Derrick Adkins the Olympic Gold Medalist

Derrick R. Adkins is often a former American athlete, winner of 400 m hurdles at the 1996 Summer Olympics.Born in ( July 2, 1970 ) Brooklyn, New York,Adkins was raised in the Lakeview section of Extended Island where he attended Malverne High School, graduating in 1988. That year he was ranked because the number a single high college 400 meter hurdler within the nation, getting run the race in 50.71 seconds, while in the age of 17. An honor student in higher college, Adkins attended Georgia Tech exactly where he received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in June 1993. Coached by Buddy Fowlkes and Grover Hinsdale at Georgia Tech, Derrick Adkins rose in to the international athletics scene in 1991, when he finished third at the US National Championships and certified for the 1991 World Championships, exactly where he finished inside the sixth spot.

Adkins won the Planet Student Games in 1991 and 1993 and completed seventh at the 1993 World Championships. Adkins made a rapid improvement in 1994, when he won his very first US National Championships. He repeated this win in the subsequent year and at the 1995 World Championships he was currently a principal favourite for the gold medal. At Gothenburg, Adkins won his heat conveniently and in the final he won the gold narrowly ahead of his profession lengthy rival Samuel Matete from Zambia.

Before the Atlanta Olympics, Matete beat Adkins in 4 races out of 5, but in the Olympic Games itself Adkins turned the tables on Matete, winning within a time of 47.54 and beating Matete to a second spot by 0.24 seconds. Resulting from his gold medal performance, in October 1996 nearby authorities of his hometown of Lakeview lobbied to modify the name in the street exactly where he was raised from Seneca Road, to Derrick Adkins Lane.

In 1997, Adkins was second at the US National Championships, but missed the final for the initial time at a World Championships by finishing only fifth at the semi-final. Adkins was Assistant Coach of Columbia University's Track and Field group in between 2004 and 2006.

Adkins was the Director in the New Balance Armory Track and Field Center involving 2006 and 2011. Whilst in the Armory, Adkins was a main influence in promoting the transfer with the world-famous Millrose Games from Madison Square Garden to the Armory, where the Games continue to become staged as one of the world's premiere indoor track meets. Adkins continues to be a consultant in the Armory center in New York City. He is also a Senior Representative at the New York Road Runners organization.