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Joseph Fahnbulleh

Joseph Fahnbulleh at the 2024 African Championships (2024)
Personal information
Full name	Joseph Blowadeh Siafa Fahnbulleh
Born	(2001-09-11) 11 September 2001 (age 23)
Home town	Hopkins, Minnesota, United States
Education	Hopkins High School
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Sport
Country	Liberia
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	100 meters, 200 meters
College team	Florida Gators
Achievements and titles
Personal bests	100 m: 9.98 +1.6 m/s (Gainesville 2023) 200 m: 19.83 +0.6 m/s (Eugene 2022)
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Liberia African Games 2023 Accra 4x100 m relay African Championships 2024 Douala 100 m 2024 Douala 200 m

Joseph Fahnbulleh (born 11 September 2001) is a Liberian-American sprinter. An Olympic finalist, Fahnbulleh is a double NCAA champion and finished fourth at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in the 200 meters race.

Early and personal life

Born in Hopkins, Minnesota, to Liberian parents, Fahnbulleh attended Hopkins High School. His mother was brought up in Liberia but had to flee to the United States to avoid the Liberian Civil War when she was twelve years-old.

Career

After being named National High School Coaches' Association boys athlete of the year in 2019, he was encouraged by Florida coach Mike Holloway to attend the University of Florida, and Fahnbulleh subsequently won the 200 m at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor National Championships with a personal best time of 19.91 seconds. He was also named National Senior Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year.

After declaring for the Liberian national team and being named to their roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Fahnbulleh was given the honor of being the flag bearer for his nation in the opening ceremony. His journey to Tokyo was the first time Fahnbulleh had ever been outside of the United States.

Fahnbulleh made it through to the final of the 2020 Olympics 200 meters race with a time of 19.99 seconds in his semi-final, setting a new Liberian national record. He finished in fifth place in the final, again setting a new national record with a time of 19.98 seconds.

On 10 June 2022, Fahnbulleh won both the 100 m and 200 m events at the 2022 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships with times of 10.00 (+0.6 m/s) and 19.83 (+0.6 m/s) respectively, helping the Florida Gators to the 2022 NCAA men's team title.

Fahnbulleh placed fourth at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in the 200 meters, running 19.84 seconds in the final.

Competing in the 200 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest in 2023, he qualified from the semi finals for his third consecutive major 200 meters final.

In March 2024, he was a bronze medalist in the 4x100m relay at the 2023 African Games. He ran as part of the Liberian 4x100m relay team that qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics at the 2024 World Relays Championships in Nassau, Bahamas. In May 2024, he finished fourth in the 200 metres at the 2024 Prefontaine Classic.

Sponsorship

In August 2022, Fahnbulleh announced he had signed a professional contract with global brand Asics.

Statistics

• Information from World Athletics profile unless otherwise noted.

Personal records

References

1. 2023 African Games bio
2. "Gators In Olympic Games: Joseph Fahnbulleh". Florida Gators. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
3. Wachira, Lynne (7 October 2022). "Joseph Fahnbulleh: I want sprint legacy to change image of Liberia". BBC.com. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
4. "World Athletics Championships 2023: Fahnbulleh says African elite can challenge US sprinters". bbc.com. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
5. "Joseph Fahnbulleh - Track and Field". Florida Gators. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
6. Friedman, Vanessa (2021-06-21). "Telfar Clemens Is Getting Into the Leggings Game". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
7. "Athletics flag bearers help to light up Olympic Opening Ceremony in Tokyo | FEATURES | World Athletics". www.worldathletics.org. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
8. Tribune, Jim Souhan Star. "Joe Fahnbulleh is a Minnesotan, a Gator, a flagbearer, and really, really fast". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
9. "Athletics - Semi-Final 2 Results". olympics.com. Retrieved 2021-10-03.
10. "Athletics - Final Results". olympics.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-08-04.
11. "Men 100 M". flashresults.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
12. "Men 200 M". flashresults.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2022-06-11.
13. "Fahnbulleh wins 100 and 200 meters at NCAA championships". San Francisco Chronicle. 10 June 2022. Archived from the original on 11 June 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2022.
14. "Hopkins runner Joseph Fahnbulleh finishes just off the podium in 200 meters at world championships". Star Tribune.
15. "Men's 200m Results: World Athletics Championships 2023". Watch Athletics. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
16. "2023 African Games: Nigeria marginally beat Ghana to win gold in Men's 4x100m relay". Ghanaweb. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
17. "Men 4x100m Results - World Athletics Relays Championships 2024". Watch Athletics. 5 May 2024. Retrieved 12 May 2024.
18. "2024 Prefontaine Classic: Sha'Carri Richardson Wins Big, Joe Kovacs Throws Far and Keely Hodgkinson Crushes Mary Moraa". Lets Run. 25 May 2024. Retrieved 26 May 2024.
19. Admin. "Joseph Fahnbulleh signs with ASICS". Retrieved 2022-08-25.
20. "Joseph FAHNBULLEH". World Athletics. Retrieved 12 June 2022.

External links

• Joseph Fahnbulleh at World Athletics
• Joseph Fahnbulleh at TFRRS.org
• Joseph Fahnbulleh at Olympedia

Olympic Games
Preceded byEmmanuel Matadi	Flag bearer for  Liberia Tokyo 2020 with Ebony Morrison	Succeeded byThelma Davies Emmanuel Matadi

• 2001 births
• Living people
• Liberian male sprinters
• American male sprinters
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
• Florida Gators men's track and field athletes
• Olympic athletes for Liberia
• Track and field athletes from Minnesota
• People from Hopkins, Minnesota
• Sportspeople from Hennepin County, Minnesota
• American people of Liberian descent
• Hopkins High School alumni
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 African Games
• African Games bronze medalists for Liberia
• African Games medalists in athletics (track and field)
• NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners
• Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics
• 21st-century American sportsmen