BRONZE QUEENS: Members of the Jamaica women's 4X400 metres relay bronze medallists (from left) Nadia Davy, Novlene Williams, Sandi Richards and Michelle Burgher after their medal winning run at the Athens Olympics yesterday. (Photo: Bryan Cummings)

Sandie Richards, Michelle Burgher, Nadia Davy, Novlene Williams and Ronetta Smith (the latter ran in the qualifying heat) gave Jamaica its fifth medal - a bronze- in the women's 4x400m relay at the Olympic Stadium in Athens yesterday. Following are profiles of the five athletes.

Sandie Richards

Born in Clarendon, the 35 year-old five-time Olympian, Sandie Richards has represented Jamaica with distinction.
Yesterday's bronze medal relay run was almost certainly her last for Jamaica at this level.
A bronze medallist at the first staging of the World Junior Championships in Athens, Greece in 1986, Richards has always put her country first.

Schooled at Clarendon College and later at the University of Texas, Richards has never failed to carry the baton for her country at the senior level.
In 1995, Richards was eighth at the World Championships and the following year placed seventh at the 1996 Olympic Games.
The year 1997 marked her best performance in the 400 metres as she won the silver not only at the World Indoor Championships, but also at the World Outdoor Championships in Athens in a personal best 49.79 seconds.

In 1998, Richards triumphed as Commonwealth Games champion, taking the bronze at the World Cup of Athletics in 1998 and helped the Americas to a silver medal in the 4x400m relay.
In 2000, she ran the lead-off leg in the 4x400m relay and with Catherine Scott-Pomales, Deon Hemmings and Lorraine Fenton, handed Jamaica the Olympic silver medal.

One of the relay highlights of Richards' career came in 2001 at the World Championships in Edmonton when Richards herself, Scott, Debbie-Ann Parris, and Fenton struck gold in the 4x400m relay.

She got another relay gold at the World Cup of Athletics in 2002 as part of the Americas.
In 2002, Richards was a bronze medallist at the Commonwealth Games and a year later gave her country a bronze in the relay at the World Championships in Paris.

Michelle Burgher

The 27 year-old was born in Kingston and schooled at St Jago High.
In 1996, she was the Carifta Games Under-20 400m silver medallist and was with the 4x400m relay team that qualified and was then disqualified at the World Junior Championships.
She went on to George Mason University and Clemson University in the United States.
In 2001, Burgher was the Central America and Caribbean Championships gold medallist and two years later got the silver at the same championships.
She placed eighth in the 400m at the Pan American Games last year.
Earlier this season, she ran her personal best 51.88 seconds.

Nadia Davy

Davy moved with her family, including two brothers and two sisters, from Jamaica to the United States in 1997.
Majoring in pre-education at the Lousiana State University (LSU), Davy ran a personal best 50.76 seconds to win the 400m at the National Championships.
She seemed unprepared for the Athens Olympic Games, crashing out in the first round of the 400 metres after placing fourth in the first round in a time of 52.04 seconds.
However she has been doing well in college, the 23 year old anchored the LSU to a national title in the 4x400m relay during the outdoor college season in the United States.

Novlene Williams

The 22 year-old was born in St Ann, and ran a personal best 50.59 seconds to qualify for the semi-final of the 400 metres.
She went to Essex County College before settling down at the University of Florida.
Williams won the 400 metres at the NCAA I Regional East Championships this season.
Last year she was sixth at the Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Ronetta Smith

The 24 year-old who ran the qualifying heat of the mile relay in Athens, has a personal best 51.35 seconds, but ran 52.07 seconds for sixth at the National Championships in June.
Now at LSU, she went to Camperdown High in Jamaica and Essex County College in the United States.
Smith participated in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the World Indoor Championships and World Outdoor Championships in 2003, and the World Indoor Championships earlier this year.

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