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Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie
	; Ferguson-McKenzie at the 2009 World Championships
Medal record
Women's Athletics
Representing Bahamas
Olympic Games
World Championships
Pan American Games
World Athletics Final
CAC Championships In Athletics
Commonwealth Games
Continental Cup
Goodwill Games
CAC Junior Championships (U20)
CAC Junior Championships (U17)
CARIFTA Games; Junior (U20)
CARIFTA Games; Youth (U17)

Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie (born 16 January 1976) is a former Bahamian sprinter who specialised in the 100 and 200 metres.^[1] Ferguson-McKenzie participated in five Olympics.

Ferguson-McKenzie is assistant coach of track and field at University of Kentucky. Previously, she coached for four years at the University of Houston.^[2]

In 1995, she was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the 1995 CARIFTA Games.^[3]^[4] In total she won 7 gold, 9 silver, and 2 bronze CARIFTA Games medals.

She had her first major successes with the Bahamian 4×100 metres relay team, winning gold at the Pan American Games and World Championships in Athletics in 1999, and taking another gold at the Olympic Games the following year. She won her first individual gold medal at the 2001 World Championships – having initially won silver, gold medallist Marion Jones was later disqualified.

The 2002 season was a career high for Ferguson-McKenzie: she won five gold medals, with victories at the IAAF World Cup and Grand Prix Final, and a 100 m, 200 m and relay gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Her performance in the 100 m remains a personal best, and her time in the 200 m was a commonwealth games record and fastest by any athlete that year.^[5] She won her only individual Olympic medal in 2004, taking bronze in the 200 m. Injury ruled her out for the whole of 2005.^[6] She failed to reach the finals at the 2007 World Championships, unable to compete with the new generation of American and Jamaican sprinters.^[7] However, she managed to reach the 100 and 200 metres finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

She was the previous 200 m national record holder with a best of 22.19 seconds. Her record was broken by Shaunae Miller-Uibo (22.05 seconds) at the 2016 Jamaica Grand Prix. Her 100 m best (10.91) is the second fastest time by a Bahamian after Chandra Sturrup.

In 2014 Ferguson-McKenzie became the women's sprints and hurdles coach for the track and field program at the University of Houston.^[8]

Ferguson-McKenzie was coached some part of her professional career by Henry Rolle.

Career

Ferguson attended St Andrew's School in Nassau, Bahamas and graduated in 1994.

Ferguson graduated from University of Georgia from where she launched her senior athletics career since which she has gained medals at the Summer Olympics, IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Commonwealth Games and Pan American Games.

In 2002, she was appointed as an ambassador for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, she set the championship record in the 100 metres and in the 4×100 m relay with the Bahamian team, recording a personal best of 10.91 seconds in the individual event.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing she competed at the 100 metres sprint. In her first round heat she placed second behind Oludamola Osayomi in a time of 11.17 to advance to the second round. There she won her series to qualify for the semi-finals in a time of 11.21, this time finishing in front of Osayomi. Despite fellow Bahamian Chandra Sturrup being unable to qualify for the final with a time of 11.22 in the first semi final, Ferguson managed to qualify with the same time as she finished fourth in her race, while Sturrup finished fifth in hers. In the final Ferguson came to 11.19 seconds, which was the 7th position.^[1]

She competed at the 2009 Manchester City Games, winning the 150 metres final in 16.54 seconds.^[9] She followed this up with a win in the 200 m at the Meeting Mohammed VI d' Athlétisme in Rabat.^[10] At the 25th Vardinoyiannia in Rethymno, Greece, she ran a world-leading time of 22.32 seconds to win the 200 m and set a meeting record.^[11]^[12] Now trains in Clermont, Florida, at the NTC.

Major competition record

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the Bahamas
1990	Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17)	Havana, Cuba	3rd	Pentathlon	3015pts
			3rd	4 × 100 m relay	47.66
			1st	4 × 400 m relay	3:47.22
1991	CARIFTA Games (U-17)	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	1st	100 m	11.89 w (2.4 m/s)
1991	CARIFTA Games (U-17)	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	3rd	200 m	24.86
1992	CARIFTA Games (U-17)	Nassau, Bahamas	1st	100 m	11.79
			2nd	200 m	23.97 w
			2nd	400 m	54.68
	CARIFTA Games (U-20)		2nd	4 × 100 m relay	45.61
	CARIFTA Games (U-20)		2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:42.37
	Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17)	Tegucigalpa, Honduras	1st	100 m	12.0 (0.0 m/s)
	Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17)	Tegucigalpa, Honduras	1st	200 m	24.2 (-0.1 m/s)
	World Junior Championships	Seoul, South Korea	21st (qf)	100 m	11.92 (wind: +1.9 m/s)
	World Junior Championships	Seoul, South Korea	23rd (sf)	200 m	24.74 (wind: +0.7 m/s)
1993	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	Fort-de-France, Martinique	3rd	100 m	11.79 (0.3 m/s)
			4th	200 m	24.09 (-1.2 m/s)
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	45.53
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:39.32
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Cali, Colombia	2nd	200 m	23.32 w
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Cali, Colombia	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	44.28
1994	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	Bridgetown, Barbados	1st	100 m	11.58
			1st	200 m	23.53
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	45.66
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:36.53
	Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20)	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	1st	100 m	11.1 (-1.8 m/s)
	Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20)	Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago	2nd	200 m	23.8 (-1.8 m/s)
	World Junior Championships	Lisbon, Portugal	5th	100m	11.48 (wind: +2.0 m/s)
			4th	200m	23.59 w (wind: +2.2 m/s)
			12th (h)	4 × 400 m relay	3:44.67
	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	12th (sf)	200 m	23.68
	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	5th	4×100 m relay	44.89
1995	CARIFTA Games (U-20)	George Town, Cayman Islands	1st	100 m	11.35
			1st	200 m	23.17
			1st	4 × 100 m relay	45.00
			2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:39.46
	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	27th (h)	200 m	23.33 (0.0 m/s)
	World Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	4th	4 × 100 m relay	43.14
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	13th (sf)	100 m	11.28 (0.4 m/s)
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	2nd	4 × 100 m relay	43.14 (h)
1997	Central American and Caribbean Championships	San Juan, Puerto Rico	1st	100 m	11.29
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	San Juan, Puerto Rico	1st	4 × 100 m relay	44.00
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	7th (sf)	100 m	11.39 (-0.1 m/s)
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	6th	4 × 100 m relay	42.77
1999	World Championships	Seville, Spain	9th (sf)	100 m	11.12 (-0.1 m/s)
			5th	200 m	22.28 (0.6 m/s)
			1st	4×100 m relay	41.92 WL
	Pan American Games	Winnipeg, Canada	1st	200 m	22.83 (0.7 m/s)
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	8th	100 m	11.29 (-0.4 m/s)
			4th	200 m	22.37 (0.7 m/s)
			1st	4×100 m relay	41.95 SB
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	5th	100 m	11.13 (-0.3 m/s)
	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	1st	200 m	22.52
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Melbourne, Australia	2nd	200 m	23.00
2002	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, England	1st	100 m	10.91 GR
			1st	200 m	22.20 GR
			1st	4×100 m relay	42.44 GR
	IAAF World Cup	Madrid, Spain	1st	200 m	22.49^[13]
	IAAF Grand Prix Final	Paris, France	1st	100 m	10.97
2003	Central American and Caribbean Championships	St. George's, Grenada	1st	4×100 m relay	43.06
	World Championships	Paris, France	10th (sf)	100 m	11.27 (0.4 m/s)
			12th (qf)	200 m	22.98 (-0.2 m/s)
			8th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	43.64
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	7th	100 m	11.16 (-0.1 m/s)
			3rd	200 m	22.30
			4th	4 × 100 m relay	42.69
	World Athletics Final	Monaco	2nd	200 m	22.66
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	14th (sf)	100 m	11.25 (-0.1 m/s)
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	14th (sf)	200 m	23.27 (-0.4 m/s)
	World Athletics Final	Stuttgart, Germany	2nd	200 m	22.74
2008	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Cali, Colombia	1st	200 m	22.78
	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Cali, Colombia	3rd	4 × 100 m relay	44.03
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	7th	100 m	11.19
	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	7th	200 m	22.61
2009	World Championships	Berlin, Germany	6th	100 m	11.05 (0.1 m/s)
			3rd	200 m	22.41 (-0.1 m/s)
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	42.29 SB
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	6th	200 m	22.96 (-1.0 m/s)
2011	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	17th (h)	4 × 100 m relay	50.62
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	24th (h)	100 m	11.32
2012	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	38th (h)	200 m	22.61
2013	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Morelia, Mexico	7th	100 m	11.85
2013	Central American and Caribbean Championships	Morelia, Mexico	3rd	4 × 100 m relay	44.08

On 16 October 2002 Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie was nominated Goodwill Ambassador of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

References

^ ^a ^b "Athlete biography: Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie". Beijing2008.cn. Archived from the original on 9 September 2008. Retrieved 27 August 2008.
^ "Five-Time Olympian Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie Loves Being Part Of Kentucky Track". WLEX. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ Carifta Games Magazine, Part 2 (PDF), Carifta Games 2011, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012, retrieved 12 October 2011
^ Carifta Games Magazine, Part 3 (PDF), Carifta Games 2011, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 April 2012, retrieved 12 October 2011
^ 200 Metres 2002. IAAF (14 October 2004). Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ Saunders, Gerrino (13 July 2006). BAAA Lists Surprising ‘Times’. The Bahama Journal. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
^ 100 Metres 2007. IAAF. (4 April 2008). Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ "Cougars Welcome Track and Field Great Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie". Houston Cougars Track & Field. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ "Superb Bolt storms to 150m record". BBC Sport. BBC News. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ Benchrif, Mohammed (24 May 2009). "Lishchynska and Cheshari set world season leads but Jelimo is way below par in Rabat". IAAF. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ Nikitaridis, Michalis (21 July 2009). "Ferguson (22.32) and Jones (12.47) set world season leads in Rethymno". IAAF. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
^ LIVE RESULTS OF 25th VARDINOYANNIA Archived 23 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine. EAR. Retrieved 22 July 2009.
^ Representing the Americas

External links

Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie at World Athletics

Sporting positions
Preceded by Marion Jones	Women's 200m Best Year Performance 2001 – 2002	Succeeded by Allyson Felix
Olympic Games
Preceded by Pauline Davis-Thompson	Flagbearer for Bahamas Athens 2004 Beijing 2008	Succeeded by Chris Brown