Kaliese Spencer Carter (born 6 May 1987) is a Jamaican
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 events ...
athlete who specialises in the
400 metres 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 a ...
. She won the bronze medal in the event at the
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 ...
. Spencer was the
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...
champion in 2014 and a double silver medallist at the
2014 World Indoor Championships. She finished fourth at both the
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
and
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 ...
.
Spencer was the
2006 World junior champion. She is a four-time
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 ...
400 m hurdles winner.
Career
Born in the parish of
Westmoreland, Jamaica, her mother, Merfelin Spencer was a 400 m runner in college and her father Joshua Spencer was a
middle-distance runner and she followed in their footsteps into the sport of
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...
. She attended the
University of Technology in Jamaica and began focusing on her running under the tutelage of Stephen Francis as part of his Maximising Velocity and Power Track Club.
[Graham, Raymond (2008-04-21)]
Spencer hits top form in California
. ''The Jamaica Star The ''Jamaica Star'' is a newspaper often cited as a resource for happenings in Jamaica.
According to an advertisement in ''Editor & Publisher'' in 1965, the ''Star'' was one of the first papers to carry the King Features Syndicate
King Features ...
''. Retrieved on 2010-07-12. She had her first
hurdles success at the
2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics
The 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2006 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held from 15 August to 20 August at the Chaoyang Sports Centre in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China.
...
, where she won the junior 400 m hurdles title with a personal best run of 55.11 seconds. Her debut at the senior level came the following year and she reached the semi-finals of her event at the
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...
in
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
.
[Spencer Kaliese Biography]
IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
. Retrieved on 2010-07-12.
Spencer made a strong start to the 2008 outdoor season by running a world-leading time in the
400 metres
The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...
at the Azuza Pacific Invitational, winning in a personal best time of 50.55 seconds.
[ However, she suffered a hip injury and only trained sporadically in the rest of the year, missing out on the Jamaican Olympic team for the ]2008 Beijing Games
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 Na ...
as a result.
She began competing in the IAAF Golden League in 2009, performing at the Reebok Grand Prix
The USATF New York Grand Prix is an annual athletics meeting held at Icahn Stadium in New York City, United States. First started in 2005 as the Reebok Grand Prix and then Adidas Grand Prix, it was previously one of the IAAF Grand Prix events. ...
, Golden Gala
Golden Gala is an annual track and field event normally held at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it is now part of the Diamond League. Following the 2013 death of Italian sprinting legend Pie ...
and 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 ...
meetings, although she failed to reach the podium on those occasions.[Kaliese SPENCER]
The-Sports.Org. Retrieved on 2010-07-12. At the 2009 World Championships, Spencer reached the final of the women's 400 m hurdles and finished fourth with a personal best run of 53.56 seconds – her club teammate Melaine Walker
Melaine Walker O.D (born 1 March 1983) is a Jamaican 400 metres hurdler. She was born in Kingston. Walker is the former Olympic 400 m hurdles champion.Lewis, Richard (2009-08-20)For Walker, World record assault next item on the agenda?". ''I ...
won the gold in a championship record.[Jalava, Mirko (2009-08-20)]
Event Report – Women's 400m Hurdles – Final
. IAAF
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
. Retrieved on 2009-08-24. She was also the substitute runner in the 4 × 400 m relay at the championships and helped her team progress to the final where they won the silver medal. She took a victory over Walker shortly afterwards at the IAAF Zagreb Grand Prix. Spencer ended her season by winning the silver medal at the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final
The 7th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece on September 12 and September 13, 2009. The competition represented the culmination of the 2009 IAAF World Athletics Tour, a selection of athletics m ...
, running 53.99 seconds to finish behind Walker.[
The ]2010 IAAF Diamond League
The 2010 Diamond League season was the first season of the Diamond League, an annual series of fourteen one-day track and field meetings. The series began on 14 May in Doha, Qatar and ended on 27 August in Brussels, Belgium.
Superseding the Europe ...
became Spencer's principal target the following year and she was sixth at first meeting, the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix
The Diamond League Shanghai is an annual athletics event at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China as part of the Diamond League. The meeting was founded as the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 2005. The meet assumed its current name in 2010.
From ...
in May.[ She won at the ]Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat
The Meeting International Mohammed VI d'Athlétisme de Rabat is an annual track and field competition at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 2008. Its name ...
, defeating Perri Shakes-Drayton
Peirresha Alexandra Shakes-Drayton (born 21 December 1988) is a British retired track and field athlete. After specialising in the 400 metres hurdles in the early part of her career, a knee injury at the 2013 World Championships forced Shakes-D ...
, and was third in the 400 m at the Jamaican Championships that month. She began making an impact on the Diamond League, finishing as runner-up behind Lashinda Demus
Lashinda Demus (born March 10, 1983 in Inglewood, California) is a retired American hurdler who specialized in the 400 meter hurdles, an event in which she was the 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic gold medalist, becoming the first woman from ...
at the Prefontaine Classic
The Prefontaine Classic, an Oregon Track Club event, is one of the premier track and field meets in the United States, held in Eugene, Oregon. Every year it draws a world caliber field to compete at Hayward Field on the campus of the University o ...
and the Golden Gala, recording a personal best 53.48 s. She had her first win on the major circuit at the British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...
. She won 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 ...
meeting soon after and also set a meet record of 53.72 s at the Spitzenleichtathletik competition in Switzerland.
The 24-year-old set a personal best in the 400 m hurdles of 52.79 s at the Aviva Grand Prix in Crystal Palace on 5 August 2011. As a result, Spencer was heavy favourite to win the gold medal at 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 ...
in Daegu
Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea.
It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...
, South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, where she finished fourth.
At the 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 ...
, Spencer initially narrowly missed out on a medal, finishing in fourth place in the 400 m hurdles. She was upgraded to the bronze medal in December 2022, following the stripping of gold medallist Natalya Antyukh
Natalya Nikolayevna Antyukh (russian: Наталья Николаевна Антюх, born 26 June 1981) is a Russian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres and 400 metres hurdles. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres and a silver fo ...
of Russia.
Spencer won the gold medal in her specialist event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...
held in Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
.
Achievements
All information taken from World Athletics
World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...
profile.
Personal bests
International competitions
1Time from the heats; Spencer was replaced in the final.
Circuit wins and titles
* 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 ...
overall winner 400 m hurdles (4): 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
, 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
:: 400 metres hurdles wins, other events specified in parenthesis
:* 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
(4): Gateshead British Grand Prix, Monaco 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 ...
, London Grand Prix, Zürich Weltklasse
, neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon
, twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco
Zürich () ...
()
:* 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
(4): Shanghai Golden Grand Prix
The Diamond League Shanghai is an annual athletics event at the Shanghai Stadium in Shanghai, China as part of the Diamond League. The meeting was founded as the Shanghai Golden Grand Prix in 2005. The meet assumed its current name in 2010.
From ...
(), Stockholm DN Galan (), London (WL MR), Zürich
:* 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
(4): Rome Golden Gala (), Lausanne Athletissima (SB), Birmingham British Grand Prix (MR), Brussels Memorial Van Damme
:* 2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
(6): Eugene Prefontaine Classic (WL), Rome (WL), Oslo Bislett Games, Monaco, Birmingham, Brussels
:* 2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
(3): Shanghai (WL), Birmingham (SB), Oslo (WL)
National titles
* Jamaican Athletics Championships
The Jamaican Athletics Championships is an annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association, which serves as the national championship for the sport in Jamaica.[400 m 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 ...]
: 2011, 2014
References
External links
*
Audio interview in 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Kaliese
1987 births
Living people
People from Westmoreland Parish
Jamaican female hurdlers
Olympic athletes of Jamaica
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Jamaica
Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for Jamaica
World Athletics Championships medalists
Diamond League winners
World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists
IAAF Continental Cup winners
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games