Kristi Castlin

With that time, she was ranked 25th in the world that year.

Kristi Castlin (born July 7, 1988) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100 metres hurdles.

She was a gold medalist at the Pan American Junior Athletics Championships in 2007 and a silver medalist at the NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics in 2008.

She received All-American honors for her ninth-place finish at the 2007 NCAA Indoor Championships and was the runner-up at the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) indoor meet.

Outdoors, she broke the American junior (under-20) record for the 100 metres hurdles, running a time of 12.91 seconds.

She won the ACC Outdoor Championships title and placed ninth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

After a win at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Castlin made her international debut at the 2007 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships and came away with the gold medal and a 100 metres hurdles championship record of 13.02 seconds, beating her compatriot Queen Harrison.

Castlin continued to improve in the 2008 season.

She again broke two school records in indoor hurdles and was runner-up to Tiffany Ofili at the 2008 NCAA Indoor Championships.

She was also runner-up in the 60 metres hurdles at the ACC Indoor Championships.

Outdoors, she won the ACC 100 metres hurdles title and ran a personal record time of 12.81 seconds for the season.

She was a semi-finalist at the 2008 United States Olympic Trials and claimed her second international medal, a silver behind Ofili, at the 2008 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics.

Her third collegiate season saw her win the ACC hurdles titles both indoors and outdoors.

At the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships she was again runner-up in the 100 m hurdles behind Michigan Wolverines' Tiffany Ofili.

Ofili was also victorious at the NCAA Indoor Championships, with Castlin taking third place on that occasion.

She graduated from Virginia Tech in 2010.

In her first indoor season competing collegiately for the Virginia Tech Hokies, Castlin broke the school records in both the 60 metres hurdles (8.20 seconds) and 55 metres hurdles (7.61 seconds).

In her final year in 2010 she was runner-up at the NCAA Indoor Championships behind Queen Harrison, She was knocked out of the top three at the NCAA Outdoor competition – her last NCAA event – and took fourth place behind Aleesha Barber.

Castlin closed her career with the Hokies having won four ACC titles, broken the conference record for the 100 m hurdles and taken eight All-American honors from NCAA competition.

Castlin turned professional after leaving Virginia Tech, gaining an Adidas sponsorship, and set a season's best of 12.83 seconds at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

However, she false started in the semi-finals and was disqualified.

She was the 2012 American champion in the indoor 60 metres hurdles and represented the United States at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships.

She secured her first national title at the 2012 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, setting a personal record of 7.84 seconds in the process.

The time ultimately ranked as the second fastest in the world that year for the 60 m hurdles.

This gained her selection for the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships – her first senior appearance.

In spite of her entering the competition as one of the favourites, she failed to finish her heat as she mistook the sound of the starter's pistol for a recall (due to the echo in the hall) and stopped running before the first hurdle.

At the 2012 United States Olympic Trials she reached the semi-finals, but her time of 12.93 seconds was not enough to progress.

She performed well, however, on the 2012 IAAF Diamond League circuit that year.

She shares the world record for the shuttle hurdle relay, with her time of 50.78 seconds set in 2013.

She competed collegiately for the Virginia Tech Hokies and had seven All-America finishes in the NCAA championships.

These accomplishments earned her a place in the Virginia Tech sports hall of fame.

She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics.

Her personal best for the event is 12.50 seconds, set on July 8, 2016, during the finals of the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, in which she qualified for the 2016 Summer Olympics by placing 2nd.

During the 2016 Summer Olympics, Castlin wore a traditional Hindu bindi.

Castlin won a bronze medal in the women's 100 metres hurdles, completing the sweep of the event along with two of her USA teammates, Brianna Rollins and Nia Ali, who won gold and silver medals respectively.

It was the only sweep in the 2016 Olympic Athletics program.

Castlin was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Kimberly and Rodney Castlin.

She did not take up track and field until the age of fourteen, only becoming interested when she noticed she was quicker than her classmates.

While still in high school, she ran a Georgia state record time of 13.73 seconds for the 100 metres hurdles.

She graduated in the top five percent of her class, and given her athletic ability, she gained a scholarship to study political science at Virginia Tech.