Bailey Lear (born 17 March 2001) is an American track and field athlete who competes over

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

Early life

She attended Heritage High School in

Frisco, Texas Frisco is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Collin County, Texas, Collin and Denton County, Texas, Denton counties. It is part of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex (DFW) and about from both Dallas Love Field and Dallas/Fort Worth In ...

. A successful junior athlete, in February 2018, she became the fastest girls indoor 400 m runner ever in Texas with a 53.20 effort at the Texas Tech Open. She committed to attend

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

in late 2017.

Career

She was a gold medalist at the 2023 U23 NACAC Championships in San Jose, Costa Rica, in the mixed 4 × 400 m relay alongside

Will Sumner Will Sumner (born 22 October 2003) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. He competed for the Georgia Bulldogs before turning professional in 2023. Career In high school, Sumner ran the third fastest ever 800 me ...

, Caleb Cavanaugh, and Kiah Williams. She finished fourth at the

2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2024 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships were held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds from January 27-28, and the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico from February 16–17. Organized by USA Track and Field (USATF), it s ...

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

in the 400 metres. She was selected for the

2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships The 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships was the 19th edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the World Athletics. The event was held between 1–3 March at the Commonwealth Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velod ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

as part of the

4 × 400 m 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is a square number, the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. Evolution of the Hi ...

relay team. She was part of the quartet which qualified for the final, where they finished in the silver medal position. In April 2024, she was selected as part of the American team for the

2024 World Athletics Relays The 2024 World Athletics Relays was held in Nassau, Bahamas on 4 and 5 May 2024. Overview The first 3 editions of the IAAF World Relays (former name) have been held in the same site: 2014 IAAF World Relays, 2015 IAAF World Relays and 2017 IAAF ...

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

. She finished fourth over 400 metres at the

2025 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2025 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships were held at the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island, New York City from February 22–23. Organized by USA Track and Field (USATF), it served as the indoor United States national champio ...

. She was selected for the relay pool at the

2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships The 20th World Athletics Indoor Championships were held from 21 to 23 March 2025 in Nanjing, People's Republic of China, at the newly built Nanjing's Cube gymnasium in the Nanjing Youth Olympic Sports Park. Nanjing was originally due to host the ...

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

in March 2025, where she won the gold medal in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay. On 24 April 2025, she was named in the American team for the

2025 World Athletics Relays The 2025 World Athletics Relays was held at the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzhou, China on 10 and 11 May 2025. It was the 7th edition of the World Athletics Relays and the first time the event was held in China. The 2025 edition was the ...

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, China in May 2025. She competed for the United States in the women's 4 × 400 metres relay, running the anchor leg as the team won their heat to secure a place at the 2025 World Championships, and won the silver medal on the second day by finishing runner-up to Spain in the final.

Personal life

Lear was named an assistant coach for sprints and hurdles, and operations coordinator, for

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

in October 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lear, Bailey 2001 births Living people American female sprinters African-American track and field athletes USC Trojans women's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from Texas 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century African-American sportswomen World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Georgia Bulldogs track and field coaches