Me'Lisa Barber
Personal information
BornOctober 4, 1980 (1980-10-04) (age 43)
Livingston, New Jersey, U.S.
Medal record
Women's athletics
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2003 Paris4 × 400 m relay
Gold medal – first place2005 Helsinki4 × 100 m relay
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Moscow 60 metres

Me'Lisa Barber is an American sprinter. After graduating from University of South Carolina, she was the 2005 USA Outdoor Champion in the 100 metres and the 2006 World Indoor Champion in the 60 metres. She was also one of the 2003 World Champions in the 4 × 400 metres relay and one of the 2005 World Champions in the 4 × 100 metres relay.

Life and career

Barber grew up in Montclair, New Jersey.[1] Her 4 × 100 metre and 4 × 400 metre high school relays with her twin sister, Miki, at Montclair High School were both honored as All-American.[2]

Throughout her collegiate career, Barber won four SEC titles. In 2001, while attending the University of South Carolina, she won a gold medal at the World University Games in the 4 × 400 metres relay as part of Team USA. She was made co-captain of the South Carolina Gamecocks women's track and field team in 2002, when the team won at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the championships, she ran in place of her sister in the 400 metres due to her sister's injury. Barber graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2002 with a degree in business and retail management. She won a gold medal in the 4 × 400 meters relay as part of Team USA at the 2003 World Championships in Paris, and competed in the 4 × 100 metres relay with Team USA at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki.[3] During the 2005 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she won gold in the 100 metres and placed fourth in the 200 metres.[4]

At the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships, she won a gold medal in the 60 metres, running the fastest time of that season at 7.01 seconds.[5] Barber left coach Trevor Graham in 2006 following his involvement in the BALCO scandal.[6] In 2009, Barber ruptured her Achilles tendon after a drunk driver rear-ended her car in Atlanta, Georgia, and stopped competing for several years.[7]

Barber runs a line of jewelry called The Honey Collection, a juice company, and a personal training company called Body Code. She and her sister also began doing motivational speaking tours in schools in 2018.[3]

Public image

NJ.com selected Barber as one of Montclair High School's four best athletes of all time.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Litsky, Frank. "PLUS: TRACK AND FIELD; Fast Times Eyed At Armory Meet", The New York Times, January 9, 2001. Accessed November 26, 2007. "The 800 to 900 athletes expected to compete in the Armory meet include Miki and Me'Lisa Barber, South Carolina's sprinting twins from Montclair, N.J...."
  2. ↑ Bloom, Marc. "Running; Teammates at the Meet, Strangers at Practice", The New York Times, July 11, 1998. Accessed June 14, 2008. "Melisa and Mikele Barber, 17-year-old twins and graduating seniors who are going on to the University of South Carolina, practice under the Montclair coaches Ray Spivey and Doris Ellis at the high school track."
  3. 1 2 Muller, Brad (March 1, 2021). "It's Not Easy Keeping Up with Me'Lisa Barber". University of South Carolina Athletics. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  4. ↑ Elliott, Helene (June 27, 2005). "Gatlin Is Double Quick at U.S. Championships". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Scott, Barber lead U.S. 60-meter sweep at Indoors". ESPN. March 10, 2006. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Two sprinters split from Graham". The Globe and Mail. November 8, 2006. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  7. ↑ Freeman, Dennis J. (September 27, 2016). "Track star Me'Lisa Barber finds honey in the jewelry". News4usonline. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  8. ↑ Stanmyre, Matthew (July 11, 2017). "THE RESULTS ARE IN: Who made Montclair's Mt. Rushmore after 86,000+ votes?". NJ.com. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
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