Gianna Woodruff

Gianna Woodruff
OLY
Personal information
Full nameGianna Ursula Woodruff Washington[1]
NationalityAmerican, Panamanian
Born (1993-11-18) 18 November 1993
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Southern California
University of Washington
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[2]
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Country Panama
SportAthletics
Event
400 metres hurdles
College teamWashington Huskies
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Panama
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2023 Santiago400 m hurdles
Central American and Caribbean Games
Gold medal – first place2026 Santo Domingo400 m hurdles
Silver medal – second place2023 San Salvador400 m hurdles

Gianna Ursula Woodruff Washington (born 18 November 1993)[3] is a track and field athlete specializing in the 400 metres hurdles. Born in the United States, she represented Panama at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics at the 2024 Summer Olympics. She is the 2023 Pan American Games champion in the 400 metres hurdles.

Career

Woodruff began athletics when she was five years old. She began representing Panama at international competitions in 2016 to honor her mother's Panamanian heritage.[2][4] She won the silver medal in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2016 Ibero-American Championships, behind Déborah Rodríguez.[5]

Woodruff won the gold medal at the 2017 South American Championships with a championships record time of 56.04 seconds.[6] She competed at her first World Championships in 2017 and advanced into the semifinals, finishing 22nd.[7] She won a bronze medal at the 2018 South American Games.[8]

Woodruff finished second to Melissa Gonzalez at the 2019 South American Championships.[9] She then represented Panama at the 2019 Pan American Games and advanced into the final, finishing seventh.[10] At the 2019 World Athletics Championships, she advanced into the semifinals and finished 19th.[11]

Woodruff represented Panama at the 2020 Summer Olympics and improved her own South American record with a time of 54.22 seconds in the semi-finals and finished seventh in the final.[12] At the 2022 Bolivarian Games, she won the gold medal with a Bolivarian Games record time of 55.32 seconds.[13] At the 2022 World Athletics Championships, she advanced into the final by breaking her own South American record with a time of 53.69 seconds.[14] She then finished seventh in the final.[15]

At the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, Woodruff finished second, behind Zurian Hechavarría.[16] She then finished 15th in the semifinals at the 2023 World Athletics Championships.[17] She won a gold medal at the 2023 Pan American Games with a time of 56.44 seconds. She was originally disqualified due to knocking over a hurdle with the front of her lead foot,[18] but a video review confirmed she hit the hurdle with the back of her foot. She became the first woman to win a Pan American Games gold medal in athletics.[19][20]

Woodruff represented Panama at the 2024 Summer Olympics but failed to advance from the repechage round.[21] She won the 400 metres hurdles gold medal at the 2025 South American Championships.[22] At the 2025 World Athletics Championships, she finished second in the semifinals, behind Femke Bol, and broke her own South American record with a time of 52.66 seconds. She went on to finish fifth in the final with a time of 53.34.[23]

Personal life

Woodruff was born in Santa Monica, California. She graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in sociology in 2015 and went on to earn a Master of Social Work at the University of Southern California.[24][4] Between 2017 and 2021, she coached cross country and track and field at Harvard-Westlake School.[2]

International competitions

Representing  Panama
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventTimeNotes
2016 Ibero-American Championships Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 2nd 400 m hurdles 57.34
2017 South American Championships Asunción, Paraguay 1st 400 m hurdles 56.04
World Championships London, United Kingdom 22nd (sf) 400 m hurdles 57.32
Bolivarian Games Santa Marta, Colombia 1st 400 m hurdles 58.06
2018 South American Games Cochabamba, Bolivia 3rd 400 m hurdles 57.68
Central American and Caribbean Games Barranquilla, Colombia 6th 400 m hurdles 55.60
2019 South American Championships Lima, Peru 2nd 400 m hurdles 56.76
Pan American Games Lima, Peru 7th 400 m hurdles 57.20
World Championships Doha, Qatar 19th (sf) 400 m hurdles 55.61
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 7th 400 m hurdles 55.84 54.22 sf AR
2022 Bolivarian Games Valledupar, Colombia 1st 400 m hurdles 55.32
World Championships Eugene, United States 7th 400 m hurdles 54.75
2023 Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador, El Salvador 2nd 400 m hurdles 56.15
World Championships Budapest, Hungary 15th (sf) 400 m hurdles 54.71
Pan American Games Santiago, Chile 1st 400 m hurdles 56.44
2024 Olympic Games Paris, France 7th (rep) 400 m hurdles 55.10
2025 South American Championships Mar del Plata, Argentina 1st 400 m hurdles 56.57
World Championships Tokyo, Japan 5th 400 m hurdles 53.34
Central American Games Quetzaltenango, Guatemala 1st 400 m hurdles 55.65
2nd 4 × 400 m relay 3:39.61
2026 Central American and Caribbean Games Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1st 400 m hurdles 53.98

Personal bests

All information taken from World Athletics profile.[3]

Indoor

  • 60 metres – 7.65 (Seattle, WA 2015)
  • 200 metres – 24.67 (Albuquerque, NM 2014)
  • 400 metres – 57.17 (Portland, OR 2016)

References

  1. ↑ "Athlete Profile Woodruff Washington Gianna Ursula". 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "WOODRUFF Gianna". Paris 2024 Olympics. Archived from the original on 30 July 2024. Retrieved 24 May 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Gianna Woodruff – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  4. 1 2 "Gianna Woodruff". University of Southern California Athletics. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  5. ↑ "Athletics Women's 400m Hurdles Final" (PDF). Brazilian Athletics Confederation. 15 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "De Morais sets continental discus record at South American Championships". World Athletics. 25 June 2017. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  7. ↑ "400 Metres Hurdles Women − Semi-Final − Results" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Woodruff gana el bronce en los 400 con vallas". Critica (in Spanish). 8 June 2018. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  9. ↑ "Romani wins shot put on second day of South American Championships". World Athletics. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  10. ↑ "Panameña Gianna Woodruff, séptima en 400 metros vallas de Lima 2019". TVN (in Spanish). 8 August 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Semi-finals results" (PDF). IAAF. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "Athletics - Final Results - Women's 400 m hurdles (Tokyo 2020)". IOC. 4 August 2021. Archived from the original on 9 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "Juegos Bolivarianos 2022: Gianna Woodruff: "Esa medalla es para ustedes"". RPC TV (in Spanish). 5 July 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  14. ↑ "Mundial de Atletismo 2022: Gianna Woodruff impone récord Suramericano". RPC TV (in Spanish). 22 July 2022. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  15. ↑ "400 Metres Hurdles Women - Final – Results", World Athletics, 22 July 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2025.
  16. ↑ "CAC Games San Salvador (ESA) Women's 400 Metres Hurdles Final". World Athletics. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  17. ↑ "400 Metres Hurdles Women – Semi-Final – Summary" (PDF). World Athletics. 22 August 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  18. ↑ "Gianna Woodruff, descalificada y pierde el oro en Santiago". Panama America (in Spanish). 3 November 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  19. ↑ Abarzua, Daniela; Castillo, Fernanda (4 November 2023). "PANAMA ACHIEVES HISTORIC ATHLETICS MEDAL FOLLOWING JUDGES' REVISION". PanAm Sports Organization. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  20. ↑ "Gianna Woodruff wins gold at Pan American Games". Newsroom Panama. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  21. ↑ "Athletics – Women's 400m Hurdles – Repechage Round – Results Summary", Olympics.com, 5 August 2024. Archived 15 August 2025. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
  22. ↑ "Gianna Woodruff conquista el oro en el Sudamericano de Atletismo Mar del Plata 2025". Telemetro (in Spanish). 26 April 2025. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  23. ↑ "¡Gianna Woodruff cierra su destacada participación en Tokio 2025!". Panama Olympic Committee (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  24. ↑ "Gianna Woodruff". Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
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