Hyleas Fountain (born January 14, 1981) 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 the silver medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Career

Early years

Fountain was born in

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, and was a member of the 1992 Harrisburg Parks and Recreation track club under coach Horace Camero, until 1994 Greater Paxtonia Track Club under coach Darnell L Williams. She attended

Central Dauphin East High School Central Dauphin East High School is a large, suburban, public high school located in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. It is one of two high schools operated by the Central Dauphin School District. In the 2017–2018 school year, enrollmen ...

in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where she was under the coaching of Al Moten, Fred Leuschner, Jim Seidler, and Braden Cook. She then continued her career at Barton Community College (Kansas) under Coach Jack Bowman and then going to the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

under coach Wayne Norton. Fountain has won

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 an ...

championships in both the heptathlon and

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 ...

2005-2006

She finished 12th at the 2005 World Championships and eighth at the 2006 World Indoor Championships.

2008

In 2008, Fountain qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics by winning the U.S. Olympic Trials with a personal best score of 6667 points in the heptathlon. Fountain set personal bests in five of the seven heptathlon events at the Trials. At the Olympics themselves, she originally finished in the bronze medal position. However, after the silver medallist Lyudmila Blonska tested positive on her drug test, Fountain was elevated to the silver medal position.

2009-2010

Fountain seemed sure to qualify for 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 Brandenburg ...

after gaining a significant lead in the heptathlon at the US Championships (5193 points after five events). However, she injured her neck in the high jump event and aggravated the injury after a personal best long jump, thus ruling her out of the US and World Championships. She finished fourth in the pentathlon at the

2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics was held between 12 and 14 March at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar. The championships was the first of six IAAF World Athletics Series events to take place in 2010. Bidding and organisation ...

, setting a personal record of 4753 points as well as setting indoor bests in the shot put, high jump and 800 meters. Later that year she took on reigning world champion

Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...

in a three-event challenge at the Adidas Grand Prix. Although Fountain won only one of the events, she won the competition by merit of having the greatest points total.

2011

She led the 2011

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, ...

in Daegu,

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

after 2 events, but then fell away and pulled out of the final event (

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 the ...

) without announcing why.

2012

Qualified for the 2012 London Olympics on June 30, 2012. In the Heptathlon at the

London 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 ...

, Hyleas was competitive up until a disappointing

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 ...

, where she began to suffer from lower back pains. She continued into the Javelin but was only able to make a non-competitive performance. She did not compete in the

800 metres 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 t ...

and while finishing with the highest incomplete score, officially registered a DNF.

Personal bests (outdoor)

Last updated 14 January 2015.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fountain, Hyleas 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Columbus, Georgia Sportspeople from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American heptathletes Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Barton Cougars women's track and field athletes Junior college women's track and field athletes in the United States Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners American Ninja Warrior contestants