Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie

Who is Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie?

Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie is a Bahamian sprint athlete of Jamaican descent who specialises in the 100 and 200 metres.

In 1995, she was awarded the Austin Sealy Trophy for the most outstanding athlete of the 1995 CARIFTA Games. In total, she won 7 gold, 9 silver, and 2 bronze CARIFTA Games medals.

She had her first major successes with the Bahamian 4×100 metres relay team, winning gold at the Pan American Games and World Championships in Athletics in 1999, and taking another gold at the Olympic Games the following year. She won her first individual gold medal at the 2001 World Championships – having initially won silver, gold medallist Marion Jones was later disqualified.

The 2002 season was a career high for Ferguson-McKenzie: she won five gold medals, with victories at the IAAF World Cup and Grand Prix Final, and a 100 m, 200 m and relay gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Her performance in the 100 m remains a personal best and Commonwealth Games record, and her time in the 200 m was the fastest by any athlete that year. She won her only individual Olympic medal in 2004, taking bronze in the 200 m. Injury ruled her out for the whole of 2005. She failed to reach the finals at the 2007 World Championships, unable to compete with the new generation of American and Jamaican sprinters. However, she managed to reach the 100 and 200 metres finals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.