Tonja Buford-Bailey

Tonja Buford-Bailey (born December 13 1970 in Dayton, Ohio) is a former American athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metre Hurdles. She competed as Tonja Buford until marrying Victor Bailey on October 28, 1995.

She competed for the United States in the 1995 World Championships held in Gotenberg, Sweden in the 400 metre hurldes where she won the silver medal behind compatriot Kim Batten U.S., Buford nearly caught Batten on the line as both athletics broke the World Record. Batten (52.61) and Buford (52.62), the previous record, 52.74 was set by Britain's Sally Gunnell at the previous World Championships in 1993. Buford's time is still the third quickest of all time.

The following year she competed for the United States in the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta, U.S. in the 400 metre hurdles again where she won the bronze medal.

In 1998 she gave birth to a son Victor Bailey, Jnr on September 28.

She just missed out on a bronze medal at 2001 World Championships and was a surprise winner at the Grand Prix Final

Buford-Bailey currently is an assistant coach at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She coaches the sprints and hurdles.