Darnell Kenneth Hall (born September 26, 1971 in Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres

400 metres

The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...

. He ran for the later gold-winning

Gold medal

A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

 Team USA

United States at the 1992 Summer Olympics

- Gold:* Michael Marsh — Athletics, Men's 200 metres* Quincy Watts — Athletics, Men's 400 metres* Kevin Young — Athletics, Men's 400 m Hurdles...

 in the preliminary heats of the men's 4 x 400 m relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics

1992 Summer Olympics

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...

.

Athletic career

Hall, who grew up in Sojourner Truth public housing in Detroit, ran high school track for Detroit Pershing, winning the state championship in the 400 m with a time of 40.56 seconds. Hall attended Blinn College

Blinn College

Blinn College is a two-year academic institution based in Brenham, Texas with campuses in Brenham, Bryan, Schulenburg, and Sealy. While the Brenham campus is Blinn's main campus, more than 70% of students attend the Bryan campus....

 in Texas. Instead of transferring to an NCAA Division I school, at the age of 21 he decided to try for the 1992 US Olympic Team, and succeeded, winning a gold medal with the 4 x 400 m relay team.

Hall won the 1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships

1995 IAAF World Indoor Championships

The 5th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain from 10 March to 12 March 1995. There were a total number of 602 participating athletes from 130 countries.-Men:-Women:-Medal table:...

 in Barcelona

Barcelona

Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...

 and finished sixth at the 1995 World Championships in Athletics

1995 World Championships in Athletics

The 5th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, were held at the Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, Sweden between August 5 and August 13.This edition featured 1804 athletes from 191 nations....

 in Gothenburg

Gothenburg

Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...

. At the 1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships

1993 IAAF World Indoor Championships

The 4th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held at the Skydome in Toronto, Canada from March 12 to March 14, 1993. It was the last Indoor Championships to feature the 5,000 and 3,000 metres race walk events. In addition, it was the first Indoor Championships to include heptathlon and...

 he was on the 4 x 400 m relay team that won the gold medal.

His personal best 400 m time is 44.34 seconds, achieved in July 1995 in Lausanne

Lausanne

Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

.