Three-time 2012 Olympic medalist Carmelita Jeter has been named the Trojans’ assistant coach for sprints, it was announced by USC Director of Track & Field Quincy Watts today (Aug. 4).
Jeter earned one of each Olympic medal at the 2012 London Games, earning a silver in the 100m, a bronze in the 200m and a gold in the 4x100m relay for USA. Jeter is also a seven-time medalist in the sprints and relays at the World Championships. “The Jet” is the fourth-fastest woman sprinter of all-time with a personal best of 10.64 set in 2009.
Jeter comes to USC following serving as the sprints coach at Alabama during the 2020-21 season. Prior to that, she had spent two seasons on the Missouri State track and field coaching staff. Jeter joined Missouri State in August of 2018 as an assistant coach and then was promoted to associate head coach in July of 2019.
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From 2016 to 2017, she was sprints and hurdles coach at her alma mater, Cal State Dominguez Hills. She has been a certified Level 1 professional track coach since 2017, helping emerging athletes reach their potential with her own company, TeamJet, LLC.
Jeter began her coaching career in 2004 as the track and field coach at Bishop Montgomery High School in California where she also served as assistant athletic director.
Jeter placed second in the 100m dash at the 2012 Olympics with a time of 10.78, .03 seconds behind the winner Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce. Jeter’s time was the fastest non-winning time in Olympic history and it was just the third race in history with two women running under 10.80.
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Jeter then took third in the women’s 200m with a time of 22.14. Jeter anchored USA’s winning 4x100m relay which set the world record of 40.82 which still stands today. Jeter was named the Los Angeles Sports Woman of the Year and the USA Track and Field Association’s Jesse Owens Award, the highest accolade in the sport.
In 2013, Jeter competed at the World Championships in Moscow and earned a bronze medal in the 100m, despite having a torn right quadricep. At the 2011 World Championships in Daegu she won a gold medal in the 100m and the 4x100m relay and earned silver in the 200m. At the 2010 World Indoor Championships in Doha, Jeter won the silver medal in the 60m dash with a time of 7.05.
She earned a bronze medal in the 100m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Later that summer in the final IAAF World Athletics Final in Greece she won the 100m dash with a time of 10.67, at the time the third-fastest time every by a woman and the fastest in 12 years. A week later at a Grand Prix race in Shanghai she won her 100m PR of 10.64.
Jeter did not make the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, finishing sixth in the 200m and reaching the semifinals in the 200m. Jeter is a three-time USA 100m dash champion, winning the titles in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
In her first World Championships in 2007 in Osaka, Jeter earned a bronze medal in the 100m and a gold medal with the 4x100m relay team.
An injury in 2016 kept Jeter from competing for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team and she retired from running in 2017.
Jeter is a 1998 graduate of Bishop Montgomery High in Torrance, Calif. She originally was interested in basketball, but then joined the track and field team during high school. Jeter went to Cal State University, Dominguez Hills and graduated in 2006 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. She earned six All-American honors, set five school records and became the university’s first U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier.
In addition to her success on the track, Jeter is deeply involved in community and philanthropic efforts, particularly those focused on health and fitness. She has organized community track clinics for youth and served as the official ambassador for the Healthy Compton initiative, a citywide program designed to promote healthy lifestyle choices.
When her aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer, Jeter used her platform as a record-setting athlete to raise awareness, collaborating with Nike on hot pink spikes that she wore in competition. In 2015, she was named the official ambassador for Susan G. Komen’s California Circle of Promise Initiative, designed to promote breast cancer awareness among African American women.
In recognition of her incredible athletic achievements, her continued contributions to the sport of track and field, her dedication to her community and her success as a speaker and businesswoman, CSUDH and the California State University Board of Trustees bestowed an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree on Jeter in May of 2019.
