NASSAU, Bahamas,  CMC – Bahamian Olympic champion Tonique Williams-Darling has been inducted into the University of South Carolina (USC) 2009 Athletic Hall of Fame, the Nassau Tribune newspaper has reported.

The Tribune says the retired 33-year-old was inducted Thursday night in Columbia for her track and field feats during her tenure at USC from 1997-1999.

Williams-Darling was among five inductees — the others being Art Swarts (track & field), Tom Riker (men’s basketball), Marty Baltzegar (men’s soccer), Kyle Thompson (men’s golf) and Harold White (coach and administrator).

Representing USC, Williams-Darling won the US Collegiate South Eastern Conference (SEC) 400-metre title in 1997 after finishing as runner-up for three straight years.

She went on to win Olympic gold in the one-lap event at the 2004 Athens Games to become the first Carolina women’s individual gold medallist in any sport at the Olympics.

She also captured gold at the 2005 IAAF World Championship in Helsinki.

Williams-Darling, who had the Independence Highway in the Bahamas renamed the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway in her honour by the Bahamas Government in 2005, is the fastest Caribbean woman ever of 400 metres at 49.07 seconds.

She leads the Caribbean list over fellow Bahamian Pauline Davis-Thompson (49.28), and the Jamaicans Lorraine Fenton (49.30) and still active Shericka Williams (49.32).