University of Houston Athletics
Ferguson-McKenzie Named Olympic Assistant
7/25/2016 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
HOUSTON â€" Houston Cougar Track & Field assistant coach Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie has been named as an assistant coach to the track & field team for her home country, the Bahamas, for the upcoming Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"It is an honor and a privilege for me to coach and serve on the Olympic team, and I'm looking forward to that," Ferguson-McKenzie said. "The more I thought about the process, the more excited I got, because I never even thought of going as a coach prior to the opportunity presenting itself."
Ferguson-McKenzie had been training to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games for the 4x100-meter relay squad that she led to back-to-back Olympic medals in 1996 and 2000. However, when the team fell short of qualifying, Bahamian officials noticed her helping other athletes, opening up the opportunity to help lead the team.
"I'm even more excited to go as a coach," Ferguson-McKenzie said. "I'm getting the chance to give back in a unique way. I know some of the challenges I faced as an athlete, and I get to help some of the present athletes with even the simple things, such as preparation and nerves. That's important because everybody has prepared for the games physically, but a lot of them forget about the mental aspect, which is just as important."
With the announcement from the Bahamas Olympic Committee (BOC) naming their Olympic competitors and coaching staffs, Ferguson-McKenzie will help with the tutelage or 24 track & field athletes while coaching the sprints and relays for each of the men's and women's divisions. With 28 athletes competing in total, Ferguson-McKenzie will be a part of the largest Bahamian Olympic team in the country's history.
Ferguson-McKenzie joined the Cougars prior to the 2014-15 season by way of Southern Miss, joining a dream team staff of sorts that includes Olympians Leroy Burrell and Carl Lewis as coaches, and Floyd Heard as the director for student-athlete development. Since arriving in Houston, Ferguson-McKenzie has coached two athletes to NCAA Outdoor Championship appearances and eight sprinters and three relay teams to NCAA West Regional appearances.
'The team and the coaching staff were excited for me to share that with them," Ferguson-McKenzie said. "It goes to show that at the end of the day, they're excited for me, and they support me 100 percent, and they're buying in more and more. This allows me to show our athletes that I've been to the Olympics as an athlete, and now I'm going as a coach. It just helps them continue to buy into the process."
As an athlete for the Bahamas, Ferguson-McKenzie was a specialist at the 100- and 200-meter sprints, represented her country in five Olympic Games - Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. She was an Olympic gold medalist in the 4x100-meter relay at the Sydney games in 2000 while taking silver in the event in 1996 in Atlanta, and bronze in the 200-meters in Athens in 2004. Ferguson McKenzie was also a four-time medalist at the world championships.
"Ultimately, this is good for our entire program," Ferguson-McKenzie said. "Coach (Leroy) Burrell and Coach (Carl) Lewis will also be there, and now putting myself there puts us on another level. The University of Houston is already on the map, but this gets us to a whole other level which at the end of the day helps us on the track and in recruiting."
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