Savatheda Fynes

Savatheda Fynes
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Bahamas
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2000 Sydney 4x100 m relay
Silver medal – second place 1996 Atlanta 4x100 m relay
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1999 Seville 4x100 m relay
Bronze medal – third place 1997 Athens 100 m
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2002 Manchester 4x100 m relay
Bronze medal – third place 2002 Manchester 100 m
CAC Junior Championships (U20)
Gold medal – first place 1992 Tegucigalpa 200 m
Silver medal – second place 1992 Tegucigalpa 100 m
CAC Junior Championships (U17)
Gold medal – first place 1990 Havana 4x400 m relay
Silver medal – second place 1990 Havana 100 m
Silver medal – second place 1990 Havana 200 m
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Havana 4x100 m relay
CARIFTA Games
Junior (U20)
Gold medal – first place 1992 Nassau 200m
Silver medal – second place 1991 Port of Spain 100m
Silver medal – second place 1992 Nassau 100m
Silver medal – second place 1992 Nassau 4x100m relay
Silver medal – second place 1992 Nassau 4x400m relay
Silver medal – second place 1993 Fort-de-France 100m
Silver medal – second place 1993 Fort-de-France 4x100m relay
Silver medal – second place 1993 Fort-de-France 4x400m relay
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Fort-de-France 200m
CARIFTA Games
Youth (U17)
Bronze medal – third place 1990 Kingston 100m

Savatheda Fynes Coke (born October 17, 1974) is a track and field sprint athlete, competing internationally for Bahamas. She is an Olympic gold medalist in the 4 x 100 meter relay race. Some sources spell her first name "Sevatheda".

Career

She graduated Physiology and Exercise Science at Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA. She missed the 2001 World Championships due to injury. She had a minor car accident prior to the 2000 Olympic trials, which limited her training. At the World Championships in 1999 she was eliminated in semifinals due to an injured hip flexor. In 1996 a hamstring injury kept her out of the 100m at the Atlanta Games.

She was a member of the Bahamas 4x100m relay team that won gold at the 1999 World Championships. After that performance the team of Fynes, Pauline Davis-Thompson, Debbie Ferguson, Chandra Sturrup and Eldece Clark-Lewis were dubbed the Golden Girls. When they won the relay again at the Sydney Olympics they showed the world why they had earned that name. The girls returned home from Sydney to a six-day fanfare of festivities in their honor, from receptions and parades to monetary awards and land grants. Central Bank has even been commissioned to mint a commemorative gold coin to honour their victory.

She earned an athletic scholarship to Southern University at New Orleans, but later transferred to Eastern Michigan University and then to Michigan State University.

She was forced to sit out the 1996 season because she was a transfer. She attended an indoor meet that year and stayed in a hotel room paid for by Michigan State. That being a violation, she lost her final season of eligibility in 1998, and her coach lost her job.

Coaching career

In 2010, Fynes Coke worked as an assistant coach for the NJIT Highlanders track and field team.[1]

Personal bests

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing the  Bahamas
1990 CARIFTA Games (U-17) Kingston, Jamaica 3rd 100 m 12.20   (1.9 m/s)
Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-17) Havana, Cuba 2nd 100 m 12.13   (0.2 m/s)
2nd 200 m 24.68   (0.2 m/s)
3rd 4x100 m relay 47.66
1st 4x400 m relay 3:47.22
1991 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 2nd 100 m 11.64   (1.7 m/s)
1992 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Nassau, Bahamas 2nd 100 m 11.52 w   (4.7 m/s)
1st 200 m 23.49 w   (3.1 m/s)
2nd 4x100 m relay 45.61
2nd 4x400 m relay 3:42.37
Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U-20) Tegucigalpa, Honduras 2nd 100 m 12.1   (0.0 m/s)
1st 200 m 24.1   (-0.1 m/s)
1993 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Fort-de-France, Martinique 2nd 100 m 11.52   (0.3 m/s)
3rd 200 m 23.81   (-1.2 m/s)
2nd 4x100 m relay 45.53
2nd 4x400 m relay 3:39.32
Central American and Caribbean Championships Cali, Colombia 2nd 4 × 100 m relay 44.28
1995 World Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 6th (qf) 100 m 11.36   (0.8 m/s)
5th (h) 200 m 23.01   (-0.5 m/s)
4th 4 x 100 m relay 43.14
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, United States 6th (qf) 200 m 23.26   (0.3 m/s)
2nd 4 x 100 m relay 42.14
1997 World Championships Athens, Greece 3rd 100 m 11.03   (0.4 m/s)
6th 4 x 100 m relay 42.77
1999 World Championships Seville, Spain 6th (sf) 100 m 11.15   (-0.1 m/s)
1st 4 x 100 m relay 41.92 WL
2000 Olympic Games Sydney, Australia 7th 100 m 11.22   (-0.4 m/s)
1st 4 x 100 m relay 41.95 SB
2003 World Championships Paris, France 6th (qf) 100 m 11.36   (0.0 m/s)
3rd (h) 4 x 100 m relay 43.64
2006 Central American and Caribbean Games Cartagena, Colombia 14th (h) 100 m 11.75   (+2.3 m/s)

References

  1. ^ "Savatheda Fynes Coke - Men's Track & Field Coach". New Jersey Institute of Technology Athletics. Retrieved 28 July 2024.