Erica Marsha Bougard (born July 26, 1993) 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 ...

. She was NCAA indoor champion in 2013 and represented the United States at the 2013 World Championships.

Biography

Erica Bougard was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of 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 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, but grew up in

Byhalia, Mississippi Byhalia , is a town in Marshall County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 1,302 as of the 2010 census. History Byhalia was founded in the 1830s and named after Byhalia Creek, which flows past the site. Geography According to the U ...

. Her first sport was

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

; she took up track and field at Byhalia High School. Erica Bougard won 2011

Mississippi High School Activities Association The Mississippi High School Activities Association (MHSAA) is the official sanctioning body of all public and some private junior high and high school academic and athletic competitions in the state of Mississippi. It is a non-profit organization ...

state outdoor track and field long jump title. Erica was the 2011 Mississippi state long jump leader. Erica went to

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

on a track

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

. She won the heptathlon at the 2012 United States Junior Championships, scoring 5547 points; she trailed Kendell Williams through six events, but overtook her in the

800 meters The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

. She made her international debut at the 2012 World Junior Championships in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, placing 13th. In the heptathlon, Bougard is strong in the five running and jumping events, but weak in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

, Bougard won the

pentathlon 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 ...

at the 2013 NCAA indoor championships, scoring a school record 4399 points. At the outdoor NCAA meet she placed fourth in the heptathlon (with a personal best 5976 points) and sixteenth in the long jump. Two weeks later, she improved to 5990 points at the

2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2013 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 20–23 in conjunction with the USA Junior Outdoor Track & Field Champions ...

, placing third and qualifying for the senior

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, ...

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 ...

. Bougard scored 5829 points at the World Championships, placing 24th. At the 2014 NCAA indoor championships Bougard was second to Williams with 4586 points; both Williams and Bougard broke the previous collegiate record of 4569 points by Makeba Alcide. Outdoors, Bougard

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

the collegiate season but broke 6000 points for the first time at the United States championships, repeating her third place from the previous year with 6118 points. In 2015 Bougard again placed second to Williams at the NCAA indoor meet, this time with 4566 points; outdoors, she scored a personal best 6250 points at the SEC championships and entered the NCAA outdoor championships as the collegiate leader, but only placed fourth as

Akela Jones Akela Jones (born 22 April 1995) is a Barbadian track and field athlete who holds Barbadian records in the women's heptathlon, pentathlon, long jump and high jump. She won gold in the long jump at the 2014 World Junior Championships. In 2015, s ...

won. At the 2015 USATF championships Bougard placed third for the third consecutive year, improving her best to 6288 points and qualifying for the

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 ...

. In 2016, Bougard completed in three events at 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in in long jump to place 12th, in high jump to place 5th and 6088 points in heptathlon to place 2nd. Three weeks later, Bougard placed seventh in

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 hept ...

scoring 6070 points at 2016 United States Olympic Trials (track and field). She is openly lesbian.

Competition record

2018 USATF Indoor Championships
Albuquerque Convention Center February 16–18, 2018 Albuquerque, NM

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 ...

. February 16, 2018

References

External links

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Erica Bougard Byhalia High School Track & Field Results
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Erica Bougard track and field profile
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bougard, Erica 1993 births Living people American heptathletes Mississippi State Bulldogs women's track and field athletes People from Byhalia, Mississippi World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Sportspeople from Memphis, Tennessee Track and field athletes from Mississippi American lesbians American LGBT sportspeople LGBT track and field athletes USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners African-American LGBT people Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Lesbian sportswomen Olympic track and field athletes for the United States