Cheeseborough broke onto the international track scene at age 16 by winning two gold medals at the 1975
Pan American Games, taking the 200 m in an American record time of 22.77 seconds. In 1976, she set the World junior record at 11.13 seconds by placing second at the U.S. Olympic trials, she then placed sixth in that event at the
Montreal Olympic Games. Cheeseborough graduated from
Jean Ribault High School in
Jacksonville, Florida in 1977, where she set the still standing
NFHS national high school records in both the 100 yard (10.3) and 220 yard (23.3) dashes. The federation converted record-keeping to metric distances shortly afterward. Next she attended
Tennessee State, where she was a member of national championship teams that set world indoor records of 1:08.9 minutes in the 640-yard relay and 1:47.17 in the 800-yard sprint medley relay. She qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the
1980 Summer Olympics boycott. She did however receive one of 461
Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes. She won the national indoor 200-yard dash in 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1983. Cheeseborough's breakthrough year in the 400 m came in 1984, when she set two American records in the event, then placed second in the Los Angeles Olympics in a career best of 49.05. The 49.05 still ranks her as the #10 performer of all time. She made history at the 1984 Games when she became the first woman to win gold medals in both relays, which were held less than an hour apart. Cheeseborough also became only the second athlete, after
Paavo Nurmi 60 years earlier, to win two separate Olympic running events in a single day. ==Coach==