Marlon Shirley
San Diego, CA
Track and Field
100 meter, long jump, high jump

As a high school senior in the 1997 Idaho Simplot Track and Field Games, he beat the then Paralympic world record in the high jump event by two full inches, clearing 6’3”. The next year, he took the gold in high jump, long jump and javelin at the DS/USA National Summer Games in Fairfax, Virginia. He also won a silver there for the 100m event. At the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney, he turned that silver into gold. Marlon set a new men's amputee world record in the 100m T44 class sprint at the Utah Summer Games held in Cedar City, Utah, in June 2003. A member of Team Ossur, Marlon is now the world's fastest amputee. With a time of 10.97 seconds, Marlon Shirley is the first amputee to break the 11-second barrier in the 100m event. When placed in context against the records of able-bodied athletes, his achievement is all the more astounding. The women's world record, set by Florence Griffith-Joyner, is 10.49 seconds, while the current men's world record holder, Tim Montgomery, completed the 100m in 9.78 seconds.