Lashawn Merritt

Specialising in the 400m, Lashawn Merritt is a track and field athlete who has won three Olympic gold medals and eight World Championship golds.

Merritt was always a talented athlete, becoming well known as a junior competitor when he took home three gold medals at the World Junior Championships in 2004. He set two junior world records and the following year took part in the World Championships for the first time. He won a gold in the mens 400m relay event, winning gold again in the same event in 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015. He has also won five individual World Championship gold medals in the 400m event, as well as three gold medals at the World Relay Championships. With his career going from strength to strength, Merritt was selected to represent his home country of the United States at the Olympics in 2008. He took home two gold medals, making a return to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. He is the ninth fastest person of all time to run the 400m in a time of 43.65 and in 2008 broke the Olympic record for the 400m relay alongside his teammates.

Widely regarded as one of the best sprinters of all time across 400m, Merritt has earned his place in the sporting history books and continues to inspire a new generation of sports fans and young athletes.