Amelia Lyn "Amy" Acuff (born July 14, 1975) is a

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

. A high jump specialist, she competed in the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 800, causing the plane to crash and killing everyone on b ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

and

2012 Olympic Games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

as a member of

USA Track and Field USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

. Her best Olympic performance came at the 2004 Games, where her jump of 1.99 m earned her fourth place in the final.

Biography

Born in

Port Arthur, Texas Port Arthur is a city in Jefferson County within the Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Texas. A small, uninhabited portion extends into Orange County; it is east of Houston. The largest oil refinery in the United St ...

, she established herself domestically with wins at the

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Olym ...

in 1995 and 1997. At the age of 22, she became the

Universiade The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and " Olympiad". The Universiade is referr ...

champion, edging out Monica Iagăr in the 1997 high jump final. Acuff was the winner of the 1998

Hochsprung mit Musik The ''Hochsprung mit Musik'' () is an annual indoor high jump meeting which takes place in February in Arnstadt, Germany. First held in 1977, the meeting began as a competition between mainly East German athletes. Following the Re-unification o ...

meeting in Arnstadt,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, becoming the first non-European winner in the history of the event. She went on to win at the national championships in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Six national championships, all in odd numbered years. Her personal best is 2.01 m, which she achieved at the Weltklasse Golden League international track and field meet in Zürich, Switzerland, on August 15, 2003. She finished 4th place at that high jump competition. During the 2004 Olympic final, she was in bronze medal position through 1.99m. At 2.02m, after

Vita Styopina Viktoriya Ivanivna Styopina ( uk, Вікторія Іванівна Стьопіна; born 21 February 1976 in Zaporozhia, Soviet Union), known as Vita Styopina (), is a Ukrainian high jumper. Biography She won the bronze medal at the 2004 ...

cleared her lifetime personal best on her first attempt, Acuff strategically chose to pass at what would have been her personal best just to equal Styopina and retain bronze medal position. At the time, American television commentator

Dwight Stones Dwight Edwin Stones (born December 6, 1953) is an American television commentator and a two-time Olympic bronze medalist and former three-time world record holder in the men's high jump. During his 16-year career, he won 19 national championshi ...

said "That is a decision she will think about the rest of her life." While in high school in 1993 she was named the national Girl's "High School Athlete of the Year" by

Track and Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on runnin ...

. Her 1.95m at the

Texas Relays The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays are an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the first or second weekend of April. Events are he ...

at age 36 on March 31, 2012, should qualify as the W35 American Masters record. Just 17 days before her 40th birthday, on June 28, 2015, Acuff placed third at the USATF track championships in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census ...

, potentially qualifying her for 2015's US delegation to the world championships in Beijing, however she needed jump of 1.94 meters, the qualifying standard. She, and all of the other American women, were ultimately unable to meet this standard and could not compete in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2015.

Personal bests

*High jump (outdoors): - Zurich, August 15, 2003 *High jump (indoors): - Indianapolis, March 11, 1995

National titles

* National Scholastic Indoor Champion: 1991, 1992 * NCAA (National Collegiate) Indoor Champion: 1994, 1995, 1997 * NCAA Outdoor Champion: 1995, 1996 * 6 Time U.S. Outdoor Champion: 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 * 5 Time U.S. Indoor Champion: 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009

International competitions

* Results with a Q indicate Acuff's overall position in the qualifying round.

Modeling

Amy Acuff is also known for her career as a model. She was the subject of modeling projects, media stories, and photography relating to her sports career as a track and field athlete. Acuff was even featured on national television commercials. A new challenge was taken in 1999 as she successfully organized the making of the ''2000 Omnilite Millennium Calendar of Champions'', which featured nude/semi-nude photographs of Acuff and 11 other U.S. female track and field stars, with half the proceeds going to the Florence Griffith-Joyner Youth Foundation. Acuff's cover appearances include: * ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', "Women of Summer: Strength & Beauty: A Portfolio of America's 10 Sexiest Athletes" *

Men's magazine This is a list of magazines primarily marketed to men. The list has been split into subcategories according to the target audience of the magazines. This list includes mostly mainstream magazines as well as adult ones. Not included here are aut ...

s, such as ''

Maxim Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment *Maxim (magazine), ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** Maxim (Australia), ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** Maxim (India), ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim ...

'' and ''

FHM ''FHM'' (For Him Magazine) is a British multinational men's lifestyle magazine that was published in several countries. Its master edition contained features such as the ''FHM'' 100 Sexiest Women in the World, which has featured models, actres ...

'' * The 2004 Olympics were noted for the large number of female Olympians who posed nude—following in the footsteps of the 2000

Matildas The Australia women's national soccer team is overseen by the governing body for soccer in Australia, Football Australia, which is currently a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the regional ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) si ...

and the Omni calendar. Of the 2004 examples the most visible was Acuff's appearance on the cover and within ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

s "The Women of the Olympics" issue. * Acuff appears across the top of the title for ''The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition''.

Personal life

Acuff graduated from Calallen High School in Corpus Christi, Texas. She attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

and was inducted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

in 2007. Acuff went on to study at the Academy of Oriental Medicine in Austin, Texas, and become a licensed acupuncturist. She is distantly related to country musician

Roy Acuff Roy Claxton Acuff (September 15, 1903 – November 23, 1992) was an American country music singer, fiddler, and promoter. Known as the "King of Country Music", Acuff is often credited with moving the genre from its early string band and "hoedow ...

(her grandfather's second cousin). She is married to Tye Harvey, a retired pole vaulter. They have a daughter, Elsa. In addition to being a model, Acuff is also an artist with work on display with the

Art of the Olympians Art of the Olympians (AOTO) is an organization and program of Olympian and Paralympian artists that promotes the Olympic ideals of values, integrity, character, respect, honor, and work ethic through exhibitions and educational programs. It puts ...

References

External links

Official website
*
Video Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Acuff, Amy 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Austin, Texas Sportspeople from Port Arthur, Texas Track and field athletes from California Female models from Texas American female high jumpers Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes Calallen High School alumni Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Goodwill Games medalists in athletics Universiade gold medalists for the United States Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games 20th-century American women 21st-century American women