Walter Dix

This achievement made him the first man to win the three races at an NCAA Championships since John Carlos did so in 1969.

Dix's time of 9.93 seconds in the 100 m was a world-leader at that point of the season, and was just 0.01 behind Ato Boldon's NCAA record.

At his first NCAA Outdoor Championships, Dix became FSU's first winner at the championships since 1980, and the first to do so as a freshman.

He won the 100 m in 10.21 seconds, beating the defending NCAA champions DaBryan Blanton and Tyson Gay to the title.

After recording a personal best of 20.18 seconds in the semifinals, he managed a fourth-place finish in the 200 m race.

Dix competed at his first US senior championships that year and, as the only amateur to reach the 100 m final, he finished fourth.

The only athletes to beat him were Leonard Scott, reigning Olympic Champion Shawn Crawford and the eventual world champion Justin Gatlin.

Dix's second year at FSU was characterised by success in the 200 m. He won his first indoor NCAA title in the 200 m and was runner-up in the 60 m, having set a personal best of 6.59 seconds in the heats.

His time of 20.27 seconds in the 200 m final was the fastest indoor run in the world that year.

Walter Dix (born January 31, 1986) is a retired American sprinter who specialized in the 100 meters and 200 meters.

He is the sixth-fastest 200-meter runner ever with a best of 19.53 seconds, and has broken the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters, with a best of 9.88 (9.80w) seconds.

He was the only track athlete from USA to win 2 individual Olympic medals in Beijing.

Dix was a highly successful amateur athlete, setting a state record in the 100 m and trying out for the US Olympic Team at the age of eighteen.

He joined Florida State University and in his first year he broke the 100 m American junior record and won at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

His performance in the 200 m was more impressive however: he set the all-time collegiate record of 19.69 seconds in the 200 m, breaking Joe DeLoach's record that had stood since 1988.

This made him the sixth fastest 200 m runner ever and it was the seventh fastest run in history at the time.

At the NCAA Outdoor Championships that year, he won three separate national titles, beating all opposition in the 100 m, 200 m, and 4×100 meter relay races.

Dix was an accomplished high school runner: in his final year at Coral Springs High School in 2004 he recorded 10.28 seconds in the 100 meters, then third all-time on the Florida high school record list behind only Houston McTear and Curtis Johnson, and broke the 200 meters Florida high school record with 20.62 seconds.

Aside from J-Mee Samuels' 10.28 seconds in the 100 m, these were the two fastest marks by a high school athlete that year.

Both these times were within the Olympic standard for the events.

He competed at the US Olympic Trials in the 200 m, but did not progress beyond the heats stage.

He began attending Florida State University (FSU) in late 2004, working with coach Bob Braman.

At his first regional meeting for the university, he won the 60-meter dash, 200 m and 4×400 meter relay, and was chosen as the Atlantic Coast Conference rookie of the year.

He made his first major impact at the NCAA Indoor Championships: after a sixth-place finish in the 60 m, he came second in the 200 m with a world junior record of 20.37 s, beaten only by Wallace Spearmon.

After a fourth-place finish at the 2005 US Championships, Dix continued with his collegiate success, setting an NCAA record of 19.69 seconds in the 200 m and coming within one hundredth of the 100 m record.

Following this, he became USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week after setting an American junior record in the 100 m. Running in the Icahn Stadium at the 2005 NCAA East Regional Championships, his heat-winning time of 10.06 seconds bettered Stanley Floyd's 25-year-old mark.

Dix went on to win the 100 m final and also won the 200 m in 20.23 seconds, the fourth fastest time by an American junior sprinter.

His fastest of the season came at the Reebok invitational and his time of 20.25 seconds placed him as the 13th fastest runner in 2006.

He completed a 200 m NCAA Championship double by taking the outdoor title, and he also finished as runner-up in the 100 m, second to Xavier Carter.

In his third year as an FSU athlete he won four NCAA Division I titles, starting with a 200 m win indoors.

He completed a 100 m, 200 m, and 4×100 meter relay sweep at the 2007 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the first to do so since John Carlos in 1969.

In the 2007 NCAA East Regional final, he won the 100 m dash in 10.05 seconds.

He closed his amateur career in 2008: another NCAA 200 m title made him the third most decorated track athlete in NCAA history, and he won gold and silver at the 2008 US Olympic Trials.

Dix turned professional in mid-2008, signing a multimillion-dollar contract with Nike.

He reached the Olympic finals in the 100 and 200 m, and won two bronze medals; the only American track athlete to win two individual medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

He suffered an injury at the 2009 US Championships, thus missing out on the World Championships, and a contract dispute with his agent resulted in only a handful of appearances that season.

In 2011 he was both the 100 and 200 m American champion and won silver medals in the events at the 2011 World Championships.

An injury at the 2012 Olympic trials meant he missed a second Olympic appearance.

The son of a track and field coach, Walter Dix competed at athletics meetings from a young age, specialising in sprinting and the long jump.

His speed also translated well to the football field, and he often played the sport at school.