Chandra Cheeseborough

Who is Chandra Cheeseborough?

Chandra Danette Cheeseborough is an American track and field athlete. Cheeseborough broke onto the international track scene at age 16 by winning two gold medals at the 1975 Pan American Games, taking the 200 m in an American record time of 22.77 seconds. In 1976, she set an American junior record of 11.13 seconds in placing second at the U.S Olympic trials, then placed sixth in that event at the Montreal Olympics.

She graduated from Ribault High School in Jacksonville, Florida in 1977, where she set the still standing NFHS national high school records in both the 100 yard and 220 yard dashes. The federation converted record-keeping to metric distances shortly afterward. Next she attended Tennessee State, where she was a member of national championship teams that set world indoor records of 1:08.9 minutes in the 640-yard relay and 1:47.17 in the 800-yard sprint medley relay. She won the national indoor 200-yard dash in 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1983. Her breakthrough year in the 400m came in 1984, when she set two American records in the event, then placed second in the Los Angeles Olympics in a career best of 49.05. The 49.05 still ranks her as the #10 performer of all time. She made history at the 1984 Games when she became the first woman to win gold medals in both relays, which were held less than an hour apart.