Born October 6, 1964 in Jacksonville, Fl 5-6.5/1.69m 128lbs./58kg Ribault HS, Jacksonville, Fl '82 Alabama A&M '86 PRs (outdoor): 100 11.06 '96 200 22.18 '96 (22.16w '94) 400 50.46 '92 PRs (indoor): 55 6.82 '91 60 7.29 '94 200 22.71 '96 300 37.65 '87 400 53.50 '91 Major Meets: 1984 1)NCAA II 100 1)NCAA II 200 7)Olympic Trials 200 1985 1)NCAA II 100 1)NCAA II 200 1986 1)NCAA II 100 1)NCAA II 200 7s)USA 100 4)USA 200 1987 3)USA Indoor 200 6h)USA 100 5s)USA 200 1988 6)USA 100 7h)USA 400 6)Olympic Trials 200 1989 6)USA 100 1)USA 200 4)World Cup 200 1990 5)USA 100 2)USA 200 1991 3)USA 200 5)USA 100 2)USA 200 6)World Championships 200 1992 1h)USA Indoor 200 5)Olympic Trials 200 4)Olympic Trials 400 1993 2)USA 200 8)World Championships 200 1994 6)USA Indoor 60 3)USA Indoor 200 5)USA 100 2)USA 200 1995 2)USA Indoor 200 8)USA 200 1996 2)USA Indoor 200 6)Olympic Trials 100 2)Olympic Trials 200 5s)Olympic Games 200 Major Relays: 1988 1)Olympic Games 4 x 100 [3-heat] 1991 dnf-h)World Championships 4 x 100 [3] 1992 2)Olympic Games 4 x 400 [3-heat]
For Dannette Young-Stone, patience and perseverance are the keys. She has never gotten the big star accolades many of her performances deserve, yet she keeps working at the sport, and improving.
At Ribault High in Jacksonville, she sprinted a solid 24.0 for 220 yards. But that was only good for second-best. The school sprint records of 11.13 and 22.77 are held by 1984 Olympic 400 silver medalist Chandra Cheeseborough.
At Alabama A&M, she produced several NCAA titles, but they were all of the Division II variety. As a post-collegian, she has been in many of the important American races of the last decade, but too often she was the one who finished just out of the picture. Her only USA title came in 1989.
She made it to the 1991 World Championships in the 200, but failed to medal. That frustration inspired her to move to California to work with Bob Kersee. Under his tutelage, she started running the 400m more often. In 1992, she ran a PR of 50.46 to finish fourth in the Olympic Trials. She got to run in the relay heats in Barcelona, earning a silver medal for her efforts.
In 1993, Young-Stone married Curtis Stone, a 400m runner she had known in college. They decided to move back East. These days she lives in Lithonia, Georgia, where she is the owner of Dannette's Nail Salon. Since 1994, Stone has overseen his wife's training and she has moved away from the 400 and back to the shorter sprints.
A bad move? Her 1996 experiences say otherwise. At the Olympic Trials she reached the peak of her life, hitting a PR 11.06 for sixth in the 100 final. Then she came back with a tremendous 22.18 to place second in the 200, earning her first individual Olympic berth.
At the Games, Young ran 22.49 in her semi, yet failed to make the final. The experience must have been especially disappointing: Her 22.18 on the same track weeks earlier could have won a silver medal.
Young, a veteran sprinter, has been a mother for even longer. Her son, Dyshann, is 16; her parents helped raise him. Now in high school himself, he plays basketball, but simply does not like running. One can't fault his mother, if preaching by example is worth anything.