- Connie Price-Smith
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Coach Connie Price-Smith of Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
Connie Price-Smith (born 3 June 1962 in St. Charles, Illinois) is an American shot putter and discus thrower. She graduated from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale in 1985.[1]
Contents
Early career
Price-Smith is a four-time Olympian, and is one of the most decorated women's track and field athletes in SIU history,[1] despite the fact she did not participate in the sport during her college career until she was a senior. She was also on the school's women's basketball team before she became a member of the Saluki Track & Field team. She is currently ranked fifth all-time in the outdoor shot put (49' 11.5") and third all-time in the discus (165 1"). Furthermore, she won MVC indoor and outdoor championship titles, garnered all-conference honors in the shot and was named her team's most valuable player in 1985.[1] Price-Smith became the first U.S. female athlete in 32 years to win both the shot put and discus at an Olympic Trials (1992). In the shot put alone, she finished first on four consecutive occasions at Olympic Trial Championship competitions between 1988 and 2000.[1] Even though she did not medal at the Olympics, Price-Smith had the highest finish of a U.S. female shot putter since 1960 [1] and narrowly missed the bronze medal by just four inches at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In addition, she is also the first U.S. female to have a top ten world-ranking in the shot put for five consecutive years (1995–1999). Price-Smith was also the first U.S. female to win a medal in that event at a World Championship competition (1995).[1] Price-Smith has been on 34 international squads, and has been a member of four teams at the Pan-American Games, where she won a bronze medal in the discus in 1987; a silver in the shot put in 1991, and a gold in the shot put in both 1995 and 1999; she was a silver medalist at the World Indoor Championship, in Barcelona, Spain; a silver medalist at the Goodwill Games in 1998; and a bronze medalist at the World Cup in 1998.[1] She is was also a member of two World University Games teams, Price-Smith placed fifth in the discus in 1987. In addition, she was on three Goodwill Games teams, participated in seven IAAF Grand Prix Finals and is a 25-time national champion in the shot put and discus. Price-Smith ends her athletic career with personal best in the shot put of 64' 3" (19.58m) and 212' 8" (64.82m) in the discus.[1]
Later career
She has currently been the head coach of Saluki Track and Field team for seven years, and the program has greatly improved since she has coached at the university.[1] She has also served as the Assistant Coach for the USA National Team at the; IAAF World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica 2004; IAAF World Indoor Championship in Budapest, Hungary 2005; IAAF World Cup Team in Athens, Greece 2006. In 2007, Price-Smith was named head coach for the Pan American Games Team in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has been named to the 2008 Olympic track & field team coaching staff in Beijing, China as an assistant coach for the women's throws. A native of St. Charles, Missouri, Price-Smith was inducted into the SIU Sports Hall-of-Fame in 1990, received the school's Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001, and was honored as the Administrative/Professional Woman of Distinction in 2007.[1]
Achievements
Year Competition Venue Position Notes Representing the 
United States1987 Pan American Games Indianapolis, United States 3rd Discus World Championships Rome, Italy — Discus 1988 Olympic Games Seoul, South Korea 16th Discus 18th Shot put 1989 World Indoor Championships Budapest, Hungary 10th Shot put World Cup Barcelona, Spain 7th Discus 1991 World Indoor Championships Seville, Spain 7th Shot put World Championships Tokyo, Japan 11th Shot put Pan American Games Havana, Cuba 2nd Shot put 1992 World Cup Havana, Cuba 4th Shot put 7th Discus 1993 World Indoor Championships Toronto, Canada 9th Shot put 1994 World Cup London, England 8th Discus 1995 World Indoor Championships Barcelona, Spain 2nd Shot put World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 9th Shot put Pan American Games Mar del Plata, Argentina 1st Shot put 1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 5th Shot put 1997 World Indoor Championships Paris, France 6th Shot put World Championships Athens, Greece 5th Shot put 1998 World Cup Johannesburg, South Africa 3rd Shot put Goodwill Games Uniondale, United States 2nd Shot put 1999 World Indoor Championships Maebashi, Japan 4th Shot put World Championships Seville, Spain 11th Shot put Pan American Games Winnipeg, Canada 1st Shot put 2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 16th Shot put 2001 World Indoor Championships Lisbon, Portugal 10th Shot put References
External links
- IAAF profile for Connie Price-Smith
Pan American Champions in Women's Shot Put 1951: Ingeborg Mello (ARG) • 1955: not held • 1959: Earlene Brown (USA) • 1963 – 1967: Nancy McCredie (CAN) • 1971: Lynn Graham (USA) • 1975 – 1983: María Elena Sarría (CUB) • 1987: Ramona Pagel (USA) • 1991: Belsy Laza (CUB) • 1995 – 1999: Connie Price-Smith (USA) • 2003: Yumileidi Cumbá (CUB) • 2007 – 2011: Misleydis González (CUB)
Categories:- 1962 births
- Living people
- American shot putters
- American discus throwers
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1991 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
- Olympic track and field athletes of the United States
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1995 Pan American Games
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games
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