OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS

Monique Hennagan won medals at the Sydney and Athens Olympics held in 2000 and 2004, respectively, for the women’s 4×400-meter relay. She won her first relay medal at the 1999 World Indoor Championships and her second in 2003. She graduated from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill with a double major in Psychology and African American Studies. As a collegiate athlete, Hennagan became a gold medalist at the 1994 World Juniors in the 4×400-meter relay and silver medalist in the 400 meters. At UNC, she was an All-American in both the 400-meter and 4×400-meter relay. Additionally, she’s a two-time 1996 National Collegiate Athletic Association Track and Field Champion both in the 400-meter indoor and the 800-meter outdoor races.

Hennagan is also an eight-time Atlantic Coast Conference individual champion and won the 400 meters four consecutive years. She earned second place in the International Association of Athletics Federations World Athletics Finals 400-meter race. She received a gold medal for the women’s 4×400-meter relay at the 2007 World Championship in Athletics.

Hennagan has been ranked “Top 8 in the World” three times, including third place, her personal best. In 2014, she was inducted into her hometown’s South Carolina Athletic Hall of Fame.

Shannon Johnson was a member of the USA Women’s Basketball Olympic gold medal team at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In 1995, as a member of USA Basketball, Johnson competed for the Jones Cup Team that won bronze in Taipei. Subsequently, she helped the U.S. 1996 Jones Cup Team to a 9-0 record and the gold medal at the event.

Johnson also represented the U.S. at the 1997 World University Games in Marsala, Italy, during which the team won all six games and earned a gold medal. In the 2002 World Championships, Johnson came off the bench to score 20 points, helping the U.S. team win against Spain. After beating Australia in the semifinals, the USA team went on to win the gold medal.

Johnson was an All-American and four-time All-Southeastern Conference selection at the University of South Carolina. During her 10-year Women’s National Basketball Association career, she played for teams such as the Seattle Storm, Houston Comets, and Orlando Miracle. She also played on international teams for countries such as Spain, Turkey, and Poland.

Michael Tinsley won a silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics in the 400-meter hurdles. He first achieved a personal best in the 400-meter hurdles in 2007 with a time of 48.02 seconds. He placed third at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with a time of 48.46 seconds.

In 2012, he won the 400-meter hurdles event at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a time of 48.33 seconds, earning a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. Tinsley went on to win his first heat in 49.13 seconds and then his semifinal in a season-best time of 48.13 seconds. On August 6, 2012, Tinsley won his silver Olympic medal with a new personal best time of 47.91 seconds.

Tinsley won another silver medal in 2013 at the World Championships in Moscow. He also finished third in the 400-meter hurdles final at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials, earning him a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team that competed in Rio. As the first national champion in his alma mater’s Jackson State University history, the Little Rock, Arkansas, native ran into the international rankings for the first time in 2006 as 10 in the world.