Cheryl Toussaint

Cheryl Touissant of NYU and the Atoms Track Club, lost her place as the U.S. “No. 1” in 1972. She finished second to Carol Hudson in the AAU and lost at the Final Trials to Madeline Manning. At the Olympics she was eliminated in the heats of the 800 m, but her fifth place in the 400 m at the Final Trials earned her a spot on the relay team where her 51.3 third leg made a significant contribution to the new U.S. record of 3:22.8. She won the AAU indoor 880 y in 1972 and 1973. At the 1971 Pan American Games she won gold with the 4×400 metres relay (with Esther Story and the non-Olympians Gwen Norman and Mavis Laing).

Toussaint later attended New York University on an academic scholarship, where she majored in mathematics. After college she first worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as a compensation analyst. She later managed employee services at Merrill Lynch, and started her own apparel company, Tousse Running Apparel. Eventually she took over from her mentor, Fred Thompson, coach of the Atoms TC, as head of the Colgate Women’s Games.

Personal Bests: 200 – 24.4 (1976); 400 – 52.3 (1977); 800 – 2:03.0 (1975).