Tyree Washington has won many prestigious awards throughout his high school, college, and professional career.  As a junior in high school, he was the 1994 state long jump champion, and in 1995, his senior year, he was an all state defensive back.  Tyree was highly recruited by almost every major university in the United States to play football.  He took many recruiting trips to universities all around the U.S. but was mostly fascinated with the University of Oregon’s football program.  As a result, during his senior year, Tyree signed a full scholarship to play football with the University of Oregon; however, due to personal and academic hurdles, Tyree was unable to accept the scholarship.

Tyree remained optimistic about playing football and decided to try his talents in Track and field as a 400 meter specialist.  In 1997, he attended San Bernardino Valley College in California and trained with his college coaches in the 400 meters.  In May of that year, Tyree broke the Junior college national record in the 400 meters, the California state record in the 400 meters, and was ranked 2nd in the world behind  Michael Johnson.  In August of 1997, Tyree went on to win the 400 meters at the Outdoor National Championships in Indiana, and months later he won a bronze in the 400 meters at the Outdoor World Championships in Athens, Greece.  At the end of 1997, Tyree, a novice to the event, was ranked 4th in the world in the 400 meters, an accomplishment that he never anticipated.

Even though Tyree had much success in college as a 400 meter specialist, he still had dreams of playing football in the National Football League.  So in March of 1999, Tyree went through a rigorous training program to try out for various NFL teams.  His childhood dream finally came true when he signed with the San Diego Chargers to play wide receiver and defensive back.  At the start of training camp, everything was going as planned for Tyree, until he sprained his right knee, causing him to be sidelined.   Although Tyree recovered from his injury, he had limited time to impress the coaches, and to his disappointment was waived from the team.  However, Tyree was very grateful for the opportunity afforded to him by the Chargers organization to showcase his talents and accomplish his dream. 

In September of 1999, Tyree went back to Track and Field and applied all the hard work and ethics he learned from the Chargers, causing him to become an extremely tough competitor in the 400 meters event.  Tyree went on to win many meets in Europe and qualified for the Olympic trials in both 2000 and 2004.  In 2003, Tyree had the greatest season of his career.  He won Indoor Nationals in the 400 meters, Indoor World in the 400 meters, Indoor World 4X400 relay, Outdoor Nationals in the 400 meters, became World champion in the 400 meters in St. Denis, France and was ranked number one in the world at 400 meters.  Years later, Tyree added two more world titles to his belt. In 2005, he won Outdoor World Athletic Finals in the 400 meters, and in 2006, he won Indoor World in 4X400 relay. 

Tyree has many victories and accomplishments under his belt, but his success in life did not come easy, and there were many barriers and obstacles he was forced to overcome.  One such obstacle was his battle with asthma.  As a child, he spent endless hours battling severe respiratory problems.  While hospitalized, due to his asthma, Tyree dreamt of running like Carl Lewis and playing football like the late Walter Payton. His single mother, Mattie, would always encourage him that despite his handicap with asthma, he could still be famous and accomplish all of his dreams and goals.  He took that advice from his mother and went on to be one of the world’s greatest Track and Field athletes in the 400 meters.

Tyree has been blessed in many different aspects of his life.  He has traveled to many different countries over an eleven year period, and was recognized as being the fastest man on the planet.  He is now retired from Track and Field and loves spending quality time with his son Malik and daughter Tyra.

CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

•1994 STATE HIGH SCHOOL LONG JUMP CHAMPION

•1995 HIGH SCHOOL ALL STATE DEFENSIVE BACK

•1995 RUNNER UP 4OO METERS STATE MEET

•1997 OUTDOOR COLLEGIATE STATE CHAMPION 400 METERS

•1997 JUNIOR COLLEGE NATIONAL RECORD HOLDER 400 METERS

•1997 JUNIOR COLLEGE STATE RECORD HOLDER 400 METERS 

•1997 US NATIONAL CHAMPION 400 METERS

•1997 BRONZE MEDAL 400 METERS ATHENS, GREECE

•1997 RANKED 2ND IN THE WORLD 400 METERS

•1998 2X SILVER MEDAL GOODWILL GAMES

•1999 PLAYED WITH SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

•2003 INDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPION 400 METERS

•2003 INDOOR WORLD 400 METERS CHAMPION

•2003 INDOOR WORLD CHAMPION 4X400 RELAY

•2003 OUTDOOR NATIONAL CHAMPION 400 METERS

•2003 OUTDOOR WORLD CHAMPION 400 METERS

•2003 RANKED NUMBER #1 IN THE WORLD 400 METERS

•2003 WENT UNDEFEATED IN ALL 400 METERS RACES IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES

•2005 OUTDOOR WORLD ATHLETIC FINAL 400 METER CHAMPION

•2006 INDOOR WORLD CHAMPION 4X400 RELAY