Jeffrey Issack Porter (born November 27, 1985) is an American

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competes in the

110-meter hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

. He has a personal best of 13.08 seconds for the event. He gained a spot on the American Olympic team by coming third at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. He repeated his third place at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials to make his second Olympic team. On June 25, 2017, he announced his retirement from track and field. He competed for the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

collegiately and was the 2007

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. ...

indoor champion in the

60-meter hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling 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 bo ...

. He represented his country at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

, coming fourth in the hurdles, and the 2012 Summer Olympics, reaching the semi-finals.

Early life and college

Born in

Summit, New Jersey Summit is the northernmost City (New Jersey), city of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, located within the New York metropolitan area. Situated on a ridge in north Jersey, northern–central Jersey, centra ...

, Porter grew up in the

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

section of Franklin Township, New Jersey and attended Franklin High School as part of the class of 2003, where he was the top American junior hurdler in 2002. He won the 110 m hurdles at the 2001

AAU Junior Olympics The AAU Junior Olympic Games are the pinnacle competitions held annually by the US Amateur Athletic Union. Overview The AAU Junior Olympic Games are known as the largest national multi-sport event for youth in the United States. It has become th ...

. He gained an

athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university or a private school, private high school awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. Athletic scholarships are common in the U ...

to study

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

at the

. In his freshman indoor season in 2004 he won the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

title in the

and he was runner-up at that season's Big Ten Outdoor meet. He was less successful in his second season at Michigan, taking third at the Big Ten Indoor Championship and eighth outdoors. Porter came second at the 2006 Big Ten Indoor meet then placed fourth in the NCAA Indoor Championship with a personal record run of 7.77 seconds. He opened his outdoor season by improving his 110 m hurdles best to 13.93 seconds and he went on to win his first Big Ten Outdoor title. He continued to improve in his final year for the

Ron Warhurst Ron Warhurst (born c. 1943) is an American track and field coach. He was the head coach of the University of Michigan's men's track and field team from 2000 to 2008. Warhurst was also a member of the cross country teams at Western Michigan that w ...

-coached

Michigan Wolverines The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except wo ...

: he was runner-up in the 60 m hurdles at the Big Ten Indoors,Jeff Porter
Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2012-07-07. but won his first NCAA title two weeks later with a personal record run of 7.64 seconds. He made large improvements outdoors, winning the Big Ten title in a best of 13.70 seconds. He ran a 110 m hurdles lifetime best of 13.57 seconds in the semi-finals of the NCAA Outdoors, but was a little slower in the final, finishing fourth. He made his debut 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 Oly ...

that year and reached the semi-finals.

Professional career

Porter competed on the European track and field circuit for the first time in 2008 and at the

Golden Spike Ostrava Golden Spike () is an annual athletics event at the Městský Stadion in Ostrava- Vítkovice, Czech Republic as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1961. The history of the meeting was interrupted in 1999, whe ...

meet he ran a personal best of 13.47 seconds, but he did not carry this form to the United States Olympic Trials, where he was eliminated in the early stages. He ran 13.58 seconds in Ostrava the year after, but again failed at national level at the

2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships took place between June 25–28 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. The competition acted as a way of selecting the United States team for the 2009 World Championships in Athletics in Berlin later ...

. After competing a smaller European meeting he ended the season with a best of 13.37 seconds.Jeff Porter
IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-07-07. He received his first national level honours at the

USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The USA Indoor Track and Field Championships is an annual indoor track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. In years which feature a World Indoor Championships i ...

in 2010 by taking the

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

in the 60 m hurdles with a personal record of 7.62 seconds. In spite of a quick start to the outdoor season – 13.45 seconds at the

Osaka Grand Prix The Golden Grand Prix Osaka is an international athletics competition in Osaka, Japan, held in May at the Yanmar Stadium Nagai, since 2018 under its current name. From 1996 to 2010 the event was known as the ''Osaka Grand Prix''. Formerly part o ...

in May – he did not reach faster times in the rest of the year and was again eliminated in the rounds of the national championships. He had a strong indoor season in Europe in 2011: he won the Guglindoor and

Meeting Pas de Calais The Meeting Hauts-de-France Pas-de-Calais (formerly Meeting Pas de Calais) also called Meeting International de Liévin (''International Meeting of Liévin'') is an annual indoor track and field competition which takes place in February at Arena ...

(setting a best of 7.57 at the latter), then placed top three at the Aviva Indoor Grand Prix and

XL Galan The Globen Galan is an annual indoor athletics event held in February at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden. The meeting was first held in 1990 and from 2000 to 2010 known as GE Galan, because General Electric was the official title sponsor. ...

. He also bettered his outdoor performances, running 13.34 in

Montreuil Montreuil is a French place name derived from Medieval Latin , "Little Monastery". It most often refers to Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis (aka Montreuil-sous-Bois), a French commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, Seine-St-Denis department. It ma ...

and placing fifth in the final at the 2011 USA Championships with a best of 13.26 seconds. He won the Palio Citta della Quercia meet in September and a month later he represented his country for the first time at the

, where he took fourth place. In light of his achievements, he received an elite athlete development grant from the USATF Foundation in February 2012. The 2012 season began with another good indoor season for Porter, highlighted by a record run of 7.54 seconds to win at the BW-Bank Meeting in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

. He dipped under 13.3 seconds for the 110 m hurdles at the Golden Spike Ostrava meet, finishing behind Dexter Faulk with a run of 13.29, and his wife

Tiffany Porter Tiffany Adaeze Porter ( Ofili; born 13 November 1987) is a track and field athlete with joint British and American nationality who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles. She represented the United States as a junior, but began representing Great ...

won the women's hurdles race. He ran 13.26 in June to reach his first

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

podium at the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

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. ...

, being beaten only by world champion

Jason Richardson Jason Anthoney Richardson Sr. (born January 20, 1981) is an American former professional basketball player who played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Richardson was taken by the Golden State Warriors as the fifth overall ...

. His upward trend continued at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, where he ran 13.19 in the semi-finals, then got the third Olympic spot in the final in a personal record time of 13.08 seconds. He was a surprise addition to the American Olympic squad, beating highly ranked hurdlers including David Oliver. At the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, Porter ran 13.21 for a qualifying third place, the same time as second place Ronnie Ash, the placing separated by one thousandth of a second.

Personal life

He is married to another hurdler,

, who competes internationally for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. Their family is

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Jeff 1985 births Living people American male hurdlers African-American track and field athletes Franklin High School (New Jersey) alumni Michigan Wolverines men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Summit, New Jersey Sportspeople from Franklin Township, Somerset County, New Jersey Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Track and field athletes from New Jersey Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners African-American Catholics 21st-century American sportsmen