Tora Lian-Juin Harris (born September 21, 1978) is an American

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. He is a

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

of Taiwanese and

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

descent. Harris is an Olympian, a four-time national champion and two-time bronze medalist in international competition. He represented Team USA twice in the

IAAF World Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic ...

, three times in the

IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

and has served as a representative once in the

IAAF Continental Cup The IAAF Continental Cup was an international track and field competition organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). The event was proposed by IAAF former President Primo Nebiolo and was first held in 1977 as ...

. He spent two years as the No. 1 ranked high jumper in the United States. In college, Harris was a five-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, while earning the two individual (2002 indoor and outdoor)

National Collegiate Athletic Association 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. ...

(NCAA) championships. He also represented Team USA at one

World University Games The FISU World University Games, formerly the Universiade, is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The former name is a portmanteau of the words "Universi ...

. He is both the Ivy League indoor and outdoor high jump record holder and Princeton's only two-time NCAA individual event track and field champion. He is an eight-time individual Ivy League/Heptagonal champion, winning the indoor and outdoor high jump championships four times each.

Early life

Harris was born in

College Park, Georgia College Park is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, Fulton and Clayton County, Georgia, Clayton counties, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, adjacent to the southern boundary of the city of Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States census, ...

. His mother, Susan (Su-Chen), is Taiwanese. His father, Tommie Lee Harris (1934–1999), was African American. His parents made him take

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

lessons when he was young, and he now speaks the language fluently. He attended first grade in Taiwan, where he was introduced to jumping. Harris high jumped in high school. He placed second in the 1997

Georgia High School Association The Georgia High School Association (GHSA) is an organization that governs athletics and activities for member high schools in Georgia, USA. GHSA is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations. The association has 46 ...

Class AAA high jump championships. Harris is a 1997 alumnus of South Atlanta High School and was a member of

's graduating class of 2002. Harris studied

mechanical Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations o ...

and

aerospace engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

at Princeton.

College career

While at Princeton, Harris excelled at intercollegiate athletics. Harris was a four-time NCAA Outdoor Track & Field All-American placing 7th, 5th, 4th and 1st in 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002, respectively. He also was an NCAA Indoor All-American in 2002 when he placed 1st at the NCAA Championships. He did not participate in intercollegiate competition in 2000 in order to prepare for the 2000 United States Olympic trials. He failed to make the team after finishing seventh at the Olympic trials. He won the indoor heptagonal championships in 2001, tying an Ivy League indoor record () that still stood as of 2011. He won the 2001 outdoor Heptagonal championships with a record jump of . That year he was the Indoor Heptagonal Championships Most Outstanding Performer and Outdoor Heptagonal Championships Most Outstanding Performer as well as the Mid-Atlantic Region Male Indoor Athlete of the Year as selected by the United States Track Coaches Association. He won a bronze medal at the 2001 World University Games. His 2002 outdoor Heptagonal championships performance of continues to be an Ivy League outdoor record. Harris concluded his collegiate career with a total of eight Ivy League/Heptagonal individual championships. He was also both the NCAA indoor and outdoor champion in 2002. By winning both the indoor and outdoor NCAA championships, he became Princeton's only two-time NCAA individual event track and field champion. He finished second to Yasser El Halaby as Princeton's Athlete of the 2000–09 Decade.

Professional career

He was a two-time United States National indoor champion (2005 and 2007) and a two-time United States National outdoor champion (2006 and 2009). At the 2003 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Harris, Charles Austin and Charles Clinger all posted heights of , with Austin claiming gold based on fewer misses and Harris winning a jump off for silver. On two other occasions (2006 Indoor vs.

Adam Shunk Adam Shunk (born August 29, 1979) is an American high jumper. Shunk earned a BA in Psychology from the University of North Carolina in 2003 and attained a PhD in Educational Psychology/Neuropsychology at Ball State University. He competed for ...

at 2.25 m, and 2010 Outdoor vs. Jesse Williams at 2.26 m) he earned silver medals at the US national championships despite clearing as high a height as the gold medalist. He was a member of the United States team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

along with high jumpers

Matt Hemingway Matthew Eliot Hemingway (born October 24, 1972) is a retired American track and field athlete. He won a silver medal in the high jump at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens by clearing a height of 2.34 meters (7 ft 8 in). Reflecting on th ...

and

Jamie Nieto Jamie Earl "James" Nieto (born November 2, 1976) is an American high jumper and actor. His personal best jump is , achieved at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. He was the 2004 and 2012 USA Olympic Trials Champion as well as the 2003 USA Outdo ...

. Harris failed to advance past the first round when he could not clear on any of his three attempts leaving him with a best height of and a 17th-place finish. He represented the United States at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in both

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

and in the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

and

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

. He won a bronze medal at the

2006 IAAF World Cup The 10th IAAF World Cup in Athletics was an international track and field sporting event, held under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which took place on 16 and 17 September 2006 at the Olympic Stadium in At ...

. Harris was the No. 1 ranked high jumper in the United States according to ''

Track & Field News ''Track & Field News'' is an American monthly sports magazine founded in 1948 by brothers Bert Nelson and Cordner Nelson, focused on the world of track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includ ...

'' in both 2002 and 2006 and was among the top 10 every year from 2001 through 2009. His personal best jump is , achieved in June 2006 in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Harris trains out of his

Chula Vista, California Chula Vista ( ; , ) is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is the second-most populous city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the Largest cities in Southern California, seventh-most populous city in Southern California ...

, residence. He has developed, produced and marketed the electric ODK

cargo bike There have been many human powered vehicles designed and constructed specifically for transporting loads since their earliest appearance in the history of the bicycle, 20th century. They are referred to variously depending on the number of wheel ...

, under the Juiced Bikes name.

References

External links

*
Tora Harris
at

USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a 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 1 ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Tora 1978 births Living people American male high jumpers Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States Princeton Tigers men's track and field athletes FISU World University Games bronze medalists for the United States Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Sportspeople from College Park, Georgia Track and field athletes from Georgia (U.S. state) African-American track and field athletes American sportspeople of Taiwanese descent Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportsmen

Early life

College career

Professional career

See also

References

External links