Hyleas Fountain (born January 14, 1981) is an American heptathlete. She was the silver medalist in the event at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Career

Early years

Fountain was born in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee ...

, and was a member of the 1992 Harrisburg Parks and Recreation track club under coach Horace Camero, until 1994 Greater Paxtonia Track Club under coach Darnell L Williams. She attended Central Dauphin East High School in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

, where she was under the coaching of Al Moten, Fred Leuschner, Jim Seidler, and Braden Cook. She then continued her career at Barton Community College (Kansas) under Coach Lance Brauman of PURE Athletics Inc and then going to the

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 ...

under coach Wayne Norton. Fountain has won

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

championships in both the heptathlon and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

2005-2006

She finished 12th at the 2005 World Championships and eighth at the 2006 World Indoor Championships.

2008

In 2008, Fountain qualified for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

by winning the U.S. Olympic Trials with a personal best score of 6667 points in the heptathlon. Fountain set personal bests in five of the seven heptathlon events at the Trials. At the Olympics themselves, she originally finished in the bronze medal position. However, after the silver medallist Lyudmila Blonska tested positive on her drug test, Fountain was elevated to the silver medal position.

2009-2010

Fountain seemed sure to qualify for the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

after gaining a significant lead in the heptathlon at the US Championships (5193 points after five events). However, she injured her neck in the high jump event and aggravated the injury after a personal best long jump, thus ruling her out of the US and World Championships. She finished fourth in the pentathlon at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, setting a personal record of 4753 points as well as setting indoor bests in the shot put, high jump and 800 meters. Later that year she took on reigning world champion

Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (née Ennis; born 28 January 1986) is a British retired athlete who specialised in the heptathlon and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, a three-time world champion (2 ...

in a three-event challenge at the

Adidas Grand Prix The USATF New York Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, New York. The event was part of the IAAF Grand Prix from 2007 to 2009. For 2010 it was promoted to the top-level Diamond League through 2015. ...

. Although Fountain won only one of the events, she won the competition by merit of having the greatest points total.

2011

She led the 2011

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

after 2 events, but then fell away and pulled out of the final event (

800 meters The 800 metres, or 800 meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event sin ...

) without announcing why.

2012

Qualified for the 2012 London Olympics on June 30, 2012. In the Heptathlon at the

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

, Hyleas was competitive up until a disappointing

Long Jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, where she began to suffer from lower back pains. She continued into the

Javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon. Today, the javelin is predominantly used for sporting purposes such as the javelin throw. The javelin is nearly always thrown by hand, unlike the sling ...

but was only able to make a non-competitive performance. She did not compete in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of a ...

and while finishing with the highest incomplete score, officially registered a DNF.

Personal bests (outdoor)

Last updated 14 January 2015.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fountain, Hyleas 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Columbus, Georgia Sportspeople from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American heptathletes Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Barton Cougars women's track and field athletes Georgia Bulldogs women's track and field athletes Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Contestants on American game shows NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners American female long jumpers 21st-century American sportswomen Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games