One of a select group of athletes to have represented two nations in the Olympic Games, Sandra Farmer-Patrick excelled for her native Jamaica before making the decision to switch to the United States after marrying American hurdler David Patrick in January 1988.
Farmer set an American Junior record of 58.90 in the 400m hurdles at age 14, which ranked her number five amongst all Americans. Olympic Games finalist in the 400m hurdles for Jamaica at Los Angeles in '84, Farmer-Patrick added a fourth-place finish at the World Championships in Rome in 1987, just missing a medal. Already having competed at the U.S. Championships seven times by that point, Farmer-Patrick's decision was not difficult. She told Track & Field News, "I live, think, eat and drink American. I feel like an American, so it makes more sense for me to try and represent the U.S."
She roared in 1989 to win the U.S. title as well as the Grand Prix final and the World Cup, and she and husband David became the first husband/wife combo to win national titles in 25 years. Farmer-Patrick set the first two of her three American records that summer, 53.75 to win the TAC crown in Houston, and then 53.37 at New York City in late July, she was unbeaten in the 400m hurdles and was the fastest woman in the world at the event.
Fourth at the '91 World Championships in Tokyo, Farmer-Patrick won another Grand Prix crown and set the stage for the next two seasons. She won the '92 Trials in New Orleans by more than a second in 53.62 before racing to silver in Barcelona in 53.69.
Cruising to an easy win at the USATF Championships in Eugene in '93, Farmer-Patrick headed to Stuttgart for the World Championships hoping to avenge her Olympic loss to Britain's Sally Gunnell. Speeding through the race at the fastest pace of her life, Farmer-Patrick smashed the American record with a 52.79, inside the world record and the first American to run under 53 seconds, but Gunnell's late-race charge pushed her across the line first in a world-record 52.74.
Taking a break in 1994 to give birth to a daughter, Sierra, Farmer-Patrick returned to the track and qualified for one more Olympic Games, making the semifinal in Atlanta in '96. In 1997, she returned to school to complete her master’s degree and gave birth to her son David Marquis Patrick in 1998. She retired with three world No. 1 rankings and six U.S. No. 1 rankings to her credit, along with three American records and a pair of Olympic and World Championships silver medals. Since retirement in 2001, Farmer-Patrick continues to spend time serving within USATF, in a sport that’s given her so much. National Track & Field Hall of Fame Q&A: Sandra Farmer-Patrick