1. LaShawn Merritt was born on June 27,1986 and is a retired American track and field athlete who competed in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres.
23 Facts About LaShawn Merritt
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LaShawn Merritt is a former Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 seconds makes him the eleventh fastest of all time.
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LaShawn Merritt came out on top of a rivalry with Jeremy Wariner in 2008 by winning in the 2008 Olympic final in a personal best time, and by a record margin of 0.99 secs.
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LaShawn Merritt broke the Olympic record in the relay with the American team, recording the second fastest time ever.
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LaShawn Merritt served a 21-month doping ban between 2009 and 2011 for unintential use of DHEA and pregnenolone.
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LaShawn Merritt is a native of Portsmouth, Virginia where he graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School.
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LaShawn Merritt spent one year as a college athlete at East Carolina University, signing an endorsement contract with Nike during his first season of indoor track, making him ineligible to compete in an NCAA event.
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LaShawn Merritt then transferred to Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
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LaShawn Merritt studied business administration at Norfolk State University located in Norfolk.
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LaShawn Merritt came to prominence as a junior athlete at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics.
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LaShawn Merritt scored his first major win over Wariner in a close affair at the Internationales Stadionfest in Berlin.
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LaShawn Merritt confirmed his Olympic place a month later by winning at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, again defeating the reigning Olympic champion Wariner.
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LaShawn Merritt won the 400 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
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LaShawn Merritt secured his fourth win over Wariner that season at the 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final.
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LaShawn Merritt opted to miss out on the 2009 indoor season to focus on improving his running and technique.
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In October 2010, LaShawn Merritt was issued with 21-month competition ban backdated to October 2009 after testing positive three times for DHEA and pregnenolone.
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The American Arbitration Association's ruling accepted LaShawn Merritt had unintentionally consumed the banned substances contained within a male enhancement product called ExtenZe.
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LaShawn Merritt received a berth to the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, South Korea due to him being the 2009 World Champion for the 400 meters.
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LaShawn Merritt was the number one qualifier at the 2012 Olympic Trials.
20.
Two weeks before the track and field events at the 2012 Summer Olympics, LaShawn Merritt tweaked his hamstring in the Herculis meet in Monaco.
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LaShawn Merritt ran a very quick time of 43.85 but only managed to win the bronze medal behind defending Olympic champion, Kirani James of Grenada, who won the silver medal with a time of 43.76, and Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, who won the gold medal with a new world record time of 43.03.
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LaShawn Merritt announced his retirement following the 2017 World Championships in Athletics.
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LaShawn Merritt is one of only six men in history to have broken 20 seconds for the 200 metres and 44 seconds for the 400 metres, the other men being Michael Johnson, Isaac Makwala, Wayde Van Niekerk, Michael Norman, and Fred Kerley.