Jennifer Simpson (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Barringer; born August 23, 1986) is an American middle distance

runner Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

and

steeplechase Steeplechase may refer to: * Steeplechase (horse racing), a type of horse race in which participants are required to jump over obstacles * Steeplechase (athletics), an event in athletics that derives its name from the steeplechase in horse racing ...

r. She represented the United States at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

2012 London 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 ...

and

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

. She is a former American record holder for the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

. In the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

, she won a gold medal at the 2011 World Championships, a silver medal at the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

and 2017 World Championships, and a bronze medal at the

2016 Olympic Games ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

in Rio.

Running career

High school

As a student at

Oviedo High School Oviedo High School is a grade 9–12 public secondary school set on a campus in Oviedo, Florida, a community situated in southeastern Seminole County operated by Seminole County Public Schools. Academics Oviedo High School has been rated an ...

, Jenny Barringer was a 5-time state champion in track and 3-time state champion in cross country. On 3 February 2018, Oviedo High School renamed their track Jenny Simpson Track in her honor. She also set Florida high school records in the mile, two-mile, 5000 m, and three-mile. Barringer finished 3rd in San Diego's Foot Locker Cross Country Championships in 2003 behind winner Katelyn Kaltenbach of Colorado and Marie Lawrence of Nevada. In the regional, Barringer came on strong and won for the second straight year in identical times of 17:27, becoming the first Florida girl to ever win the Footlocker South regional twice. She finished 10th in San Diego's Footlocker cross country national championship in 2004.

Collegiate

At Colorado, Barringer won the 2006 NCAA Outdoor championship steeplechase in a time of 9:53.04. The following year, she won the USATF Outdoor steeplechase championship in 9:34.64. She finished 7th in heats at IAAF World Outdoors in the steeplechase in a time of 9:51.04. She finished 7th at the NCAA Outdoors in 2007 in the steeplechase with a time of 9:59.81. She also ran at Drake Relays in the steeplechase in a time of 9:44.31. In April 2007, she finished 4th in 5,000m at Stanford in a time of 15:48.24. At the time of her 2008 Olympic appearance, Barringer was enrolled at the University of Colorado. At the U.S. trials, Barringer qualified for the United States Olympic team by finishing third in the steeplechase. Barringer qualified for the first women's steeplechase final in Olympic history by finishing third in her heat. She set a new American record of 9:22.26 in the final and placed ninth. In 2009, she set NCAA records in the mile, 3000 m, and 5000 m indoors, 1500 m, 3000 m steeplechase and 5000 m outdoors. She also topped her own American record in the steeplechase at the 2009 World Championships with a time of 9:12:50, finishing 5th overall. While primarily a steeplechaser, she ran 3:59.90 in the 1500 m at the 2009 Prefontaine Classic. At the time of the event, this performance made her the third-fastest female 1500 m runner in U.S. track and field history. Barringer came fifth 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 Brandenburg ...

, running a North American record time of 9:12.50 minutes for the event. It is also the best mark by any athlete from

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America, North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. ...

. She was the 2009 US Champion in the steeplechase. While at Colorado, she won the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

as the nation's best collegiate female track and field athlete in 2009. Despite the fact that she could have signed a professional contract, Barringer returned to school in the fall of 2009 to compete in cross country. On October 31, 2009, Barringer captured the Big 12 individual title, running a 6-kilometer course in 20 minutes, 27.46 seconds. She was favored to win the NCAA Cross Country Championship on November 23, 2009, but collapsed after leading for the first two miles. She wound up in 163rd place. Barringer commented that she felt

light headed Lightheadedness is a common and typically unpleasant sensation of dizziness or a feeling that one may faint. The sensation of lightheadedness can be short-lived, prolonged, or, rarely, recurring. In addition to dizziness, the individual may feel ...

all of a sudden. Barringer won the Inaugural

Bowerman Award The Bowerman is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given to the year's best student-athlete in American collegiate track and field. It is named after Oregon track and field and cross country coach Bill Bowerman Will ...

in 2009. The Bowerman Award is given to college track's Athlete of the Year.

Professional

In January 2010, Barringer signed a multi-year endorsement deal with New Balance. Barringer later changed coaches from her University of Colorado at Boulder coach, Mark Wetmore, in favor of the Air Force Academy coach Juli Benson. Barringer missed most of the 2010 season due to a stress reaction in her right femur. She married runner Jason Simpson on October 8, 2010, taking on Simpson as her last name from that date. Simpson began the 2011 season strong, winning the mile and

3000 meters The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

championships at the 2011 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. She qualified for the

2011 World Championships in Athletics The 13th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () was an international athletics competition that was held in Daegu, South Korea. It started on 27 August 2011 and finished on 4 September 2011. The United States topped the medal standings in th ...

by finishing second in the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

at the US Track and Field Championship. Simpson won a gold medal at the 1500 meters at the World Championships in a time of 4:05:40. She beat rivals

Hannah England Hannah England (born 6 March 1987) is a British middle-distance running athlete who specialised in the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run. At 1500 m, she is the 2011 World Championship silver medallist and finished fourth at the 2013 World C ...

and Natalia Rodriguez. Simpson's gold medal was considered a surprise. She became the first American woman to win the event since

Mary Decker Mary Teresa Slaney (formerly Tabb, née Decker, born August 4, 1958) is a retired American middle-distance runner. During her career, she won gold medals in the 1500 meters and 3000 meters at the 1983 World Championships, and was the world re ...

at the inaugural World Championships in 1983. On July 1, 2012, Simpson qualified for the

2012 Summer 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 ...

with a third-place finish in the women's 1500 m at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials. At the

, Simpson qualified for the 1500 meter semifinal in 4:13.89 but did not qualify for the final. She announced a return to coach Mark Wetmore in December 2012.

2013

Simpson claimed the USATF Outdoor 5000 meter title in 15:33.77 in the 95+ degree heat of Des Moines, Iowa on June 23. Simpson won a silver medal at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow on August 15, 2013, in the

1500m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

with a time of 4:02.99. Simpson won the September 22, 2013 Fifth Avenue Mile in 4:19.3. * 1st at Drake Relays 1500m (4:03.35) * 1st at USATF Oxy HP 800m (2:00.45) * 1st at USA Outdoors 5,000m (15:33.77) * 3rd at Madrid 800m (2:02.15) * 1st at Monaco 1500m (4:00.48) * 2nd at World Outdoor 1500m (4:02.99) * 7th at Zurich 5,000m (14:56.26) * 10th in Brussels 1500m (4:10.70)

2014

Simpson was runner-up at the Boston New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2 mile after miscounting her laps to finish in 9:26.19 on February 8. Simpson followed that performance with a 2nd-place finish in 27:57 at the US Cross Country Championship on February 15. At the Prefontaine Classic on May 31, she improved her personal best in the 1500 to 3:58.28. Simpson won the 1500 meters at the

2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships was held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California. Organised by USA Track and Field, the four-day competition took place June 26–29 in conjunction with the USA Junior Combined Events Outdoor ...

in 4:04.96. On July 4, Simpson became the 2nd fastest American 1500 meter runner by running 3:57.22 at a

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

race in Paris. With two wins late in the season, including a dramatic diving finish at the

Weltklasse Zürich Weltklasse Zürich ( en, World Class Zurich) is an annual, invitation-only, world-class track and field meeting at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Switzerland, generally held at the end of August or beginning of September. Previously one of the IAAF G ...

, she won the

2014 IAAF Diamond League The 2014 IAAF Diamond League was the fifth edition of the annual Diamond League. It consisted of fourteen one-day track and field meetings, starting on May 9, 2014 in Doha, Qatar and ending on September 5, 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. Other events we ...

. On September 13, 2014, Simpson repeated her 2013 win of the Fifth Avenue Mile in 4:19.4. At the end of the year she was selected as the winner of the

Jackie Joyner Kersee Award The Jesse Owens Award (also the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Award for the female version of the award) is an annual track and field award that is the highest accolade given out by USA Track & Field (USATF). As the country's highest award for the sport, ...

. *May 18: 4:00 2nd at Shanghai Diamond League *May 31: 3:58 4th place at Eugene Diamond League *June 14: 4:02 3rd at New York Diamond League *June 29: 4:04 1st USATF Champs *July 5: 3:57 2nd place at Paris Diamond League *August 21: 4:00 1st Stockholm Diamond League *August 28: 3:59 1st at Zurich Diamond League *Sept 5th: 8:29 4th at Brussels Diamond League *September 13: 4:19.4 at Fifth Avenue Mile

2015

Simpson won the Boston New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2 mile in 9:18.35 on February 7, setting a new American record, 5 seconds ahead of

Regina Jacobs Regina Jacobs (born August 28, 1963 in Los Angeles) is an American former middle-distance runner from Los Angeles. She had an extended career that included two IAAF World Championships in Athletics silver medals and an indoor world championship ...

' 2002 American record at the same event, 9:23.38. At the Prefontaine Classic on May 30, she won in a season best in the 1500 opener to 4:00.28. At the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

Simpson won the 1500m in 4:14.86, and will represent the U.S. for the 1500m in 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 ...

in Beijing, China in August. At the

Herculis The Herculis is an annual track and field meet at Stade Louis II in Fontvieille, Monaco. Previously one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events, it is now part of the Diamond League. World records Over the course of its history, five world reco ...

meet at Stade Louis II in Monaco Simpson ran 3:57.30, just .18 off

Mary Slaney Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

's nearly 32-year-old American record before the race. During that same race, a second ahead of her, Shannon Rowbury improved the American record to 3:56.29 and Genzebe Dibaba improved the world record to 3:50.07. At the

2015 World Championships in Athletics – Women's 1500 metres The women's 1500 metres at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics was held at the Beijing National Stadium on 22, 23 and 25 August. Summary Abeba Aregawi of Sweden entered as the defending champion, although her preparations that year were ...

in Beijing, China, Simpson finished 11th in the final round after losing her shoe and struggled, finishing in 4:16.28. On September 11, at the

finale in Brussels, Simpson placed 4th in the mile in 4:22.18, just behind Shannon Rowbury who finished in 4:22.10. On September 13, Simpson placed 1st in a time of 4:29.0 at New York Road Runners Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City. By the end of the year, she ran the

standard for the

2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships The 16th IAAF World Indoor Championships in Athletics were held between March 17 and 20, 2016 in Portland, Oregon, United States. The event did not feature Russia. Following a WADA investigation into widespread and institutional doping practices ...

in the

3000 metres The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

at the Zürich

2016

Simpson won a bronze medal in the 1500 meters at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, to become the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in that event. On September 3, Simpson placed 1st in a time of 4:18.3 at the New York Road Runners Fifth Avenue Mile in New York City.

2017

Simpson ran a 4:19.98 mile, finishing 5th at the London Anniversary Games on July 9, 2017, behind

Hellen Obiri Hellen Onsando Obiri (born 13 December 1989) is a Kenyan middle- and long-distance runner. She is a two-time Olympic 5000 metres silver medallist from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where she also placed fourth over the 10,000 metres. S ...

and Laura Muir,

Winny Chebet Winny Chebet (born 20 December 1990) is a Kenyan middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 800 metres. She represented her country at the 2013 World Championships reaching the semifinals. In addition she won silver medals at the 2006 W ...

and

Angelika Cichocka Angelika Cichocka (pronounced: ; born 15 March 1988) is a Polish athlete who specializes in middle-distance running. She won the silver medal in the 800 metres at the 2014 World Indoor Championships, a gold in the 1500 metres at the 2016 Europe ...

, setting a personal record, and second fastest time ever for an American woman. She won her second silver medal in the World Championships 1500m event on August 7, 2017, at the 2017 World Championships, finishing in 4:02.76, less than 0.2 seconds behind Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon. Simpson capped her 2017 campaign with a record-setting win at the New York Road Runners Fifth Avenue Mile. In addition to achieving a record sixth Fifth Avenue title, she tied the longstanding meet record with a time of 4:16.6.

2018

Simpson won the Fifth Avenue Mile again in 2018 making it six straight and seven total Fifth Avenue titles.

2019

On September 8, Simpson bettered her best time for the Fifth Avenue Mile in the 2019 race, running 4:16.1, to give her sole possession of the event record. It was her seventh straight win and her eighth title in the event.

2021

On June 21, 2021, she finished tenth in the 2021 U.S Olympic Trials 1500 meter run with a time of 4:07.76, failing to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. This is the first time she failed to make a national team since she made the team in 2007.

Competition record

International

National championships

NCAA championships

Diamond League wins

: 2013 (1500 m) *

DN Galan BAUHAUS-galan, formerly known as DN-Galan is an annual, international athletics meeting that takes place at the Olympic Stadium in Stockholm. Previously it was one of the five IAAF Super Grand Prix events until 2010, and has since been part of th ...

: 2014 (1500 m) *

: 2014 (1500 m) * Prefontaine Classic: 2015 (1500 m) * Golden Gala: 2015 (1500 m)

Personal bests

References

External links

* *
Diamond League profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Jennifer 1986 births Living people American female middle-distance runners American female steeplechase runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Colorado Buffaloes women's track and field athletes People from Webster City, Iowa People from Oviedo, Florida World Athletics Championships medalists Track and field athletes from Iowa Sportspeople from Seminole County, Florida Track and field athletes from Florida World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in track and field Colorado Buffaloes women's cross country runners Diamond League winners USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners World Athletics Championships winners