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Letitia Vriesde

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Name
  
Letitia Vriesde

Role
  
Olympic athlete


Height
  
1.59 m

Weight
  
55 kg

Letitia Vriesde Surinam SRD5 TeleG NAFYU Letitia Vriesde Sport 2

Born
  
5 October 1964 (age 59) (
1964-10-05
)
Coronie, Suriname

Wk edmonton letitia vriesde


Letitia Alma Vriesde (born 5 October 1964) is a female former track and field athlete from Suriname, who specialised in the 800 metres but was also successful over 1500 metres. She is the first (and as of 2015, only) sportsperson from Suriname to compete at five Olympic Games. She won a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships and a bronze medal at the 2001 World Championships. Vriesde holds the South American records for 800m, 1000m and 1500m (indoors and outdoors) and also for 3000m (indoors).

Contents

Letitia Vriesde wwwstarnieuwscomindexphpbeyondfilesgetimag

Career

Letitia Vriesde Letitia Vriesde

Vriesde started running in Suriname, coached by Luiz de Oliveira. She left Suriname after failing to be selected for the 1984 Olympics to train in the Netherlands. She competed in the 800 metres at the 1988 Summer Olympics, and broke into the highest echelons of the sport in 1991, when she reached the finals of both 800m and 1500m at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Tokyo, finishing in fifth and ninth places respectively. At the 1992 Summer Olympics she set a record of sorts by recording the fastest ever non-qualifying time (1:58.28) in an 800m semi-final.

Letitia Vriesde Letitia Vriesde

Vriesde won a bronze medal in the 800m at the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships, before going on to win a silver medal at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics behind Cuba's Ana Quirot. A year later, she missed the finals at the 1996 Summer Olympics, running a nearly identical time to her 1992 Olympic performance (1:58.29), again placing fifth in her semifinal. She has also won many medals at the Pan-American Games and Central American Games.

Vriesde was disqualified and stripped of her gold medal at the 2003 Pan-American Games after testing positive for excessive caffeine levels. She was said to have the equivalent of five gallons of coffee in her system, and admitted her guilt. She was not banned however and went on to compete at that year's World Championships. Drinking too much coffee or taking a common cold tablet would no longer get athletes disqualified after a new global list of banned substances was drawn up by the World Anti-Doping Agency and applied from 1 January 2004.

Vriesde retired soon after competing at her seventh World Championships in 2005. In Paramaribo a street formerly known as Cultuurtuinlaan was changed into Letitia Vriesdelaan. The Surinamese Government also gave her a piece of land in appreciation of her achievements.

Personal life

Vriesde married Bas van Veen on 9 September 2005 in Middelburg, Holland. Her daughter Joi Vienna was born on 19 March 2007.

Personal bests

  • 400 m 52.01 (1997)
  • 800 m 1:56.68 (1995)
  • 1000 m 2:32.25 (1991)
  • 1500 m 4:05.67 (1991)
  • Mile 4:30.45 (1992)
  • 3000 m 9:15.64 (1991)

    • As of 2017, Vriesde's 800m best of 1:56.68 ranks her 58th on the World all-time list.

    Vriesde’s Top 10 800m performances

  • 1:56.68 AR 2 WCh Göteborg 13.08.95
  • 1:57.07 3rA WK Zürich 16.08.95
  • 1:57.09 3 Her Montecarlo 10.08.96
  • 1:57.16 4= GPF Montecarlo 09.09.95
  • 1:57.35 3 WCh Edmonton 12.08.01
  • 1:57.86 4 Her Montecarlo 16.08.97
  • 1:57.96 AR 5 APM Hengelo 28.06.92
  • 1:57.98 2 Nikaïa Nice 16.07.97
  • 1:58.11 2 ISTAF Berlin 01.09.95
  • 1:58.12 4 WCh Athína 09.08.97

    • 800 metres Event History

  • 1988 Seoul Round One Heat 4 4th 2:01.83
  • 1988 Seoul Semi-Finals Heat 2 8th 2:02.34
  • 1992 Barcelona Round One Heat 3 2nd 1:59.93
  • 1992 Barcelona Semi-Finals Heat 1 5th 1:58.28
  • 1996 Atlanta Round One Heat 1 2nd 1:59.71
  • 1996 Atlanta Semi-Finals Heat 2 5th 1:58.29
  • 2000 Sydney Round One Heat 2 4th 2:02.09
  • 2004 Athens Round One Heat 3 4th 2:01.70
  • 2004 Athens Semi-Finals Heat 3 8th 2:06.95

    • 1500 metres Event History

  • 1988 Seoul Round One Heat 2 12th 4:19.58
  • 1992 Barcelona Round One Heat 2 5th 4:10.63
  • 1992 Barcelona Semi-Finals Heat 1 8th 4:09.64

    • Results and Palmares

    Please note, results and palmares of Letitia Vriesde are based on data from The-Sports.org and may be incomplete.

  • 2005
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Semi-Final 2 7 07/08/2005
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Heat 5 6 06/08/2005
  • THALES FBK-Games 800 m Women 7 29/05/2005
  • Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo 800 m Women 3 22/05/2005
  • 2004
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • Olympic Games Women's 800 m - Semi-Final 3 8 21/08/2004
  • Norwich Union British Grand Prix 800 m Women 6 30/07/2004
  • THALES FBK-Games 800 m Women 6 31/05/2004
  • Grande Premio Brasil Caixa de Atletismo 800 m Women 3 23/05/2004
  • 2003
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • Rieti 2003 Women's 800 m 9 07/09/2003
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Semi-Final 1 4 24/08/2003
  • IAAF Grand Prix Zagreb Women's 800 m 5 07/07/2003
  • 2002
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • GE Money Grand Prix Women's 800 m 2 13/08/2002
  • Athletissima 800 m Women 8 02/07/2002
  • THALES FBK-Games Women's 800 m 4 02/06/2002
  • 2001
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • IAAF Grand Prix Final Women's 800 m 8 09/09/2001
  • ISTAF Berlin 800 m Women 5 31/08/2001
  • Van Damme Memorial 800 m Women 7 24/08/2001
  • Norwich Union Classic Women's 800 m 5 19/08/2001
  • World Championships Women's 800 m 3 12/08/2001
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Semi-Final 2 2 10/08/2001
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Heat 3 1 09/08/2001
  • Norwich Union British Grand Prix Women's 800 m 5 22/07/2001
  • DN Galan Women's 1000 m 7 17/07/2001
  • Bislett Games 800 m Women 3 13/07/2001
  • Nikaia Women's 1000 m 6 09/07/2001
  • Athletissima 2001 Women's 800 m 5 04/07/2001
  • Golden Gala 800 m Women 4 29/06/2001
  • Asics Grand Prix Helsinki Women's 800 m 2 14/06/2001
  • Atletismo Sevilla 2001 Women's 800 m 1 First 08/06/2001
  • Adidas Oregon Track Classic Women's 800 m 2 03/06/2001
  • Prefontaine Classic Women's 800 m 3 27/05/2001
  • Grand Prix Brasil de Atletismo Women's 800 m 3 06/05/2001
  • 2000
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • Olympic Games Women's 800 m - Heat 2 4 22/09/2000
  • Van Damme Memorial Women's 800 m 2 25/08/2000
  • Prefontaine Classic Women's 800 m 6 24/06/2000
  • 1999
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Semi-Final 2 6 22/08/1999
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Heat 1 3 21/08/1999
  • 1998
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • World Cup Women's 800 m 3 11/09/1998
  • 1997
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • World Championships Women's 800 m 4 09/08/1997
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Semi-Final 2 2 07/08/1997
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Heat 3 1 06/08/1997
  • World Indoor Championships Women's 800 m 4 09/03/1997
  • 1995
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • World Championships Women's 800 m 2 13/08/1995
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Semi-Final 1 4 11/08/1995
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Heat 2 1 10/08/1995
  • World Indoor Championships Women's 800 m 3 10/03/1995
  • 1991
  • Event Discipline Pos Date
  • World Championships Women's 1500 m 9 31/08/1991
  • World Championships Women's 1500 m - Heat 2 3 29/08/1991
  • World Championships Women's 800 m 5 26/08/1991
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Semi-Final 2 2 25/08/1991
  • World Championships Women's 800 m - Heat 5 2 24/08/1991

    • References

    Letitia Vriesde Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA