US Track and Field Gold Medalist, Chandra Cheeseborough-Guice enters her 31st season as Director of Track at Tennessee State University.
Cheeseborough-Guice returned to her alma mater to serve as head coach of TSU's women's track and field program 1994 and was elevated to her current role as Director of Track and Field in June of 2011.
She was a three-time state champion in the 100- and 220-yard dashes from 1975 to 1977, setting state and national records in both events in 1977. That same year, she placed first in the state in the long jump. In her senior year, she anchored her school’s boys 4x100 relay team to the 1974 county title.
Cheeseborough emerged on the professional scene in 1975 at age 16, winning gold in the 200-meter dash at the Pan American Games with a world junior record of 22.77 seconds. She also won the TAC 100-meter championship with a time of 11.13 seconds.
During her junior and senior years, Cheeseborough joined Tennessee State University’s summer track and field program, competing as a member of the TSU Track Club under legendary coach Edward S. Temple. She later attended TSU, running under Temple and graduating with a degree in health and physical education.
As a collegiate athlete, she was part of national championship teams that set world indoor records of 1:08.9 in the 640-yard relay and 1:47.17 in the 800-yard sprint medley relay. She won the national indoor 200-yard dash in 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1983.
Cheeseborough was named to three U.S. Olympic teams (1976, 1980, and 1984). At age 17, she placed second in the 100- and 200-meter dash at the U.S. Olympic Trials, earning a spot on the 1976 Olympic team, where she finished sixth in the 100 meters in Montreal. She qualified for the 1980 Olympic team but did not compete due to the U.S. boycott of the Soviet Union. In 1984, she had her best Olympic performance in Los Angeles, winning gold in two relays and silver in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.04 seconds.
In 1994, Cheeseborough returned to TSU to serve as head coach of the women’s track and field program. In June 2011, she was promoted to director of men’s and women’s track and field.
Under her leadership, the women’s track and field program has won nine Ohio Valley Conference championships. She has been named OVC Coach of the Year nine times:
- OVC Women’s Indoor Coach of the Year (2002, 2003, 2008, 2014, 2016)
- OVC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year (2001, 2002, 2008, 2015)
She has coached six All-American athletes: Tremaine Wortham, Clairwin Dameus, Amber Hughes, Royce Dates, Quamel Prince, and R’Lazon Brumfield, along with 16 regional qualifiers.
In 1999, Cheeseborough served as an assistant coach for the U.S. team at the Junior Pan Am Championships in Tampa, Florida. In 2008, she was named sprints coach for the U.S. Olympic team in Beijing, where the U.S. won 23 medals, including 10 golds. In 2009, she was the women’s head coach for Team USA at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin, where the U.S. won 22 medals.
In 2015, she was an assistant coach for Team USA at the Pan American Games in Toronto, helping guide sprinters and hurdlers to 10 of the team’s 41 medals.
Chandra Cheeseborough, a native of Jacksonville, Florida, began her athletic career at Ribault High School, where she played basketball, volleyball, and ran sprints for the track and field team. She was an All-Conference selection in all three sports for three years and a Parade All-American in basketball, averaging 26 points and 13 rebounds per game.
She graduated from Tennessee State University with a B.S. degree in Health and Physical Education.
