Anna Cockrell

Cockrell was born on August 28, 1997, in San Ramon, California to Serena and Kieth Cockrell as the youngest of three children. The family later moved to Charlotte from Detroit, where all three Cockrell children attended Charlotte Latin School. She comes from a family of athletes: her father played football at Columbia University, her older brother, Ross, is a cornerback who won a Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and her older sister, Ciera, played volleyball at Davidson College. == High school ==

Cockrell attended Charlotte Latin School in elementary school, and later transferred to Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina, graduating in 2016. She competed within the school's high school track and field program led by coach Carol Lawrence. She also won the gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay event. == Career ==

2017–2021: USC Trojans In June 2019, Cockrell became the NCAA champion at the year's NCAA championships for the women's 400-meter hurdle event with a time of 55.23 after being a runner-up in each of the two years prior. In August 2019, she won the silver medal in the women's 400 metres hurdles event and the gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay event at the 2019 Pan American Games held in Lima, Peru. before helping to lead her school to a third consecutive conference team title at the 2021 Pac-12 championships by winning the women's 100-meter and 400-meter hurdles events. The following month, after the cancellation of the prior year's competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cockrell became the 2021 NCAA champion for the women's 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles events to help drive her school to win the team title at the 2021 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She ran the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 12.58 and the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.68 and became the second woman in history to win both events in the same season at the NCAA championships. Her achievements led her to receive the 2021 Honda Sports Award for track and field and the Pac-12's Tom Hansen Conference Medal for the year. At the Olympics, Cockrell qualified for the semifinals after coming in third in her heat race with a time of 55.37. She later finished in second place with a time of 54.17 in the semifinals, landing her a spot in the final. 2024 Summer Olympics At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, Cockrell won a silver medal in the women’s 400-metre hurdles. She came second to Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, with a personal best time of 51.87sec. Circuit performances == Personal life ==

Cockrell has been an outspoken advocate for the mental health of student-athletes after suffering a hamstring injury on the first day of the 2019 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships in which she blamed herself for her school's loss in the team competition. After exhibiting severe symptoms of depression and suicidal tendencies, she eventually sought assistance from her friends, her head coach, and a sports psychologist, all of whom she thanked in her student-athlete graduation speech at USC that later went viral. == References ==