LaTasha Colander

LaTasha Colander, Sydney 2000

LaTasha Colander (born August 23, 1976 in Portsmouth , Virginia ) is a former American athlete .

Colander is a very versatile sprinter who has had successes over the 100, 200 and 400 meters since 1994. In 1994 she became US junior champion and junior runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles . After a short interlude in the 400-meter hurdles , she surprisingly won the 400-meter run in the US eliminations for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney with her personal best of 49.87 s, which is still in place today. At the games in Sydney she did not get past the second qualifying round, just as surprisingly. Cathy Freeman (AUS) later became Olympic champion in 49.11 s. LaTasha Colander won the gold medal with the American quartet in the 4 x 400 meter relay as the final runner.

In 2001 she was again US American champion over 400 meters, but could not take part in the 2001 World Athletics Championships in Edmonton due to injury . When her results over the 400-meter course got worse in 2002, she switched to the shorter courses. However, she did not succeed until 2004 when she won the US trials for the Olympic Games in Athens in the 100 meter run with her personal best of 10.97 seconds. At the games in Athens, however, she only finished eighth in the final with 11.18 seconds.

For the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 , she qualified third in the US trials in the 200-meter run in a personal best of 22.34 s and was fifth in the finals of the World Championships.

LaTasha Colander is 1.66 m and weighed 54 kg during her active days.

Personal bests

• 100 m: 10.97 s
• 200 m: 22.34 s
• 300 m: 36.00 s
• 400 m: 49.87 s
• 400 m hurdles: 56.88 s

Web links

• LaTasha Colander in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Athlete portrait at USA Track & Field
• LaTasha Colander on sporting-heroes.net
• Photos by LaTasha Colander