Alvin Harrison

Personal information
Full name	Alvin Leonardo Harrison[1]
Born	January 20, 1974 (1974-01-20) (age 51) Orlando, Florida, U.S.
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)[1]
Weight	176 lb (80 kg)[1]
Achievements and titles
Personalbest	400 m: 44.09 (Atlanta 1996)[2]
Medal record Men'sathletics Representingthe United States Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta 4 × 400 m relay 2000 Sydney 400 m Disqualified 2000 Sydney 4 × 400 m relay [a]

Alvin Leonardo Harrison (born January 20, 1974) is an American formertrack and field athlete who competed insprinting events. He won a gold medal in the4 × 400 metres relay at both the1996 and2000 Summer Olympics and a silver medal in the400 metres at the 2000 Summer Olympics.

Born inOrlando, Florida, Harrison is the twin brother of fellow Olympic medalistCalvin Harrison. A year before their first attempt to make the Olympic team, the twins were living in theirFord Mustang. While Calvin was the star in high school, setting the National High School Record in the 400 meters, it was Alvin who earned the first Olympic spot in 1996 at the 1996 Olympic Trials. While he made the finals in the individual400 meters, he drew lane one and finished fourth behindMichael Johnson's gold medal performance. But Johnson injured himself setting the world record in the200 meters. Without their gold medalist and also withoutworld record holderButch Reynolds, the American team looked vulnerable in the4 × 400 meters relay. The British team looked to take advantage by going out hard in the lead, however as the second leg of the team, Alvin over tookJamie Baulch on the home stretch to put USA into the lead, a lead they ultimately would not relinquish, giving Alvin a gold medal.

At the 2000 Summer Olympics, Alvin Harrison and Calvin Harrison made history by becoming the first twins ever to compete and win Olympic gold medals together on the same relay team since the inception of the modernOlympic Games. In the 4 × 400 m relay, Alvin ran the first leg and Calvin ran the third leg. Harrison also authored the bookGo to Your Destiny, which debuted onThe Oprah Winfrey Show in 2001. Alvin Harrison was featured in theUnited Way of America public service announcement "Performance" commercial.

Alvin Harrison did not compete in the2004 Olympics due to circumstantial evidence of using a banned substance. In October 2004, he agreed to a four-year suspension with theU.S. Anti-Doping Agency.^[3] In 2008, the 2000 Sydney Olympics 4 × 400 metres relay US team was stripped of their medals after team memberAntonio Pettigrew admitted that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.^[4]

After his suspension expired in late 2008, Harrison enjoyed a late career renaissance via atransfer of allegiance to theDominican Republic in 2008. He made the move following discussion with his wife and his track colleagueFélix Sánchez, both of whom are Dominican.^[5] He competed for his new country at the2009 World Championships in Athletics, running in the heats of the400 m race. He made his second world appearance soon after and helped the Dominican4 × 400-meter relay team to fourth place at the2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships.^[6] TheAthletics Federation of the Dominican Republic chose Harrison as inaugural head of itshigh performance Olympic development program, whose first success wasLuguelín Santos, silver medalist in the2012 Olympic 400 metres at age 18. Harrison's role was recognised with anhonorary master's degree inexercise science. He has also worked in high-performance programs in theNFL andNBA.

Harrison has one son and three daughters.

As of 7 September 2024, Harrison holds the following track records for 400 metres.

• List of doping cases in athletics

• Alvin Harrison atWorld Athletics

• USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners
• 1974 births
• Living people
• Track and field athletes from Monterey County, California
• Sportspeople from Salinas, California
• American men sprinters
• Dominican Republic men sprinters
• African-American track and field athletes
• Olympic gold medalists for the United States in track and field
• Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• World Athletics Championships athletes for the Dominican Republic
• World record holders in masters athletics
• Identical twins
• American twins
• Competitors stripped of Summer Olympics medals
• Doping cases in the sport of athletics
• Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics
• Medalists at the 1996 Summer Olympics
• American sportspeople in doping cases
• Athletes (track and field) at the 1999 Pan American Games
• Medalists at the 1999 Pan American Games
• Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in athletics (track and field)
• 21st-century American sportsmen
• 21st-century African-American sportsmen
• 20th-century American sportsmen
• 20th-century African-American sportsmen
• 20th-century Dominican Republic sportsmen

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