Andrew Rock

Last updated
Andrew Rock
Personal information
BornJanuary 23, 1982 (1982-01-23) (age 41)
Marshfield, Wisconsin, U.S.
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing the Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2004 Athens 4x400 m relay
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2005 Helsinki 4x400 m relay
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2005 Helsinki 400 m

Andrew Rock (born January 23, 1982) is an American sprinter who specializes in the 400 meter dash.

Contents

Early career

Rock was born in Marshfield, Wisconsin, and grew up in Stratford, Wisconsin, where he graduated from high school in 2000. His high school career concluded at the 2000 Wisconsin State Championships, where he became the first athlete in meet history to win four individual titles at the same championships by winning the 110 m hurdles, 300 m hurdles, 200 m dash, and long jump. Despite this success, he was not a heavily recruited athlete.

Rock attended the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, where he was a nine-time National Champion and a 17-time All-American. After finishing runner-up seven times between the 2001 and 2002 seasons, Rock hit his stride in 2003 and 2004, winning eight consecutive titles in the 400 m dash and 4 × 400 m relay. Rock holds nine UW–LaCrosse records (four individual; five relays) and six WIAC records (three individual; three relays) and was twice named first-team Academic All-American by CoSIDA. In addition to these achievements, Rock also claimed the fastest 400 m time in Division III history, running a 44.66 at a USATF meet in Carson, California, thereby announcing his arrival onto the elite track scene. Rock turned professional soon after graduating from UW–La Crosse with a finance degree by signing a multi-year contract with Adidas.

As of 2017, Rock is head coach of the track and field teams at Bethel University.

Professional career

Rock finished 6th in the 400 m at the 2004 Olympic Trials, earning him a spot in the relay pool for the Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. In the 2004 Olympic Games, he ran for the American 4 × 400 m relay team in the qualifying heats, securing the team a place in the final. The relay took first in the final, securing Rock a gold medal. In the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, he competed in 400m and won a silver medal, setting a new personal best of 44.35. Later in the meet, he led off the 4 × 400 m relay team to a World Championship gold medal. Rock followed his 2005 season with a 2006 campaign highlighted by his 400 m win at the AT&T USA Outdoor Championships in Indianapolis.

Personal bests

EventTime (seconds)PlaceDate
200 meters 20.84 Stevens Point, Wisconsin, United StatesMay 5, 2003
400 meters 44.35 Helsinki, FinlandAugust 12, 2005
4x400m relay 2:56.91 – 44.7s (Rock, Brew, Williamson, Wariner) Helsinki, FinlandAugust 14, 2005

Career highlights

[1]

Coaching career

[2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Taylor</span> American track and field athlete

Angelo F. Taylor is an American track and field athlete, winner of 400-meter hurdles at the 2000 and 2008 Summer Olympics. His personal record for the hurdles event is 47.25 seconds. His time puts him in a tie with Félix Sánchez for the #14 performer of all time. Sánchez also won two Olympic gold medals, in 2004 between Taylor's two golds and 2012, immediately following. Taylor also has a 400-meter dash best of 44.05 seconds, ranking him as the #25 performer of all time, superior to any other athlete who has made a serious effort in the 400 metres hurdles. He won the bronze medal in the 400 m at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerron Clement</span> American track and field athlete

Kerron Stephon Clement is a Trinidadian-born American track and field athlete who competes in the 400-meter hurdles and 400-meter sprint. He held the indoor world record in the 400-meter sprint, having broken Michael Johnson's mark in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">4 × 400 metres relay</span> Track and field relay event covering 1600 metres

The 4 × 400 metres relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams consist of four runners who each complete 400 metres or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first leg and the first bend of the second leg are run in lanes. Start lines are thus staggered over a greater distance than in an individual 400 metres race; the runners then typically move to the inside of the track. The slightly longer 4 × 440 yards relay, on an Imperial distance, was a formerly run British Commonwealth and American event, until metrication was completed in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Mathieu</span> Bahamian sprinter

Michael Mathieu is a retired Bahamian sprinter from Freeport, Grand Bahama who specialized in the 200 metres and 400 metres. He was part of the Bahamian silver medal-winning team in the men's 4×400 metres relay at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, running second leg and recording a 44.0 split, and the gold medal-winning team at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was also a part of second place relay team at the 2007 World Championships. He won the bronze medal in the 4x400 metres relay in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeshua Anderson</span> American sprinter and hurdler

Jeshua Anderson is a retired American sprinter, who specializes in the 400 meter hurdles. He is a 3 time NCAA champion in the 400m hurdles and was the second freshman from Washington State University to ever win the NCAA title. In 2008 Anderson was 400 meter hurdles Junior World Champion and holds the second fastest high school time recorded in the 300m hurdles. He was born and raised in Woodland Hills, California and attended Taft High School. After winning the 2011 Outdoor Championships, Anderson had the competed for team USA at the world championships. He also participated in the 2016 Olympic trials in which he finished as a finalist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francena McCorory</span> American sprinter

Francena Lynette McCorory is a retired American track and field athlete, known primarily for running the 400 meters. She was the 2011 World bronze medalist in the 400 meters and was a member of the gold medal-winning 2012 and 2016 United States Olympic 4 x 400 m relay teams. She was the IAAF 400 meter Indoor World Champion in 2014. McCorory retired in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manteo Mitchell</span> American sprinter

Manteo Mitchell is an American sprinter who competes in the 200m, 400m, and 4 × 400 m relay. He was a member of the USA team that won the gold medal in the Men's 4×400 metres relay at the 2012 IAAF World Indoor Championships. He is now seen in a new sport, Bobsled where he is seeking to make history, becoming only the 7th person in history to medal in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. This feat would also make him the 1st African American male to claim this rare honor.

Regina George Grause is an American-born Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. She represented Nigeria at the 2012 Summer Olympics and was the silver medallist at the African Championships in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Spencer (athlete)</span> American sprinter

Ashley Spencer is an American track and field athlete who competes in the 400 metres and the 400 metres hurdles. In the 400m hurdles, she is the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist. In the 400m, she is the 2012 World Junior Champion and the 2016 World Indoor silver medalist. She is coached by 1996 Olympic bronze medalist Tonya Buford-Bailey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Norman (sprinter)</span> American sprinter

Michael Arthur Norman Jr. is an American sprinter. He holds the world best time in the indoor 400 meters at 44.52 seconds. Outdoors, his 43.45, set at the 2019 Mt. SAC Relays is tied as the #4 on the all time list. In 2016, he became the world junior champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100 meter relay. In 2022, he became the world champion in both the 400 meters and 4x400 meter relay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Courtney Okolo</span> American sprinter

Courtney Okolo is an American track and field sprinter who usually competes in the 400 metres. She starred at Carrollton (Texas) Newman Smith High School where she won multiple individual state championships.

Margaret Bamgbose is a Nigerian track and field sprinter who specialises in the 400 metres. She was an 11 All-Time American at University of Notre Dame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lynna Irby</span> American sprinter

Lynna Irby is an American track and field sprinter who competes in the 100m, 200m, and 400m dash events. At the 400m dash, she set an all-time world record at the age of 12 running 54.57 before becoming the fastest American 400m high school runner in the last 20 years. She gained 16 national titles from Jr Olympic and Youth National meets. Irby has won silver medals in the event at both the 2015 World Youth Championships and the 2016 World Junior Championships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kendall Ellis</span> American sprinter

Kendall Ellis is an American sprinter. Ellis won gold in the 4x400 m relay and bronze in the Mixed 4x400 metres at the Tokyo Olympics. She competed in the 400 meters at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, winning gold medals as a part of prelim 4×400 m relays. As a junior, Ellis took gold in the 4×400 m relay and bronze in the 400 meters at the 2015 Pan American Junior Championships.

Dominique Blake is a Jamaican track and field athlete. Blake won a gold medal at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games and was accidentally awarded a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was banned for 4+12 years after testing positive for methylhexanamine and returned to athletic competition in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships</span> International athletics championship event

The 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were the 97th NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 37th NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held for the sixth consecutive year at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon on the campus of the University of Oregon. In total, forty-two different men's and women's track and field events were contested from Wednesday June 6 to Saturday June 9, 2018.

Nathan Strother is an American sprinter. Nathan Strother is a 2019 IAAF World Indoor Tour Winner. Strother is a member of gold medal 4x400 m relays at 2018 Toronto NACAC Championships, 2018 Athletics World Cup, and bronze in 400 m 2018 IAAF Continental Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elija Godwin</span> American sprinter

Elija Godwin is an American athlete who specialises in the 400 metres.

Jacory Patterson is an American track and field athlete specializing in the sprints. A native of Columbia, South Carolina, he won a gold medal at the 2016 USATF Junior Olympics in the long jump before focusing on sprinting events. Patterson attended Dreher High School in Columbia, where he broke the state record in the 200 m and won a state title in the 400 m.

Roisin Willis is an American middle-distance runner. She won the gold medal in the 800 meters at the 2022 World Under-20 Championships, adding second title for the women's 4x400 m relay.

References

  1. "Andrew Rock".
  2. "Andrew Rock - Head Track and Field Coach - Staff Directory". Bethel University Athletics. Retrieved 2022-02-15.

{{Footer World Champions 4 x 400 m Men|2005}} {{Footer US NC 400 m Men}}