the 100 m was a world-leader at that point of the season, and was just 0.01 behind Ato Boldon
Ato Boldon
Ato Jabari Boldon is a former athlete from Trinidad and Tobago and four-time Olympic medal winner. Only 2 other men in history, Frankie Fredericks and Carl Lewis, have won as many Olympic individual event sprint medals. He is the current national record holder in the 50, 60 and 200 metres events...
's NCAA record. For these accomplishments, he was again named USATF's Athlete of the Week.
In his final year as an amateur athlete, he spent much of early 2008 battling a hamstring
Hamstring
In human anatomy, the hamstring refers to any one of the three posterior thigh muscles, or to the tendons that make up the borders of the space behind the knee. In modern anatomical contexts, however, they usually refer to the posterior thigh muscles, or the tendons of the semitendinosus, the...
injury. However, he returned in April to win his third 200 m NCAA outdoor title, while placing fourth in the 100 m. Although his personal bests rivalled those of top professional athletes, Dix decided to finish his degree in social science at FSU, as his graduation in May 2008 allowed him to focus on the Olympic Trials thereafter.
Over the course of his college career, Dix became only the second athlete to win three NCAA 200 m outdoor titles (after Ralph Metcalfe
Ralph Metcalfe
Ralph Harold Metcalfe was an African-American athlete and politician who came second to Jesse Owens in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Metcalfe jointly held the world record for the 100 meter sprint. Metcalfe was known as the world’s fastest human from 1932 through 1934...
) and, with six outdoor NCAA titles, he is listed as the joint third on all-time list. Furthermore, he finished with two indoor titles and 18 All-America
All-America
An All-America team is an honorary sports team composed of outstanding amateur players—those considered the best players of a specific season for each team position—who in turn are given the honorific "All-America" and typically referred to as "All-American athletes", or simply...
n honors.
2008 Olympic Games
Competing at the US Olympic TrialsUnited States Olympic Trials (track and field)
The United States Olympic Trials for the sport of Track and Field is the quadrennial meet to select the United States representatives at the Olympic Games. Since 1992, the meet has also served as the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Because of the depth of competition in some events,...
in Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, Dix qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in both the 100 and 200 m events. After recording a personal-best-equaling 9.93 seconds in the 100 m semifinals, he took second place behind Tyson Gay
Tyson Gay
Tyson Gay is an American track and field sprinter. His primary events are the 100 meters and 200 meters. His personal bests establish him as the second fastest athlete in the 100 meters and the fifth fastest athlete in the history of the 200 meters, with times of 9.69 and...
with a wind-assisted 9.80 seconds. He stated that his NCAA experience had helped raise his confidence and that he was less nervous than he was at the 2005 US Championships. The 200 m favorite Gay suffered an injury in the qualifying rounds, and Dix and Crawford both finished the 200 m final with 19.86 seconds, with Dix elected the winner by a photo finish
Photo finish
A photo finish occurs in a sporting race, when two competitors cross the finishing line at near the same time. As the naked eye may not be able to discriminate between which of the competitors crossed the line first, a strip photo, a series of rapidly triggered photographs, or a video taken at the...
. After signing a sponsorship deal with Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
worth around $1,000,000 a year, described by his agent as "the largest deal ever for a track athlete just coming out of college", Dix stated that his aims for the Olympics were personal bests in the individual sprints and a gold in the relay race
Relay race
During a relay race, members of a team take turns running, orienteering, swimming, cross-country skiing, biathlon, or ice skating parts of a circuit or performing a certain action. Relay races take the form of professional races and amateur games...
.
Usain Bolt
The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. , is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay...
of 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...
and Richard Thompson
Richard Thompson (athlete)
Richard "Torpedo" Thompson is a sprinter from Cascade, Trinidad and Tobago who specializes in the 100 metres. He was the silver medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, running a personal best of 9.89 seconds....
of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. The Olympic bronze medal was Dix's first medal at a major international competition.
A few days later, he finished fifth in the 200 m final with a time of 19.98 seconds, some distance off the winner Usain Bolt
Usain Bolt
The Honourable Usain St. Leo Bolt, OJ, C.D. , is a Jamaican sprinter and a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medalist. He is the world record and Olympic record holder in the 100 metres, the 200 metres and the 4×100 metres relay...
who had broken the world record. However, it transpired that both the silver and bronze medalists (Churandy Martina
Churandy Martina
Churandy Martina is a sprinter from Curaçao, currently representing the Netherlands. His personal best time over 100 metres is 9.93 seconds, a national record, achieved in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games final...
of the Netherlands Antilles
Netherlands Antilles
The Netherlands Antilles , also referred to informally as the Dutch Antilles, was an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, consisting of two groups of islands in the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao , in Leeward Antilles just off the Venezuelan coast; and Sint...
and American Wallace Spearmon
Wallace Spearmon
Wallace Spearmon, Jr., is a sprint athlete, who specializes in the 200 meters. He is a two-time NCAA outdoor champion in the 200 m and won the silver medal in the event at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics...
) had stepped out of their lanes thus they were disqualified. As a result, Dix received his second Olympic bronze medal. Further disqualifications occurred in the heats of the Olympic 4×100 meter relay race: Darvis Patton
Darvis Patton
Darvis "Doc" Darell Patton is an American sprint athlete. He was the US Champion and World silver medallist over 200 meters in 2003...
and Tyson Gay misjudged a baton pass, causing the American team to be eliminated and spoiling any chance of Dix receiving a relay medal. He finished the Olympics as the only American sprinter to medal in two individual events. Dix closed the season with two sub-10 second
10-second barrier
The 10-second barrier is a term used in track and field athletics which refers to the physical and psychological barrier of completing the men's 100 metres sprint in under ten seconds...
runs at the Weltklasse and Athletissima
Athletissima
Athletissima is an annual athletics meeting at the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise in Lausanne, Switzerland. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League.The first edition was held on 8 July 1977....
meetings, finishing second to a Jamaican on both occasions (Bolt and Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...
).
Low-key 2009
The year after the Olympics, Dix began the season with a world-leading time of 10.00 seconds in Tallahassee in April. He also set a world-leading relay time of 37.92 seconds with Travis PadgettTravis Padgett
Travis Padgett is a track and field sprint athlete who competes internationally for the United States. He was an All-American and national champion sprinter at Clemson University....
, Shawn Crawford and Darvis Patton at the Penn Relays
Penn Relays
The Penn Relays is the oldest and largest track and field competition in the United States, hosted annually since April 21, 1895 by the University of Pennsylvania at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
. However, he failed to maintain this strong form through the rest of 2009. Coach Teddy Long planned to improve Dix's start and acceleration in his races, but the two parted company in April. He placed third behind Michael Rodgers and Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell
Asafa Powell C.D is a Jamaican sprinter who specialises in the 100 metres. He held the 100 m world record between June 2005 and May 2008, with times of 9.77 and 9.74 seconds respectively. Powell has consistently broken the 10-second barrier in competition, with his personal best of...
at the Prefontaine Classic
Prefontaine Classic
The Prefontaine Classic is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.-History:...
but, unusually, this proved to one of the highlights of a low-profile year for Dix. He competed at the US Championships, but injuries forced him out of both the 100 m and 200 m races and he did not qualify for the 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....
. Furthermore, he entered a legal battle with his management company, regarding whether they merited the 20% portion of his multi-million dollar sponsorship contract with Nike. The dispute with his agent Kimberly Holland was resolved in July: although the terms were undisclosed, Dix left Holland's Icon Management and decided to be his own agent. With his father as his coach, a legal battle and no major races to prepare for, Dix ran only a handful of local meetings in the rest of 2009.
Return to top level
Dix returned to national competition with an appearance at the 2010 USA Indoor Track and Field ChampionshipsUSA Indoor Track and Field Championships
The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport...
. He took fourth place in the final and set a new 60 m indoor best of 6.58 seconds. Event winner Ivory Williams
Ivory Williams
Ivory Williams is an American sprint athlete who specialises in the 100 meters.Born in Jefferson County, Texas, Williams competed at the 2002 United States Junior Championships, taking bronze in the 200 meters and finishing in fourth place in the 100 m. His first major junior tournament was...
was disqualified after testing positive for marijuana and Dix was upgraded to third. He opened his outdoor season at the Seminole Twilight meet in May, recording 9.98 seconds in the 100 m and 19.89 seconds for the 200 m. He began to participate in Diamond League
2010 IAAF Diamond League
The 2010 IAAF Diamond League was the first edition of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 14 May in Doha, Qatar and ended on 27 August in Brussels, Belgium....
meetings, competing on the European circuit for the first time. He beat Wallace Spearmon at the Golden Gala
Golden Gala
Golden Gala is an annual track and field event at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League.-History:...
's 200 m race, breaking Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson (athlete)
Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals. Johnson currently holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 m and 4 x 400 meters relay. He formerly held the world and Olympic record in the 200 m, and the world...
's meet record. He also took to the national stage, winning the 100 m and finishing as the 200 m runner-up at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Drake Stadium, Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa on June 23-27, 2010. In order to boost the visibility of this event, USATF sponsored a member appreciation tent at the event and promoted the entire week as "Membership appreciation...
. A week later, Dix beat Tyson Gay at the Prefontaine Classic
Prefontaine Classic
The Prefontaine Classic is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at the University of Oregon's Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.-History:...
for another meet record of 19.72 seconds. In August at a meet in Nottwil, Switzerland, Dix ran a new personal best of 9.88 seconds, finishing second behind Nesta Carter who also set a new personal best of 9.86 seconds. In the first meeting of the 2011 IAAF Diamond League, at the Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix
Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix
The Qatar Athletic Super Grand Prix is an annual athletics event at the Qatar SC Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the IAAF Diamond League. It was first organized in 1997.-Men:-Women:...
, he won the 200 m with a time of 20.06 seconds.
Personal life
Walter Dix is the son of Washington and Plinnie Dix. His father, a former sprinter, is an assistant principal and track coach at New River Middle School, while his mother is a high school teacher. He has two older brothers, Alex and William, who also were track runners. While attending Florida State UniversityFlorida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
, Dix became a member of the Phi Beta Sigma
Phi Beta Sigma
Phi Beta Sigma is a predominantly African-American fraternity which was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914, by three young African-American male students. The founders A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I...
fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
.
Personal bests
, Dix's bests in the 200 m, both indoors and outdoors, are the seventh fastest of all time. His best in the 100 m is the sixth fastest by an American athlete.| Event | Best | Venue | Date | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 meters (indoor) | 6.19 s Second The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock.... |
Gainesville Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth... , Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... |
January 13, 2007 | |
| 60 meters 60 meters The 60 meter band or 5 MHz band is a relatively new amateur radio allocation and originally only available in a few countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Ireland and Iceland... (indoor) |
6.58 s | Albuquerque, New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S... |
February 28, 2010 | |
| 100 meters | 9.88 s | Nottwil Nottwil Nottwil is a municipality in the district of Sursee in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland.- History :Nottwil is first mentioned around 1217-22 as Nottewile. In 1275 it was mentioned as Otewile.- Geography :... , Switzerland |
August 9, 2010 | |
| 200 meters | 19.53 s | Brussels City of Brussels The City of Brussels is the largest municipality of the Brussels-Capital Region, and the official capital of Belgium by law.... , Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... |
September 16, 2011 | |
| 200 meters (indoor) | 20.27 s | Fayetteville Fayetteville, Arkansas Fayetteville is the county seat of Washington County, and the third largest city in Arkansas. The city is centrally located within the county and is home to the University of Arkansas. Fayetteville is also deep in the Boston Mountains, a subset of The Ozarks... , Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River... |
March 10, 2006 | |
| Long jump Long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a take off point... |
7.39 meters | Gainesville Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth... , Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it... |
March 26, 2004 |
- All information from IAAF Profile
Major competition record
| 2008 | Olympic Games 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... |
Beijing Beijing Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's... , China |
3rd | 100 m | 9.91 |
| 3rd | 200 m | 19.96 | |||
| 2011 | World Championships 2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011.... |
Daegu Daegu Daegu , also known as Taegu, and officially the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea, the fourth largest after Seoul, Busan, and Incheon, and the third largest metropolitan area in the country with over 2.5 million residents. The city is the capital and principal city of the... , South Korea |
2nd | 100 m 2011 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 100 metres The men's 100 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Daegu Stadium on August 27 and August 28. The event was won by Yohan Blake of Jamaica, who became the youngest ever world champion in the 100 metres at . The highly favored defending champion and world record... |
10.08 |
| 2nd | 200 m 2011 World Championships in Athletics – Men's 200 metres The men's 200 metres at the 2011 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Olympic Stadium on September 2 and September 3. Usain Bolt, the world record holder and defending champion was the favourite going into the race with a world leading time of 19.86 seconds... |
19.70 |
External links
- USATF profile for Walter Dix
- Florida State Seminoles profile