(This is the 22ndin a series of features on Baylor Athletics' 25 for 25, which honors Baylor's top 25 athletes in the 25-year history of the Big 12 Conference (1996-21). Selected by a panel of Baylor experts, the final list was picked from a pool of over 100 candidates that came from all 19 intercollegiate sports that the school offers. Through April 1, two honorees per week will be released and will also be featured during game broadcasts on the Baylor Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.)
By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
Records, they say, are made to be broken.
But, Jeremy Wariner did something that may not ever happen again.
As a 20-year-old sophomore at Baylor, he swept the NCAA indoor and outdoor 400-meter titles and went on to capture the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece, with a school-record time of 44.00 that still stands 17 years later. No one has swept those three titles in the same year before or since.
"When I got to the Olympics, it was just more about the experience and enjoying myself and not worrying about all the competitors," said Wariner, who was inducted into the Baylor Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014. "Everyone was predicting that either Derrick Brew or (Alleyne) Francique from Grenada was going to win. They didn't give me the time of day because I was so young."
Instead, Wariner led a medal sweep by the Americans, with Otis Harris finishing second and Brew winning the bronze medal. His time broke the school record set by Michael Johnson (44.21), who won the 400 at the previous two Olympics in 1996 and 2000, giving Baylor three-straight gold medals in its signature event.
"He ran a perfect race – that's what we've been working for all year, and he's earned it," legendary Baylor coach Clyde Hart said after the race. "To have a (Baylor runner) win three Olympics in a row, I'm not sure if that's ever been done before."
Bouncing back from an injury-plagued freshman season at Baylor, Wariner was a wire-to-wire winner at the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships with a world-leading time of 45.39. Three months later, he won the NCAA outdoor title in 44.5 and helped Baylor's 4x400 relay finish an undefeated season with a world-leading time of 3:01.03 that turned out to be his final collegiate race.
At the Olympics, he used his signature kick down the stretch to win with a 44.00 time that was ranked as the eighth-fastest all-time.
"I was confident in myself, so I just had to run my race instead of trying to change things up," Wariner said. "I knew it was going to be close, but I just stayed calm and stayed relaxed. If I would have tightened up one bit, I would have gotten second or third. It's really just the way we train at practice. We train for races like that. Every meet leading up to that race, running neck-and-neck with (Baylor teammate Darold Williamson), I was running in those types of situations."
Capping off an incredible year, Wariner and Williamson teamed together again as the last two legs on the USA 4x400 relay that beat runner-up Australia by nearly five seconds with a winning time of 2:55.91.
Turning down the chance to anchor, Wariner said, "Me and him were perfect for the year, and I didn't want to ruin that."
"Just knowing that I was handing it off to my college teammate, I knew when I gave him the stick that wherever we were, we were going to win, no matter what," he said. "I knew what kind of runner he was."
Turning pro after the 2004 Olympics, Wariner won five World Championship gold medals (twice in the 400 meters and three times in the 4x400 relay). At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, he was the runner-up in the 400 and won another gold medal in the relay.
Wariner was also part of the 4x400 relay pool at the 2012 Olympics in London, but had to pull out because of a torn hamstring.
Retiring from competitive running four years ago, Wariner and his wife, Sarah, live in McKinney, Texas, and have three children, Isabella, Lincoln and Elijah. He opened up a Jimmy John's franchise and is now the head track coach at Parish Episcopal School in Dallas.
Previous:
Tiffany Townsend, Women's T&F (2008-11)
Odyssey Sims, Women's Basketball (2010-14)
Kelly Shoppach, Baseball (1999-2001)
Daniel Sepulveda, Football (2002-06)
Brette Reagan, Softball (2006-09)
Yossiana Pressley, Volleyball (2017-21)
Kiara Nowlin, Acrobatics & Tumbling (2013-17)
Johnathan Motley, Men's Basketball (2013-17)
Shea Langeliers, Baseball (2017-19)
Bayano Kamani, Men's T&F (1998-2001)
Jason Jennings, Baseball (1997-99)
Brittney Griner, Women's Basketball (2009-13)
Robert Griffin III, Football (2008-11)
Dawn Greathouse Siergij, Soccer (1997-2000)
Benedikt Dorsch, Men's Tennis (2002-05)
Corey Coleman, Football (2013-15)
Whitney Canion Reichenstein, Softball (2009-14)
Trayvon Bromell, Men's T&F (2014-15)
Stacey Bowers-Smith, Women's T&F (1996-99)
Andrew Billings, Football (2013-15)
Benjamin Becker, Men's Tennis (2001-05)
