Tianna Madison has been an assistant coach with the San José State track and field program since 2023, working primarily with the Spartans’ sprinters and horizontal jumpers. She also supports SJSU student-athletes in their academic development and overall mental health.
One of the most accomplished athletes of her generation, Madison earned 13 international medals during a 16-year professional career, including three Olympic gold medals and six international gold medals. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, she helped the United States set the 4x100-meter relay world record of 40.82 seconds. Four years later in Rio de Janeiro, she captured individual Olympic gold in the long jump with a personal-best mark of 7.17 meters and earned another gold as a member of the U.S. 4x100-meter relay team.
Madison’s international success began when she won the long jump at the 2005 World Championships while competing collegiately for the University of Tennessee. She later added world titles in the event at the 2006 World Indoor Championships and 2015 World Championships. Her career bests include 10.78 seconds in the 100 meters, 22.37 in the 200 meters, and 7.17 meters in the long jump. She is one of only four women in history to have run under 11 seconds in the 100 meters and jumped beyond seven meters in the long jump.
During her collegiate career, Madison won two NCAA and two SEC long-jump championships, earned SEC Freshman of the Year honors, and helped Tennessee capture the 2005 NCAA indoor team championship. She was inducted into both the University of Tennessee Athletics Hall of Fame and the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
Beyond athletics, Madison is an author, mental health professional, entrepreneur, advocate, and mother. She published her memoir, Survive & Advance, in 2021 and graduated cum laude from the University of Tennessee in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and also earned a master's degree in diverse community development and leadership in 2006 from CSUN.