Background

The year 2004 was the stuff of dreams for Tonique Darling. A 1999 graduate of the University of South Carolina, the Bahamian had a bright future after winning the SEC 400m championship in 1998. But she was left so distraught by a poor performance at the 2000 Olympics that she didn’t compete for two years, and almost quit the sport as she struggled to make the transition from college. “I was trying to find myself and trying to find the right program,” she says.

In 2002, she joined coach Steve Riddick, who anchored the 4x100m USA relay team to a gold medal in 1976, as a “last resort.” His emphasis on speed and mental preparedness got her back on track in 2003, and by 2004 at the Golden Gala in Rome she was breaking Ana Guevara’s 28-meet win streak on her way to a national record and, in Athens, an Olympic gold medal. She immediately became a hero in her country, the first Bahamian to capture an individual Olympic gold medal, and her stature was enhanced the next year when she overcame a torrential downpour to come from behind and win gold at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki.