Levern Spencer

Levern Spencer

Spencer in 2009
Personal information
Full name Levern Donaline Spencer
Born (1984-06-23) June 23, 1984
Babonneau, Castries, Saint Lucia
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight 50 kg (110 lb)
Website LevernSpencer.lc/
Sport
Country  Saint Lucia
Sport Athletics
Event(s) High jump
Updated on 7 January 2015.

Levern Donaline Spencer (born 23 June 1984) is a Saint Lucian high jumper. Spencer was born in Cacao Babonneau, Castries.[1][2][3]

Biography

Spencer was an All-American high jumper for the University of Georgia[4] and 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympian for Saint Lucia. Competing as a professional, she set a new facility record at the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Georgia on Saturday 8 May 2010, clearing 1.98m to cruise to a victory with what was at the time the second-best jump in the world for the 2010 season.[5] This is the current Saint Lucia National Record and the record for the Caribbean Community.

Her previous best jump was 1.95 metres, a height she achieved with a second-place finish at the ‘Gran Premio Gobierno de Aragón’ held on Saturday 18 July 2009 in Zaragoza, Spain and prior to that a height of 1.94 metres was first achieved in July 2005 at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Nassau and again at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka in 2007.

Levern attended Entrepot Secondary School in Saint Lucia, then moved on to Albany State University and then the University of Georgia, where she earned her bachelor's degree in Health Promotion and Behavior, having first embarked upon a course of study in computer Science. She was one of three athletics qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics, along with Dominic Johnson and Erma Gene Evans.

In fact, Levern enjoyed a superb 2008 season, setting a new personal best and national record of 1.90m indoors at the Clemson Meeting in South Carolina before embarking on a series of victorious performances, winning in Blacksburg, twice in Athens (Georgia), Iowa and then twice in Central America, in Port-of-Spain in mid-May with a jump of 1.92m and then in Cali when winning the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships with a jump of 1.91m.

Levern is a former CARIFTA champion, CAC Junior champion and NACAC (North, Central American and Caribbean Championships) champion. She holds the CARIFTA record of 1.88m and the NACAC Under-23 record of 1.92m for women's High Jump.

Professional career

In 2009, Levern signed her first professional contract with Stellar Group, becoming the first high jumper on their roster. She repeated as Central American and Caribbean champion in Havana, Cuba and signed an endorsement deal with Caribbean telecommunications provider, LIME – Landline, Internet, Mobile and Entertainment. She is featured on the cover of the 2010 LIME Services Directory, over 75,000 copies of which were distributed.

After taking the gold medal at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, Spencer was the sole Saint Lucian to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, but she failed to make the final. She also narrowly missed out on making the cut for the season-ending 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final, finishing ninth in the world for women's High Jump.

In 2010, with a best result of 1.98m, Levern was the leading women's high jumper in the Commonwealth. At the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, however, she needed two attempts to clear 1.88m, and eventually recorded Saint Lucia's best-ever individual finish at Commonwealth Games athletics with a bronze medal, joining Dominic Johnson, who took bronze in men's Pole Vault in 2002 in Manchester. In 2010, Levern recorded six of the top ten best jumps of her career. She scored a victory at the 2010 CAC Games with a jump of 1.94 m and also had success on the European circuit, scoring five straight victories in Finland to scoop the 2010 Finnish Elite Games jackpot.[6]

In 2012, Levern was awarded an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship and began training in Germany. She qualified for the 2012 Olympics in London, Great Britain.

In 2014, Levern had a very similar year to 2010. She made the finals of the World Indoor Championships. She successfully defended her Central American and Caribbean Games title in Veracruz, Mexico. She won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.[7] She placed fifth at the Continental Cup. She won gold at the Pan Games Festival in Mexico City, Mexico. She placed second at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Championships, behind Jeannelle Scheper, who also beat her at Saint Lucia's National Championships.

Levern qualified for the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China, and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, by clearing 1.94 m at the Meeting Madrid in July. This made her eligible for her sixth World Championships and third Olympics. She won the Saint Lucia National Championship with a height of 1.90m. Along with Jeannelle Scheper, Levern represented Saint Lucia at the 2015 Pan Am Games. She won gold with a best height of 1.94 m. It was Saint Lucia's first gold medal ever at the Pan Am Games; the country had been represented at these Games six times since 1985.

Levern is from the community of Babonneau in Saint Lucia, and has won multiple Sportswoman of the Year awards in her home nation. She is a spokesperson for Adidas, having previously been sponsored by Mizuno.

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Notes
Representing  Saint Lucia
1999 CARIFTA Games (U17) Fort-de-France, Martinique 10th 1.55m
2000 CARIFTA Games (U-17) St. George's, Grenada 3rd 1.73m
Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships (U17) San Juan, Puerto Rico 4th 1.67m
2001 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 1.79m
World Youth Championships Debrecen, Hungary 3rd 1.81m
Central American and Caribbean Championships Guatemala City, Guatemala 1st 1.80m
2002 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Nassau, Bahamas, Bahamas 2nd 1.82m
Central American and Caribbean Junior Championships Bridgetown, Barbados 1st 1.81m
World Junior Championships Kingston, Jamaica 8th 1.83 m
Commonwealth Games Manchester, United Kingdom 12th 1.74m
2003 CARIFTA Games (U-20) Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago 7th (h) 100m:
12.46 s (wind: 0.0 m/s)
2nd 1.86m CR
Windward Islands Games Grand Bay, Dominica 1st 100m:
12.3 (ht)
1st 1.84m
Pan American Junior Athletics Championships Bridgetown, Barbados 2nd 1.83m
Pan American Games Santo Domingo, Dom. Republic 5th 1.83m
2004 NACAC Under-23 Championships Sherbrooke, Canada 2nd 1.85m
2005 Central American and Caribbean Championships Nassau, Bahamas 1st 1.94m
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 22nd (q) 1.84m
2006 NACAC Under-23 Championships Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1st 1.81m
Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Australia 5th 1.83m
Central American and Caribbean Games Cartagena, Colombia 3rd 1.88m
2007 NACAC Championships San Salvador, El Salvador 1st 1.89m
Pan American Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 3rd 1.87m
World Championships Osaka, Japan 15th (f) 1.90m
2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships Cali, Colombia 1st 1.91m
Olympic Games Beijing, PR China 27th (q) 1.85m
2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships Havana, Cuba 1st 1.91m
World Championships Berlin, Germany 24th (q) 1.89m
2010 Central American and Caribbean Games Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 1st 1.94m
Continental Cup Split, Croatia 3rd 1.88m
Commonwealth Games Delhi, India 3rd 1.88m
2011 Central American and Caribbean Championships Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 1st 1.82m
World Championships Daegu, South Korea 13th (q) 1.92m
Pan American Games Guadalajara, México 7th 1.81m A
2012 World Indoor Championships Istanbul, Turkey 15th (q) 1.88m
Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 19th (q) 1.90m
2013 Central American and Caribbean Championships Morelia, Mexico 1st 1.92m
World Championships Moscow, Russia 11th 1.89m
2014 World Indoor Championships Sopot, Poland 7th 1.94m
Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 3rd 1.92m
Pan American Sports Festival Ciudad de México, México 1st 1.88m A
Continental Cup Marrakech, Morocco 5th 1.87m
Central American and Caribbean Games Veracruz, Mexico 1st 1.89m A
2015 Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 1st 1.94m
NACAC Championships San José, Costa Rica 1st 1.91m
World Championships Beijing, China 12th 1.88m
2016 World Indoor Championships Portland, United States 5th 1.93m
Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 6th 1.93m

Personal bests

Event Result Venue Date
Outdoor
100 m 12.3 s (wind: NWI) (ht) Dominica Grand Bay 30 Jul 2003
200 m 24.22 s (wind: NWI) United States Orlando, Florida 30 Apr 2005
24.1 s (wind: NWI) (ht) Saint Lucia Castries 1 Jun 2003
High jump 1.98 m United States Athens, Georgia 8 May 2010
Long jump 6.08 m (wind: 0.0 m/s ) United States Athens, Georgia 12 Apr 2014
Indoor
High jump 1.95 m Poland Sopot
Czech Republic Hustopece
7 Mar 2014
13 Feb 2016

Outdoor progression

Year Height Location Date
2014 1.96m Athens, Georgia, United States 12 April 2014
2013 1.95m Morelia 5 July 2013
2012 1.91m Regensburg 2 June 2012
2011 1.94m Hengelo 29 May 2011
2010 1.98m Athens, Georgia, United States 8 May 2010
2009 1.95m Zaragoza, Spain 18 July 2009
2008 1.93m Athens, Georgia, United States 19 April 2008
2007 1.94m Osaka, Japan 31 August 2007
2006 1.90m Walnut, California, United States 15 April 2006
2005 1.94m Nassau, Bahamas 10 July 2005
2004 1.88m St George's, Grenada 29 May 2004
2003 1.86m Port-of-Spain, Trinidad & Tobago 21 April 2003
2003 1.86m St George's, Grenada 28 March 2003
2002 1.83m Kingston, Jamaica 20 July 2002
2001 1.84m St.George's, Grenada 27 June 2001
2000 1.73m St George's, Grenada 23 April 2000

References

  1. Laurence, Kwame (2 September 2010), Focus on Athletes biographies - Levern Spencer, IAAF
  2. Biography - SPENCER Levern Donaline, PASO, retrieved January 6, 2015
  3. Levern Spencer - Biography, Commonwealth Games Federation, retrieved January 6, 2015
  4. Track & Field - Levern Spencer, Georgia Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs, retrieved January 6, 2015
  5. "Levern Leaps To World #2". www.terryfinisterre.blogspot.com. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  6. Sonninen, A-P (2010-08-22). Spencer takes the Finnish Elite Games jackpot in Joensuu. IAAF. Retrieved on 24 August 2010.
  7. "Glasgow 2014 - Women's High Jump Final". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
Olympic Games
Preceded by
Zepherinus Joseph
Flagbearer for  Saint Lucia
Beijing 2008
London 2012
Rio de Janeiro 2016
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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