Chris Carter (born March 11, 1989) is an American

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete who competes in the

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

. He has a personal record of for the event, set in 2014. He was the 2014 USA Indoor Champion in the triple jump. Carter represented his country at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

and the

2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was the fifteenth edition of the international indoor track and field competition, organised by the IAAF. The event was held between 7–9 March 2014 at the Ergo Arena in Sopot, Poland. Prepa ...

, finishing sixth at both events. He competed collegiately for the Houston Cougars. He was a six-time Conference USA champion in the triple jump, as well as a two-time

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 ...

champion.

Career

Early life and college

Born in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

to Sheila Phillips and Michael Carter, Chris Carter became involved in track and field sports at high school. Competing in horizontal jumps and

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 both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

events, he was the 2007 Texas State high school champion in the triple jump. That year he was the long jump winner at the

Texas Relays The Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays are an annual track and field competition held at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas. The University of Texas serves as host for the event, held on either the first or second weekend of April. Events are he ...

and competed in both jumps at the

AAU Junior Olympic Games 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 t ...

, coming fifth in the long jump and winning the triple jump with an AAU record of . He left high school with bests of for the long jump and 53.90 seconds for the

400-meter hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

. Set on collegiate competition, Carter chose to study at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...

in recognition of its track and field facilities (

Carl Lewis Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 ...

and

Leroy Burrell Leroy Russel Burrell (born February 21, 1967) is an American former track and field athlete, who twice set the world record for the 100 m sprint. Early life Burrell grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, and attended Penn Wood High School, w ...

were products of the college's Houston Cougars program). In his first academic year, he was triple jump winner and long jump fourth placer at the Conference USA indoor championship before going on to take third and second places at their outdoor championship. He focused more on jump the triple jump in 2009. That year he opened the indoor season with a personal record of , but placed third at the Conference USA Indoors. Outdoors he jumped to take second place at the Texas Relays and won his first Conference USA outdoor title. He qualified for the final of the

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

and placed tenth. He also entered the 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, but only ranked 18th. Carter was the 2010 Conference USA triple jump champion indoors and out. He also improved his long jumping, clearing , and was conference runner-up indoors and fourth outdoors. He performed poorly at the NCAA Outdoors, however, managing only to finish 18th in the triple jump. His final year of collegiate competition was also his best. He won four Conference USA titles, taking a clean sweep of the horizontal jumps indoors and outdoors. A personal record jump of came in the triple jump at the

NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship The NCAA Men's Indoor Track and Field Championship refers to one of three annual collegiate indoor track and field competitions for men organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for athletes from institutions that make up its thre ...

, bringing him fourth place in a highly competitive field. At the NCAA Outdoor Championship he competed in both jumps and placed 24th in the long jump and eighth in the triple jump.

Professional

The

2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships were held at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place from June 23–26 and served as the national championships in track and field f ...

saw Carter achieve a new personal record mark of . This ranked him fourth behind Christian Taylor, Will Claye and Walter Davis. This performance earned him his first international selection and he ended the

in sixth place. He struggled to capitalize on these progressions in the 2012 season – his best jump being for third at the Mt. SAC Relays. He was eliminated in qualifying at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. He came fourth 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 in ...

and the 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, though this meant he did not receive a call-up to an international competition. He competed at the IAAF World Challenge Beijing and was the runner-up, setting his season's best mark of at the meet. The 2014 USA Indoor Championships was the venue of his first national title in the triple jump, as he won the competition in a personal record mark of . He was unable to clear seventeen meters at the

, but managed sixth place in the final. Carter now coaches at

Atascocita High School Atascocita High School is a secondary school located in Atascocita CDP, a community housed in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, United States. AHS is a part of Humble Independent School District and serves the eastern part of the district an ...

Humble, Texas Humble ( ) is a city located in the Houston metropolitan area. Humble became an oil boomtown in the early 20th century when oil was first discovered there in 1904. By 1905, the Humble oilfield was the largest producing oilfield in Texas. Humble ...

as a Cross Country/Track and Field Coach.

Personal records

*Triple jump outdoor – (2011) *Triple jump indoor – (2014) *Long jump outdoor – (2013) *Long jump indoor – (2011) *

– 53.90 seconds (2007)

Competition record

;National titles *

: 2014

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Chris 1989 births Living people American male triple jumpers African-American male track and field athletes Houston Cougars men's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Austin, Texas USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 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 sportspeople 20th-century African-American people