Leroy Burrell

Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint.

Professional career Burrell was plagued by injuries and bad luck throughout his career, particularly around major championships. He won gold in the 100 m ahead of Carl Lewis at the 1990 Goodwill Games in Seattle. He won the silver in the 100 m behind Lewis at the 1991 World Championships. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Burrell false-started in the 100 m final. When the race finally restarted, his reaction off the line was slow, and he finished fifth. He did manage to win a relay gold as part of the U.S. 4 × 100 m team.

On May 19, 1990, Burrell ran a wind-assisted 200 m at College Station, Texas, in a time of 19.61 seconds. The wind speed was +4.0 m per second. This was the fastest time for the 200 m for over six years until the 1996 Olympic final in Atlanta, where Michael Johnson ran 19.32 seconds.

He first set the 100 m world record in June 1991 with a time of 9.90 seconds. This was broken that September by Carl Lewis who ran 9.86 sec at the 1991 World Track and Field Championships where Burrell finished second in a new personal best time of 9.88 sec. In July 1994, Burrell set the world record for the second time when he ran 9.85 sec at Athletissima, in Lausanne, Switzerland (a record that stood until the 1996 Olympics when Donovan Bailey ran 9.84 sec).

Since his retirement in 1998, Burrell has replaced his old college mentor, Tom Tellez, as coach of the University of Houston's track and field team. Burrell has led UH to 14 men's Conference USA titles (nine indoor, five outdoor) and nine women's titles (four indoor, five outdoor). He was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2014.

In June 2022, Burrell stepped down as head coach at Houston and accepted the head coaching position for Auburn track and field.

In June 2026, Burell accepted the head track and field coach position at Texas A&M University.

Personal life Burrell married Michelle Finn, also a sprinter, in 1994, and they have three sons together: Cameron who was a sprinter for the Houston Cougars and died in 2021, Joshua, and Jaden. On June 7, 2017, Cameron joined his father in the sub-10 second club. Burrell's younger sister Dawn also competed in track and field at the highest level, as a member of the 2000 US Olympic team and world indoor champion in the long jump.

Statistics Information from IAAF profile unless otherwise noted.

World records Includes former all-conditions world best in the 200 meters. All world records are former as of May 24, 2014. Event Time (s) Competition Venue Date Notes 60 m 6.48 Madrid indoor meet Madrid, Spain February 13, 1991 9.85 Athletissima Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland July 6, 1994 +1.2 m/s wind 37.67 Weltklasse Zürich Zürich, Switzerland August 7, 1991 group=note|name=4x100mWR2|Shared with Americans Michael Marsh, Dennis Mitchell, and Carl Lewis for the U.S. 37.50 World Championships Tokyo, Japan September 1, 1991 group=note|name=4x100mWR3|Shared with Americans Andre Cason, Dennis Mitchell, and Carl Lewis for the U.S. 37.40 Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain August 8, 1992 Former relay 1:19.38 Koblenz meet Koblenz, Germany August 23, 1989 group=note|name=4x200mWR|Shared with Americans Danny Everett, Floyd Heard, and Carl Lewis for the Santa Monica Track Club. 1:19.11 Penn Relays Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. April 23, 1992 100 m 9.85 +1.2 Athletissima Lausanne Lausanne, Switzerland July 6, 1994 Former 200 m 20.12 −0.8 U.S. Olympic Trials New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. June 27, 1992 19.61 +4.1 SWC Championships College Station, Texas, U.S. May 19, 1990 group=note|name=200mw|Though the race was wind-assisted and therefore ineligible for the official IAAF world record, at the time it was the fastest anyone had ever run the 200 m in any conditions. relay 37.40 n/a Olympic Games Barcelona, Spain August 8, 1992 group=note|name=4x100mWR4|Shared with Americans Michael Marsh, Dennis Mitchell, and Carl Lewis for the U.S. World Championships Stuttgart, Germany August 21, 1993 group=note|name=4x100mWR5|Shared with Americans Jon Drummond, Andre Cason, and Dennis Mitchell for the U.S.

Jumps Event Mark (m) Wind (m/s) Competition Venue Date Notes Long jump 8.37 +0.4 NCAA Division I Championships Provo, Utah, U.S. June 2, 1989 Long jump indoor 8.23 n/a NCAA Division I Indoor Championships Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. March 9, 1990

International championship results

100 meters IAAF Grand Prix: 1990 Athens: 1990