Chandra Cheeseborough’s first exposure to the track program at Tennessee State University and Coach Ed Temple came during her junior year in high school. Growing up in Jacksonville, Fla, Chandra came to Nashville in the summer and competed as a member of the Tennessee State Track Club under Coach Temple. Chandra enjoyed exceptional success. She was a member of the winning 400-meter team that set a junior record in the National Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Junior Women’s Track and Field Championships. She emerged on the international scene in ’75 at the age of 16 when she won a Gold Medal in the 200 meter at the Pan American Games in Mexico City.
Chandra placed second in the 100 and 200-meter competitions at the USA Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon and became a member of the 1976 Olympic Team. She placed sixth in the 100 meter in Montreal. She qualified for the ill-fated 1980 Olympic team in both sprints. According to “Track’s Greatest Women” by John Henershott, 1984 saw a “new” Cheeseborough emerge in the 400 meter. She set American records before the Olympics in Los Angeles and won a Silver Medal in the 400-meter at the Olympics.
Chandra made Olympic history by running a leg on the Gold Medal Relay Team in the same Olympics. This made her a winner of two Gold Medals and one Silver Medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She was inducted into the National Track and Field Sports Hall of Fame in 2000 and is one of the youngest members ever inducted into the Tennessee State University Sports Hall of Fame. Chandra currently serves as women’s track coach at TSU.