Roy Martin (sprinter)

Roy Martin
Personal information
Nationality	American
Born	(1966-12-25) December 25, 1966 Dallas, Texas, United States
Sport
Sport	Running
Event(s)	200 meters
College team	SMU Mustangs
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)	200 meters 20.05 (Indianapolis 1988)

Roy Martin (born December 25, 1966) is a former American sprinter. He is considered one of the greatest high school sprinters in American history and at the height of his career, he competed for the United States in the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games.

As a high school senior in 1985, Martin set the National High School Record for 200 meters with a time of 20.13 seconds. That same year, he also recorded the fastest prep time in the nation for 100 meters at 10.18 seconds and anchored his high school's 4x100 meter and 4x400 meter relay teams to marks (40.28 in the 4 x 100 and 3:09.4 in the 4 x 400) that are among the fastest ever recorded in high school competition. Martin was named Male Prep Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News in 1984 and in 1985 and was ranked #3 in the world at 200 meters as a high school senior. His national record for 200 meters still stands.

Martin was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. As a boy, he developed a mechanical running style that earned him the nickname "Robot" from his classmates at Roosevelt High School in Dallas. Throughout high school, Martin competed against Michael Johnson, another Dallas high school sprinter who later went on to set the world record at 200 and 400 meters and win four Olympic gold medals.

In head-to-head high school competition, Johnson never beat Martin. "He was phenomenal," Johnson recalled of Martin, during an interview in 2008 with the Dallas Morning News. "It was incredible to watch, but at the same time I had to compete against him every week," Johnson said. "You knew first place was gone. You tried to beat out the other guys for second."^[1]

"There has never been one like him in high school. Carl Lewis. Michael Johnson. Nobody,"
— Earnest James, Martin’s coach at Dallas Roosevelt. ^[2]

He was named Track and Field News "High School Athlete of the Year" in 1984 and 1985, the first male athlete to win the award twice.^[3]

As a college freshman, Martin helped Southern Methodist University win the 1986 NCAA track and field championship with a 43.5-second relay carry that propelled the Mustangs to a dramatic victory. His coach at SMU proclaimed Martin "the greatest pure sprinter I’ve ever seen…better than Bob Hayes."

Martin dropped out of S.M.U. after his freshman year and enrolled at Paul Quinn College in Dallas. He later moved to Long Beach, California, to train with Bob Kersee and his wife Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Under Kersee’s tutelage, Martin regained his form and competed for the United States in the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, where he finished sixth in the 200 meter dash.^[4] Martin retired from sprinting shortly after returning home to Dallas from the Olympics.

Martin has worked as a long-haul truck driver and has held positions as a track coach in the Dallas Independent School District and at Paul Quinn College. He founded and manages a non-profit track club for young Dallas-area athletes. In 2013, Martin was inducted into the Texas Track and Field Hall of Fame. He is a cousin of former Dallas Cowboys All Pro defensive end Harvey Martin.

References

External links

Dallas News article with video of Martin talking about 1988 Olympics.
Roy Martin profile at IAAF

Records
Preceded by Dwayne Evans	Men's World Junior Record Holder, 200 metres 11 May 1985 – 11 April 2004	Succeeded by Usain Bolt

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