Frank Thomas

Torrence Notable Sports Figures
Awards and Accomplishments
1986 Gold medal, 55-meter dash, Millrose Games
1987 Gold medals, 55, 100, and 200 meters, NCAA Championships
1987 Gold medals, 100 and 200 meters, World University Games
1991 Silver medals, 100 and 200 meters, World Championships
1992 Gold medals, 200 meters and 4 x 100 meter relay; silver
medal, 4 x 400 meter relay, Olympic Games
1995 Gold medal, 100 and 200 meters, U.S. Outdoor Championships;
gold medal, 100 meters, World Championships
1995 Top Athlete Overall
1996 Gold medal, 4 x 100 meter relay, and bronze medal, 100
meters, Olympic Games
2002 Inducted into Track and Field Hall of Fame
record. In 1987, she won NCAA championships in the
55 meters, 100 meters, and 200 meters, and won gold
medals in the 100 meters and 200 meters at the World
University Games in Zagreb, Yugoslavia.
Competes in Olympics
In 1988, Torrence went to the Olympic Games is
Seoul, Korea. She came in fifth in the 100-meter finals
and sixth in the 200-meter finals. In 1989, Torrence became
pregnant; the pregnancy was difficult, and she was
confined to bed for three months. Because of this enforced
rest, she lost a great deal of her strength and conditioning.
Her son, Manley Waller, Jr., was born late in
1989, and she realized that she had to regain her ability
to run.
In 1990, Torrence did not win races, but she kept
training, and in 1991, she came in second in the 100 meters
and the 200 meters at the world championships. The
first-place winner, German runner Katrin Krabbe tested
positive for an illegal performance-enhancing drug, but
because of a technicality, her medals were not given to
Torrence.
Torrence went to the 1992 Olympics, and came in
fourth in the 100-meter sprint final. According to Great
Women in Sports, Torrence said that she believed some
of the other runners had taken performance-enhancing
drugs. She didn’t accuse anyone by name, but other runners
were offended, and in the press, some writers commented
that Torrence was simply suffering from a case
of “sour grapes” because others had beaten her. Torrence
eventually had to make a public apology. Perhaps fueled
by anger over this incident, Torrence then won the gold
medal in the 200 meters, won another gold in the 4 x
100 relay, and won silver in the 4 x 400 relay.
In 1995, Torrence injured her right hamstring and
knee, but continued to train, and won gold medals in the
100 meter and 200 meter at the U.S. outdoor championships.
She also won gold in the 100 meters at the
world championships. Although she also came in first in
the 200 meters, she was disqualified because she
stepped on a lane marker.
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Where Is She Now?
Torrence quit competing after the 1997 season. She now lives in
Lithonia, Georgia, where she is finally living her long-held dream of working
as a hair stylist and raising her two children, Manley Jr. and E’mon.
Fastest Woman in the World
By 1996, Torrence was considered the fastest woman
in the world, but she was resistant to the fame that came
along with the title. She told Reilly, “I don’t want to be
the person society wants me to be. I don’t want to be a
celebrity, I know that. I don’t want to be a star, walking
on eggshells, afraid to do this, afraid to do that, with people
who don’t even know me automatically making me a
role model for their kids. I don’t want the pressure of
being a perfect person.” In truth, Torrence would rather
have spent her time shopping, eating fast food at the
mall, watching daytime television, and raising her son.
Over the course of her career, Torrence had become
known for her outspokenness; she was not a peoplepleaser,
and admitted to Karen Springer in Newsweek
that she was often “frosty” to other athletes, fans, or
even her husband. Although she occasionally wished she
had the same gracious personality as famed track athlete
Jackie Joyner-Kersee, “I don’t,” she told Springer. And
her husband, Manley Waller, added, “She don’t put on
no phony act.”
Torrence looked forward to the 1996 Olympics, held
in her hometown of Atlanta. According to Great Women
in Sports, she told a Track and Field reporter that the
Games being held in Atlanta was “a gift from God. He
didn’t like what happened to me in ‘92, so he’s trying to
make up for that by bringing the Games here.” At the
1996 Olympics, Torrence won a gold medal as a member
of the 4 x 100 meter relay, and won a bronze medal
in the 100 meters. In 2002, Torrence was inducted into
the Track and Field Hall of Fame.
“Track is OK, But It’s Not My Life”
Torrence told Springer that after the Games she was
looking forward to simply raising her son, eating fast food,
and relaxing. She had never been fully committed to her
track career, and ran simply because she had the talent and
the ability to do so; she was never as driven or as consumed
by her sport as some other athletes. She told
Springer, “Track is OK, but it’s not my life. Many days I
think, ‘What am I doing, a 30-year-old woman out here?’”
FURTHER INFORMATION
Books
“Gwen Torrence,” Great Women in Sports, Visible Ink
Press, 1996.