Lee Mcrae

Lee McRae is a retired American sprinter born on January 23, 1966, in Pembroke, North Carolina. He attended West Robeson High School and became one of America's premier short sprinters at the University of Pittsburgh, where he won three consecutive NCAA indoor national championships in the 55 metres from 1986 to 1988.

McRae won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres at the 1987 Pan American Games and the 1986 NCAA Outdoor National Championship in the 100 metres. As a sophomore at Pitt in 1986, he broke Carl Lewis's 55-metre indoor world record with a time of 6.00 seconds, demonstrating exceptional starting speed.

His explosive starts made him particularly effective indoors and as a first-leg runner on U.S. 4x100 metre relay teams. McRae's combination of world record-breaking indoor speed and Pan American Games gold established him as one of the fastest starters in American sprinting history.