Sharon Day-Monroe (; born June 9, 1985) is an American

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

pentathlete A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

and high jumper. She is the 2011, 2013, and 2014 national heptathlon champion. Day-Monroe was also the 2012–2015 national indoor pentathlon champion, a two-time Olympian (part of Team USA in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

), held the U.S. national pentathlon scoring record from 2014 until 2023, and is the first athlete to win four consecutive national championships in the pentathlon. She was signed with ASICS as a professional.

Early life

Day originally excelled in the high jump. As a junior athlete, she was the 2003 Pan American Junior champion in the high jump, and in 2004, she won the bronze medal at the World Junior Championships, clearing 1.91 meters. While at Costa Mesa High School she was the

CIF California State Meet The CIF California State Meet is the annual championship track and field meet for the California Interscholastic Federation. The meet was started in 1915 for boys and 1974 for girls. Every athlete in every high school in California has a direc ...

champion two years in a row, and was coached in the high jump by her father, Eugene Day. Day's mother, Yolanda Day, was also an elite high jumper, and her sister, Jasmin Day, competed in the high jump for the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. ...

. During her junior year, she defeated senior Chaunte Howard.

Collegiate records and championships

Day attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, where she won the 2005

NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate outdoor track and field competitions for women organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for athletes from institutions that make ...

while setting the then-school record in the high jump at the time, with a clearance of 6–4. She later improved upon her own school record for the high jump, clearing 6 feet, 4.75 inches in May 2008. Day-Monroe also holds the school record in the heptathlon, which she attempted at the end of her college career, after also being a standout soccer player in the fall. As a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

in soccer for the

Mustangs The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, the ...

from 2003 to 2005 and 2007, Day tallied 27 career goals and 14 assists in 79 appearances. Day suffered a plant foot fracture in 2005 that required two surgeries and a year of rehabilitation. All of the heptathlon events except the high jump were taught to Day by her coach, Jack Hoyt. Day had not competed in the long jump, hurdles, shot put, javelin, 200 meters, or 800 meters prior to spring 2007, but she trained for these events after her soccer season.

Career personal bests (outdoor)

Professional national and global events

2007 Outdoor championship

Day-Monroe earned a silver medal in the high jump, clearing 1.89m (or 6–2.25).

2008 U.S. Outdoor championship

She earned the bronze medal in the high jump, clearing 1.91m (6–3.25). 1.79 1.84 1.89 1.91 1.93 O O XO XO XXX

2008 Beijing Olympics

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, she high-jumped 1.85m to finish 24th in qualifying.

2009 U.S. Outdoor championship

Day-Monroe earned a silver medal, scoring 6,177 points.

2009 World Championship

At the

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

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, she competed in both the high jump, finishing 17th, and the

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

, finishing 10th as the top American finisher (scoring 6,126 points).

2010 U.S. Outdoor championships

Day-Monroe won the silver, scoring 6,006 points.

2011 U.S. Outdoor championships

Day-Monroe won the heptathlon by scoring 6,058 points.

2011 World Championship

She finished 18th at the 2011 World Championships in

Daegu, South Korea Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

while scoring 6,043 points.

2012 Indoor Championships

Day-Monroe won the pentathlon by scoring 4,567 points.

2012 U.S. Olympic Trials

Day-Monroe trained at the time with then-UCLA coach Jack Hoyt, and volunteered as an assistant coach with the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

team. While winning th
Sam Adams
Multi-Event meet at

Westmont College Westmont College is a private Christian liberal arts college in Montecito, California. It was founded in 1937. History Ruth Kerr, owner and CEO of the Kerr Glass Manufacturing Company, established the school as the Bible Missionary Institute i ...

Montecito, California Montecito ( Spanish for "Little mountain") is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Santa Barbara County, California.McCormack, Don (1999). ''McCormack's Guides Santa Barbara and Ventura 2000''. Mccormacks Guides. p. 58. . Locate ...

, Day achieved the "A" standard for the 2012 Olympics. She won the silver with 6,343 points

2012 London Olympics

She finished 16th in the heptathlon at the

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

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, with 6,232 points.

2013 USA Indoor championships

Day-Monroe won the pentathlon for the second consecutive year, scoring 4,478 points.

2013 USA Outdoor championships

Day-Monroe won the heptathlon with 6,550 points.

2013 Moscow World Championships

At the 2013 World Championships in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, she finished sixth in the heptathlon, scoring 6,407 points.

2014 USATF Indoor Championship and American Record

Day-Monroe broke the American pentathlon record at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in the

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

Convention Center. It was the third consecutive national indoor championship for Day-Monroe, who finished with a score of 4,805. The national scoring record stood until 2023 when Anna Hall surpassed it. Day-Monroe's total was 238 points ahead of her previous career best, and eclipsed the old record which had been shared by

DeDee Nathan LeShundra "DeDee" Nathan (born April 20, 1968, in Birmingham, Alabama) is a retired heptathlete from the United States, who won the gold medal at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba. She is a two-time U.S. champion (2000 and 2001) an ...

(set on March 5, 1999) and

Hyleas Fountain Hyleas Fountain (born January 14, 1981) is an American heptathlete. She was the silver medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Career Early years Fountain was born in Columbus, Georgia, and was a member of the 1992 Harrisburg Park ...

(tied on March 10, 2013), by a margin of 52 points. Day-Monroe set a personal best of 8.44 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles, then cleared 1.88 meters (or 6 feet, 2 inches) to win the high jump, and proceeded to put forth marks of 15.59 meters (or 51–1.75) in the shot put and 6.09m (19–11.75) in the long jump. Needing a time of 2:16.87 in the 800 meters to break the record, Day-Monroe closed by finishing in 2:13.19. For her record performance, she was named

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and ...

's Athlete of the Week. Her mark was the world-leading performance of 2014 until the World Indoor Championships, where it was surpassed by

Nadine Broersen Nadine Broersen (born 29 April 1990) is a Dutch track and field athlete, specializing in the heptathlon and high jump. She was the 2014 World Indoor pentathlon champion. Broersen competes for the track and field club AV Sprint in Breda. Earl ...

. Day-Monroe finished with 4,718 points at Worlds, including a field-leading 2:09.80 time in the 800m.

2014 USATF Outdoor Championship

Day-Monroe won the heptathlon with 6,470 points.

2015 USA Indoor championships

Day-Monroe won the pentathlon, her fourth consecutive indoor championship, in scoring 4,654 points.

2015 USATF Outdoor Championship

Day-Monroe was runner-up in the heptathlon with 6,458 points.

2015 Beijing World Championships

She placed 14th in the heptathlon 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 ...

, with 6,246 Points.

2016 United States Olympic Trials

Day-Monroe finished fourth in the heptathlon with 6,385 points.

2017 Indoor Championships

Day-Monroe earned a silver medal in the pentathlon, scoring 4,404 points at

2017 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2017 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships was held at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Organized by USA Track and Field (USATF), the three-day competition took place from March 3 to March 5 and served as the n ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Day-Monroe, Sharon 1985 births Living people American female high jumpers American heptathletes Sportspeople from Costa Mesa, California Track and field athletes from California African-American female track and field athletes Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners Cal Poly Mustangs athletes Cal Poly Mustangs women's soccer players Cal Poly Mustangs track and field California Polytechnic State University alumni Sportspeople from Orange County, California 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women American women's soccer players Women's association football forwards Track and field athletes from Brooklyn Soccer players from California Soccer players from New York City