Ebony Leea Morrison (born 28 December 1994) is a

Black American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today ...

. Her paternal ancestry was traced to

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

, which allowed her to gain citizenship and compete for the country. At the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

, she represented Liberia. She ran a time of 12.74 in the women's 100m hurdles and was a semi finalist. She also competed at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

Career

Morrison attended

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

before transferring in 2014–2015 to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

where she studied film and media studies. At Miami, she competed in the women's

60m 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At indoor events, the 60 metres is run on lanes set out in the mi ...

and

100m hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

. Morrison was one of three competitors representing Liberia at the 2020 Olympics, along with sprinters

Joseph Fahnbulleh Joseph Fahnbulleh (born 11 September 2001) is a Liberian-American sprinter. An Olympic finalist, Fahnbulleh is a double NCAA champion and finished fourth at the 2022 World Athletics Championships in the 200 meters race. Early and personal life B ...

and Emmanuel Matadi. She and Fahnbulleh carried the Liberian flag in the

Parade of Nations The Olympic Games ceremonies are events held at the Olympic Games since their beginning in the ancient games, including the opening, closing, and medal ceremonies. The ceremonies are used to introduce and end the competition, award competitors, ...

in the opening ceremony. The team's outfits were designed by Liberian-American designer

Telfar Clemens Telfar Clemens (born 1985) is a Liberian-American fashion designer and the founder of the fashion label Telfar. Clemens won the 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, and won the CFDA Fashion Award for American Accessories Designer of the Year in 2020 ...

. Morrison earned a spot on Team Liberia for the 2024 Summer Olympics and ran in the women's 100m hurdles competition in

Paris, France Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She ran a 12.93 in Serie 2 and later competed in the Repechage Round, where she placed first in her heat with a time of 12.82 .

Personal life

Morrison was born to Stacey Morrison and Demar Woodson and grew up in Miami, Florida. Her maternal grandmother, Almarita “Rita” Mackins, played a huge role in helping her mother raise her. She attended Southridge High School and

, where she earned a full-ride scholarship for track and field. After the passing of her mother from cancer in 2014, she returned to Miami to be closer to her grandmother. She also received another full-ride scholarship to continue her pursuit of track at the University of Miami. Morrison earned her Bachelor's in Motion Picture Production with a minor in

Theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

at the University of Miami. Her love for track and the arts can be attributed to her mother, Stacey, who ran track and studied theatre at

Morgan State University Morgan State University (Morgan State or MSU) is a Public university, public historically black colleges and universities, historically black research university in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland. It is the largest of Maryland's historically bla ...

. Her mother later became a theatre professor at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

References

External links

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Image of Morrison and fellow-flagbearer Joseph Fahnbulleh
at Getty Images 1994 births Living people Olympic athletes for Liberia Liberian female hurdlers Auburn University alumni University of Miami alumni Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Auburn Tigers women's track and field athletes Miami Hurricanes women's track and field athletes Place of birth missing (living people) Athletes (track and field) at the 2023 African Games African Games silver medalists for Liberia Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics African Games silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2023 African Games {{Liberia-athletics-bio-stub