The queens of Queens: Olympic gold medalists feted at Borough Hall ceremony
Queens’ newest royalty is a pair of winning athletes who struck gold for the U.S. at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Hoopster Tina Charles and track star Dalilah Muhammad were feted with a day in their honor Friday. The duo received keys to the borough for their athletic accomplishments and for inspiring women and girls across the city.
“Dalilah Muhammad and Tina Charles are more than just legendary athletes and Olympic champions,” Queens Borough President Donavan Richards said at a Queens Borough Hall ceremony.
“They are role models and inspirations to the countless young people of our borough — kids who now know that with hard work and dedication, there is no limit to what a child of Queens can achieve,” he continued.
“Dalilah and Tina represent the very best of the world’s borough, and these inspiring women are more than deserving recipients of the Key to Queens.”
Muhammad, a native of Rochdale Village and a childhood member of the New York Novas youth running club, first earned Olympic glory in 2016. That year, she became the first American woman in history to win a gold medal in the 400-meter hurdles.
She would go on to break the 16-year-old world record time in that event at the 2019 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, before breaking her own world record at the 2019 World Championships later that year.
At the 2021 Olympics — delayed a year because of the COVID-19 pandemic — Muhammad would again beat the world record time in the 400-meter hurdles. The effort earned her a silver medal, behind fellow American Sydney McLaughlin.
Muhammad won her second career gold medal later in the 2021 Games as part of Team USA’s victorious 4x400-meter relay team, alongside McLaughlin, Athing Mu and Allyson Felix.
Charles, the WNBA’s reigning scoring champion and an eight-time All-Star, is a native of East Elmhurst. She was an All-American at the borough’s Christ the King High School.
After winning two NCAA championships at the University of Connecticut, Charles earned the WNBA Rookie of the Year award in 2010 before winning WNBA MVP honors in 2012.
Her Olympic resume is just as impressive. After winning gold as part of Team USA’s women’s basketball squad in the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, Charles returned in 2021 to help lead the team to its seventh straight Olympic gold medal.
Among those on hand to salute the superstars were students from Christ the King High School in Middle Village and Bayside’s Benjamin Cardozo High School, which Muhammad attended.
“They have always conducted themselves with humility, grace, and tremendous poise,” said Councilwoman Adrienne Adams. “I am proud to celebrate their well-deserved gold medals in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and all of their achievements throughout their illustrious careers. They have made Southeast Queens, New York City and the entire country proud.”
