LaVerne Jones-Ferrette

(Redirected from LaVerne Jones)

LaVerne Janet Jones-Ferrette (born September 16, 1981) is a sprinter from the United States Virgin Islands who specializes in the 100 and 200 meters.[1] She represented her country at the Summer Olympics in 2004, 2008 and 2012. She won the silver medal over 60 meters at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in a time of 6.97 seconds; a subsequent drug test revealed a banned substance in her system and she was stripped of her medal.

LaVerne Jones-Ferrette
Personal information
Full nameCoach Jones
BornFrederiksted, Saint Croix, United States Virgin Islands
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight66 kg (146 lb)
Sport
Country United States Virgin Islands
SportAthletics
EventSprint
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the
 United States Virgin Islands
World Indoor Championships
Disqualified 2010 Doha 60 m
CAC Games
Silver medal – second place 2006 Cartagena 100 m
Updated on 28 December 2014

Jones-Ferrette competed at the World Championships in Athletics in 2005, 2007 and 2009, but did not reach an event final on any of those occasions. Her first international medal came at the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games, where she was the 100 m silver medalist. She represented her country at the 2007 Pan American Games. She holds all the US Virgin Islands records for the sprint events from 60 to 400 meters.

Career

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She grew up on Saint Croix and later moved to the United States on an athletic scholarship. She attended Barton County Community College and was coached by Lance Brauman, who also coached Tyson Gay and Veronica Campbell. She attended the University of Oklahoma and represented the Oklahoma Sooners in the NCAA Championships before graduating in 2003.[2] She made her Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Olympics, reaching the second round in both the 100 m and 200 m.[3] She was one of only two athletes from the country to compete in the athletics competition that year and was chosen to be the 2004 Olympic flag bearer for the US Virgin Islands.[4]

She came fourth in the 100 m at the 2005 CAC Championships and ran at the 2005 World Championships in Athletics later that season, reaching the semi-finals of the 200 m. She also reached the semi-final stage of the 60 m at the 2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships.[2] At the 2006 Central American and Caribbean Games she entered both the 100 m and 200 m – she just missed out on a medal in the 200 m, finishing fourth, but was the runner-up in the 100 m, taking the silver medal behind Tahesia Harrigan.[5] In 2007, she competed at the Pan American Games for the first time and was seventh in the women's 100 m final. She reached the 200 m semis for a second time running at the World Championships in Osaka.[2]

Jones-Ferrette represented the US Virgin Islands at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing competing at the 100 metres sprint. In her first round heat she placed third behind Kerron Stewart and Ezinne Okparaebo in a time of 11.41 to advance to the second round. There she failed to qualify for the semi-finals as her time of 11.55 was only the fifth time of her heat, causing elimination.[1]

She further improved her 100 and 200 meter national records at the Grande Prêmio Brasil Caixa meeting in May 2009. Breaking both records in just over an hour, she ran 11.18 in the 100 m and 22.49 seconds in the 200 m.[6] She competed at the 2009 World Championships in Athletics but she just missed out on making the 200 metres final. She ended the year with seventh-place finishes in the sprints at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final.[2]

Jones-Ferrette made a strong start to 2010, building up to the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships by running the fastest 60 m time recorded in eleven years. Her time of 6.97 seconds made her the sixth fastest woman over the distance and even she was surprised to have run such a quick time.[7] An absence from competition that summer was later explained when she announced that she and her husband, Stephen Ferrette, were expecting a child.[8] However, on December 16, 2010, it was made public that she was banned from competition for 6 months from April to October of the same year due to a positive test of a banned substance, as well as had her world indoor medal stripped. She stated though that the substance was used to help her fertility.[9]

She competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing in 9th in the 200 m and in 14th in the 100 m, not qualifying for either final.[10][11]

Competition record

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Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing the   United States Virgin Islands
1999 CARIFTA Games (U20) Fort-de-France, Martinique 100 m DNF
2000 Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U20) San Juan, Puerto Rico 4th (h) 200 m 25.07 w (wind: +3.9 m/s)
4th 4 × 400 m relay 3:55.13
2003 CAC Championships St George's, Grenada 8th 100 m 11.63 (wind: +0.6 m/s)
2004 Olympic Games Athens, Greece 6th (second round) 100 m 11.44 (wind: +0.2 m/s)
6th (second round) 200 m 23.09 (wind: +0.3 m/s)
2005 CAC Championships Nassau, Bahamas 4th 100 m 11.45 (wind: +1.1 m/s)
6th 200 m 23.15 w (wind: +3.8 m/s)
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 21st (qf) 100 m 11.51 (wind: -0.1 m/s)
7th (semis) 200 m 23.62 (wind: -4.0 m/s)
Universiade İzmir, Turkey 10th (sf) 100 m 11.92 (wind: +0.6 m/s)
7th 200 m 24.00 (wind: -1.0 m/s)
2006 World Indoor Championships Moscow, Russia 11th (sf) 60 m 7.27
Central American and Caribbean Games Cartagena, Colombia 2nd 100 m 11.50 (wind: +0.5 m/s)
4th 200 m 23.33 (wind: -0.4 m/s)
2007 Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 7th 100 m 11.49 (wind: +0.8 m/s)
7th 400 m 52.97
World Championships Osaka, Japan 8th (semis) 200 m 23.34 (wind: -0.4 m/s)
2008 World Indoor Championships Valencia, Spain 3rd (semis) 60 m 7.24
Olympic Games Beijing, China 29th (qf) 100 m 11.55 (wind: +0.1 m/s)
24th (qf) 200 m 23.37 (wind: 0.0 m/s)
2009 World Championships Berlin, Germany 9th (sf) 200 m 22.74 (wind: +0.3 m/s)
World Athletics Final Thessaloniki, Greece 7th 100 m 11.25 (wind: -0.1 m/s)
7th 200 m 22.90 (wind: +0.1 m/s)
2010 World Indoor Championships Doha, Qatar 2nd (disqualified) 60 m DSQ
2011 Pan American Games Guadalajara, Mexico 8th 100 m 11.60 A (wind: -0.2 m/s)
2012 World Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 1st (h)1 60 m 7.21
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 4th (sf) 100 m 11.22 (wind: 0.0 m/s)
4th (sf) 200 m 22.62 (wind: +1.0 m/s)
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 28th (h) 60 m 7.39
Central American and Caribbean Games Xalapa, Mexico 3rd 100m 11.54 A (wind: +1.5 m/s)
2015 NACAC Championships San José, Costa Rica 7th 100m 11.53 (wind: -0.1 m/s)
8th 200m 23.51 (wind: +1.3 m/s)
World Championships Beijing, China 47th (h) 200 m 23.83
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6th (h) 200 m 23.35 (wind: +0.5 m/s)

Personal bests

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  • 60 meters - 6.97 s (2010) - national record.
  • 100 meters - 11.07 s (2012) - national record.[12]
  • 200 meters - 22.46 s (2009) - national record.
  • 400 meters - 51.47 s (2007) - national record.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Athlete biography: LaVerne Jones-Ferrette". Beijing2008.cn. Archived from the original on 2008-09-09. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  2. ^ a b c d Powell, David (2009-07-25). Focus on Athletes - Laverne Jones-Ferrette. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-29.
  3. ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "LaVerne Jones". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 2010-11-29.
  4. ^ Flag Bearers for the Opening Ceremony. Olympic.org (2004-08-13). Retrieved on 2010-11-29.
  5. ^ Clavelo Robinson, Javier (2006-07-27). Robles and Martina break Games records - CAC Games Day Two. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-11-29.
  6. ^ Biscayart, Eduardo (2009-05-25). Belém spectacular produces five world season leads – IAAF World Athletics Tour. IAAF. Retrieved on 2009-05-30.
  7. ^ Gordon, Ed (2010-02-07). Jones-Ferrette shocks with 6.97 dash in Stuttgart. IAAF. Retrieved on 2010-03-01.
  8. ^ Mulkeen, Jon (2010-11-18). Jones-Ferrette pregnant Archived 2010-11-19 at the Wayback Machine. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 2010-11-29.
  9. ^ Laverne Jones-Ferrette stripped of world indoor medal after positive test Archived 2010-12-20 at the Wayback Machine. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 2010-12-16.
  10. ^ "London 2012 200m women Results - Olympic athletics".
  11. ^ "London 2012 100m women Results - Olympic athletics".
  12. ^ United States Virgin Islands athletics records Archived 2007-08-19 at the Wayback Machine
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