Sharika Renea Nelvis (born May 10, 1990) is an American

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, ...

. In 2014, she was

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

and outdoor sprint hurdles champion. After graduating from

Arkansas State University Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

that summer, Nelvis turned professional and topped the indoor world list in 2015. Nelvis represented the United States at the

2015 World Championships in Athletics The 2015 IAAF World Championships ( zh, 第十五届世界田径锦标赛), the fifteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 22 to 30 August at the National Stadium in Beijing, China. Forty-three nations won medals, 144 of ...

100 m 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 p ...

and the

2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 17th IAAF World Indoor Championships was held from 1 to 4 March 2018 in Birmingham, United Kingdom. This was the city's second hosting of the event as it previously did so in 2003. Bidding process Birmingham bid for the 2016 IAAF World Ind ...

60 m hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds (Susanna Ka ...

. Nelvis won the women's

60 metres hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds (Susanna Ka ...

with a time of 7.70 at

2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships were held at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Organized by USA Track and Field (USATF), the three-day competition took place from February 16 to February 18 and served ...

and repeated in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Early life

Nelvis was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the County seat, seat of Shelby County, Tennessee, Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 Uni ...

on May 10, 1990. She had a difficult childhood; both of her parents died before she'd turned eight, and after her grandmother suffered a stroke Nelvis was taken in by an aunt and separated from three of her four siblings. Nelvis took up track and field in

sixth grade Sixth grade (or grade six in some regions) is the sixth year of schooling. Students are typically 11–12 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs. Different terms and numbers are used in other parts of the world. It is commonly the firs ...

, competing first in the sprints and then also the hurdles and the

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 ...

; in addition, she played volleyball, softball and basketball. She became a leading track athlete at Northside High School, winning four events at the 2009

class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

Tennessee state championship meet.

Collegiate career

After graduating from high school, Nelvis briefly attended

Southwest Mississippi Community College Southwest Mississippi Community College is a public community college in Summit, Mississippi. History The college was officially started in 1908 as an agricultural high school. The Pike County Agricultural High School opened on September 3, 1918, ...

, but found it did not suit her; she left almost immediately and transferred to

, having been recruited by its assistant track coach, fellow Memphis native Jason Brooks. Nelvis missed the 2009–10 track and field season due to ineligibility resulting from her transfer, but after that, she developed rapidly under the coaching of Brooks and Arkansas State's head track coach Jim Patchell. In 2011, she was named the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams partici ...

's top freshman both indoors and outdoors. Over the next three years Nelvis won Sun Belt championships in the sprints, hurdles and long jump; she was named the conference's top track and field athlete indoors and outdoors in 2012 and again in 2013. She broke 13 seconds in the

for the first time at the 2013

NCAA championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

, winning her semi-final in 12.84 (+1.3); in the final she ran 12.92 and placed sixth, her first points finish in an NCAA meet. In 2014, her

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year, Nelvis developed into America's top collegiate hurdler. She became NCAA indoor champion in the

(7.93) and outdoor champion in the 100 m hurdles (12.52w), both times defeating a field that included

Jasmin Stowers Jasmin Marie Stowers (born September 23, 1991) is a former United States, American track and field athlete, who competed in the 100 metres hurdles, 100-meter hurdles. Her personal best for the event is 12.35 seconds, set in 2015, which ranks her 1 ...

. Nelvis was named Sun Belt Female Athlete of the Year and won the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

for the best collegiate female track and field athlete in the nation; she was also short-listed for the Bowerman, but lost to middle-distance runner

Laura Roesler Laura Roesler (born December 19, 1991) is an American middle distance runner who specializes in the 800 metres. She is currently coached by Rose Monday and based in Florida. High School career Roesler was a 22-time North Dakota state champion ...

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

Professional career

Nelvis started competing as a professional in 2015. After losing her first race she remained unbeaten during the 2015 indoor season, winning seven consecutive races; her winning time in

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

(7.83) was her personal best and the fastest time in the world that winter, one-hundredth of a second ahead of Stowers. Outdoors, Nelvis made her

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

debut in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

, placing second to Stowers in a personal best 12.54. She then scored her first Diamond League victory in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, improving to 12.52 as Stowers, Brianna Rollins and

Sally Pearson Sally Pearson, OAM (née McLellan; born 19 September 1986) is an Australian former athlete. She is the 2011 and 2017 World champion and 2012 Olympic champion in the 100 metres hurdles. She also won a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at th ...

all crashed; the win moved her into an early lead in the 2015 Diamond Race. Nelvis entered the national outdoor championships as one of the favorites, and won her heat in a world-leading 12.34 (+1.9); the time moved her up to seventh on the world all-time list and third on the national all-time list. She also led the field in the semi-finals (12.37); in the final she only placed third in 12.59, and made the American team at 2015 US Outdoor Track & Field Championships for the

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, ...

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 ...

by one-hundredth of a second. Nelvis won her first US title in the women's

with a time of 7.70 at

where she set the NACAC & American record and earned a spot on

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at 2018 Birmingham World Championships where she placed 4th in 7.86.

References

External links

* * * * *
Sharika Nelvis profile on

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

Sharika Nelvis like a pro profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nelvis, Sharika 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee Track and field athletes from Tennessee Arkansas State Red Wolves women's track and field athletes American female hurdlers World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 20th-century American women 21st-century American women