Delisa Walton-Floyd

Who is Delisa Walton-Floyd?

Delisa Walton-Floyd is a former World-Class middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres; she was a two-time National Collegiate champion, and two-time U.S. Open champion in her event. Delisa Walton-Floyd represented the United States at the 1987 Pan American Games; winning a silver medal at 800 meters. Walton-Floyd also competed at the World Championships in 1987 and 1991; advancing to the semi-final on both occasions.

After finishing second at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, Walton-Floyd reached the pinnacle of her career at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. During a very close final race, Walton-Floyd produced a lifetime best performance of 1:57.80 to finish in fifth place - less than a second from a bronze medal.

Walton-Floyd is a 1983 graduate of the University of Tennessee, where she earned accolades as an All-American track and field athlete for the Volunteers. A native of Detroit and a 1979 graduate of Mackenzie High School, Delisa Walton-Floyd won a total of five individual State Titles - leading her Mackenzie Stags to a State Track and Field Team Championship in 1978. She set the still standing NFHS national high school records in the 880 yard run at 2:07.7. The federation converted record-keeping to metric distances shortly afterward. Fittingly, Walton-Floyd was voted by Michigan sportswriters as 1978 High School Track and Field Athlete of the Year.