One of the world's top women sprinters in the late 1960s, Barbara Ferrell had her first major breakthrough in 1967 when she tied the world record of 11.1 for the 100m dash in winning the 1967 AAU national championship, won the gold medal in the 100m at the Pan American Games and was ranked number one in the U.S. in both the 100 and 200. In 1968, she tied her 100m world record in the semi-finals at the Olympic Games, then finished second in the final to Hall of Famer Wyomia Tyus. She also finished fourth in the 200 meters and was a member of the gold-medal winning 4x100m relay. Running for California State University and the Los Angeles Mercurettes, she was again ranked first in the U.S. at both 100 and 200 meters during 1969. That year, she won the national outdoor 100 and 220-yard dash at the outdoor national championships as well as the 60-yard dash and the rarely run 240-yard dash at the indoor championships. In 1972, she won the 100 meters at the Olympic trials but later was injured and failed to medal in the 100m or 200m dashes. She was an elementary school teacher in Los Angeles from 1968 to 1976 while pursuing a coaching career. She was head coach of the women's track and field team at the University of Southern California from 1992 to 1999 and in 2003 she became head coach of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas' track and cross country teams.
World Record: 100 m - 11.10 (July 2, 1967 - )
1968 Olympics: 100 m (2nd) 1968 Olympics: 200 m (4th) 1968 Olympics: 400 m relay (1st) 1972 Olympics: 100 m (7th) 1972 Olympics: 200 m (7th) 1967 AAU: 100 m - 11.10 (1st) 1969 AAU: 60 yd. (1st) 1969 AAU: 100 m (1st) 1969 AAU: 220 yd. (1st) 1969 AAU: 240 yd. (1st) 1967 Pan-Am Games: 100 m (1st)
Teacher Coach