Kendra "Keni" Harrison (born September 18, 1992) is an American

hurdler 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, ...

. Harrison set the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the women's

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten Hurdling, hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first h ...

with a time of 12.20 seconds on July 22, 2016 at the London Müller Anniversary Games, breaking the world record of 12.21 seconds set nearly 28 years earlier by Bulgarian athlete

Yordanka Donkova Yordanka Donkova ( bg, Йорданка Донкова) (born 28 September 1961) is a Bulgarian former hurdling athlete, notable for winning an Olympic gold medal and bronze medal as well as nine medals at European indoor and outdoor c ...

. In college, she competed for the

University of Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

and in 2015 she 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 ...

championship titles both indoors and outdoors. She was runner-up in the 100 m hurdles at the 2015 USA Outdoor Championships; at the 2016 Olympic Trials she placed sixth and missed qualifying for the Olympics. She won the 60 m hurdles at the 2018 World Indoor Championship and the 100 m hurdles at the

2018 NACAC Championships The 2018 North American, Central American and Caribbean Championships was a regional track and field competition held at Varsity Stadium in Toronto, Canada, from August 10–12, 2018. It was the third edition of a senior track and field championshi ...

. She placed second at the 100 m hurdles of the 2019 World Championship, and in the Tokyo

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

held on August 2, 2021.

Career

Early life

Kendra Harrison was born in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

on September 18, 1992, and adopted by Gary and Karon Harrison; she grew up in a large family with ten other children, eight of them also adopted. Harrison's first sport was

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

; she took up track and field at Clayton High School in

Clayton, North Carolina Clayton is a town in Johnston County, North Carolina, United States, and is considered a satellite town of Raleigh. As of 2010, Clayton's population was 16,116, up from 6,973 at the 2000 census. By 2019 the town's estimated population was 24,887. ...

. She soon became a leading scholastic hurdler, winning state championship titles at the 2010 and 2011 North Carolina Class 4A state meets; in 2011 she also won the 100 m hurdles at the New Balance Nationals and was named Gatorade North Carolina Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year.

College athletics

After graduating from Clayton High in 2011 Harrison went to

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

; as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

in 2012 she was

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

champion in the 400 m hurdles and the

4 × 400 m relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

and qualified for the

NCAA championships 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 and ...

in both hurdles races. She competed in the 2012 Olympic Trials in the 100 m hurdles but was eliminated in the heats. In 2013, she placed fifth in the 100 m hurdles (12.88) and fourth in the 400 m hurdles (55.75) at the NCAA outdoor championships. Harrison transferred from Clemson to the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

after the 2013 season, together with sprinter

Dezerea Bryant Dezerea Bryant (born April 27, 1993) is an American sprinter competing in the 100 metres and 200 m. She was the 200 m national champion in 2019. At the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha, she placed 5th in the 200 m and earned a bronze ...

and coach Tim Hall. She continued to develop, winning both the 100 m hurdles (12.86) and the 400 m hurdles (54.76) at the 2014

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) championships; she was the first athlete to win both events since 1999. She entered the NCAA outdoor championships as the leading favorite and collegiate leader in the 400 m hurdles, but failed to match her personal best and lost to Texas A&M's

Shamier Little Shamier Little (born March 20, 1995) is an American track and field Sprint (running), sprinter specializing in the 400 metres hurdles. As a 20-year-old college sophomore at Texas A&M University, Little was the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Cha ...

; in the 100 m hurdles she placed fifth for the second consecutive year. Harrison injured her

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

in the winter of 2014–15 and missed the early part of the 2015 indoor season. She returned in time to win the

60 m hurdles 60 metres hurdles is a distance in hurdling which is generally run in indoor competitions. It is equivalent with the first 5 hurdles of a standard outdoor hurdle race. The current women's and men's world records are 7.68 seconds (Susanna Ka ...

at the SEC and NCAA indoor championships, setting personal bests in both meets; her time in the NCAA meet (7.87 seconds) ranked her fourth in the world that indoor season. Harrison also won her first outdoor NCAA title in 2015, winning the 100 m hurdles in 12.55; in the 400 m hurdles she placed second to Little in a personal best 54.09, at that point the second-fastest in the world that year. In November 2015, Harrison was named as a 2016 recipient of the NCAA's

Today's Top 10 Award The Today's Top 10 Award is given each year by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to honor ten former outstanding senior student-athletes. The award was previously known by three different names, each reflecting the number of rec ...

, presented annually to 10 individuals who completed their athletic eligibility in the previous school year "for successes on the field, in the classroom and in the community."

Professional

Following her graduation, University of Kentucky coach

Edrick Floréal Edrick Bertholan Floréal (born October 5, 1966 in Gonaïves, Haiti) is a track and field coach for the Texas Longhorns men's track and field and women's track and field program and retired long and triple jumper from Canada. Career Athleti ...

continued to train her. At the 2015 United States championships, which doubled as trials for the

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, ...

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 ...

, Harrison decided to concentrate on the 100 m hurdles only; she set a personal all-conditions best of 12.46 in the heats and ran a wind-legal 12.56 in the final, placing a close second to 2008 Olympic Champion

Dawn Harper-Nelson Dawn Harper-Nelson (born May 13, 1984) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100-meter hurdles. She was the gold medalist in the event at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and the silver medalist in the 2012 London Olympic ...

and qualifying for the American team. The Americans were heavy favorites for the world championships, but underperformed; Harrison had a

false start In sports, a false start is a disallowed start, usually due to a movement by a participant before (or in some cases after) being signaled or otherwise permitted by the rules to start. Depending on the sport and the event, a false start can result ...

in the semi-finals and was disqualified. Harrison opened her 2016 indoor season winning the 60 metres hurdles in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...

Karlsruhe, Germany Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

and

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 ...

in 7.92. In a tightly competed race at the 2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Harrison took second place by one hundredth of a second to

Brianna Rollins Brianna Rollins-McNeal (born August 18, 1991) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100 metres hurdles. She is the 2016 Olympic champion and the 2013 World champion in the 100 metres hurdles. Her time of 12.26 is tied as ...

, setting a personal record of 7.77 seconds and moving herself into 13th place on the all-time lists. At the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships one week later, Harrison led the qualifying with 7.81 seconds. However, in the final she hit the first hurdle heavily and never recovered, ending in eighth while

Nia Ali Nia Sifaatihii Ali (born October 23, 1988) is an American track and field athlete, who specializes in the 100 m hurdles, heptathlon, and other events. She is the 2016 Olympic Silver Medalist in the 100-meter hurdles, the 2019 World champion in ...

(the least favoured American) took the title. She began the outdoor season in April with the fastest opener recorded by a hurdler, 12.36 seconds, to go up to ninth on the all-time lists. A run of 12.42 followed at the start of May. Then 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 ...

in late May she perfectly cleared all the hurdles and won in a time of 12.24 seconds – the second fastest time in history after

's world record of 12.21 from 1988. She was favored to win the 100 m hurdles at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials in early July, but only placed sixth in 12.62 and missed qualifying for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

in Rio de Janeiro; the three spots on the American Olympic team went to Rollins,

Kristi Castlin Kristi Castlin (born July 7, 1988) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 100 metres hurdles. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics. Her personal best for the event is 12.50 seconds, set on July 8, 2016 during the ...

and Ali. Harrison broke the 100 m world record on July 22, 2016 at the London Müller Anniversary Games, running 12.20 (+0.3 m/s) to lower Donkova's mark by one one-hundredth of a second; Rollins, Castlin and Ali placed second, third and fourth in the race. The trackside clock in the record race initially stopped at 12.58, the unadjusted time of runner-up Rollins, as Harrison ducked under the timing beam at the finish line. On August 2, 2021, Harrison won the silver medal in the 100 meter hurdle race at the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

International competitions

¹Disqualified in the final

National titles

NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championship is an annual collegiate indoor track and field competition for women from Division I institutions organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Athletes' performances i ...

**60 m hurdles:

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 ...

NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The NCAA Division I Women's Outdoor Track and Field Championships are the annual collegiate track and field competitions for women athletes representing Division I institutions organised by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). At ...

**100 m hurdles:

Personal records

Kendra Harrison
All-Athletics. Retrieved on May 30, 2016. Outdoor *

– 12.20 (2016) * 300 metres hurdles – 41.41 (2011) *

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 ...

– 54.09 (2015) *

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

– 11.35 (2016) *

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

– 22.81 (2018) *

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 ...

– 55.49 (2012) *

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 the ...

– 2:22.35 (2013) Indoor * 60 metres hurdles – 7.70 (2018) *

60 metres 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

– 7.31 (2014) *

– 23.47 (2014) * 300 metres – 37.84 (2014) *

– 53.82 (2013) *

500 metres The 500 metres is a rarely run middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. All-time top 25 *i = indoor performance *OT = oversized track (exceeding 200m in circumference) *A = affected by altitude *h = hand timing Men *C ...

– 1:14.70 (2012)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Kendra 1992 births Living people People from Clayton, North Carolina Track and field athletes from North Carolina American female hurdlers African-American female track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists Kentucky Wildcats women's track and field athletes American adoptees Track and field athletes from Tennessee Kentucky women track and field athletes Sportswomen from Kentucky World Athletics Indoor Championships winners USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Diamond League winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for the United States in track and field 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women