BRISCO'S THREE GOLD MEDALS NAMED 15th GREATEST EVER

 

 
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Valerie Brisco winning three gold medals at the 1984 Olympic Games was honored by USA Track & Field as the 15th greatest moment in U.S. track and field history in the last 25 years.

At the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, held just miles from her home at that time, Valerie Brisco became the first athlete, male or female, to complete an Olympic 200m/400m double.

She set American records in winning both individual events, running 21.81 seconds in the 200m, and becoming the first woman outside of Eastern Europe to break 49 seconds in the 400m with her winning time of 48.83 seconds. She won her third gold medal when she ran on the U.S. 4x400m relay team that set an American record with its winning time of 3:18.28. In 1988, Brisco won her fourth Olympic medal when she ran the third leg on the U.S. 4x400m relay team that broke the world record but finished second to the USSR team.

A former world indoor record holder in the 400 meters, Brisco was inducted into the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in 1995.

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