Shamier Little (born March 20, 1995) is an American

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 eve ...

sprinter specializing 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 ...

. As a 20-year-old college sophomore at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, Little was the 2015 US champion. She then went on to win the silver medal in her signature event at the 2015 and 2023 World Championships. In July 2021, she became the fifth fastest woman of all time at the event.

Prep

Born in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

, Little is the child of athletic parents, her father a football

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

and her mother a star basketball player and high jumper at

Eastern Kentucky University Eastern Kentucky University (Eastern or EKU) is a public university in Richmond, Kentucky. As a regional comprehensive institution, EKU also maintains branch campuses in Corbin, Hazard, Lancaster, and Manchester and offers over 40 online u ...

. Shamier began participating in youth track and field as an 8 year old. She made her first appearance at the national level at the 2004

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 a ...

Youth Championships as a

100 meter 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 contest ...

sprinter running for the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

Youth Track Club. She regularly participated in all comers track meets. Later Little ran for the Country Club Hills Gazelles both in USATF and AAU competitions. None of her early youth competitions could be labeled exceptional. At

Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy High School (LMSA) (formerly known as Lindblom Technical High School) is a public 4–year selective enrollment high school and middle school located in the West Englewood neighborhood on the south side of ...

in Chicago, Little got more serious setting the IHSA Class 2A records in 100 meters hurdles, 200 meters and

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

. She won the 2011 AAU Junior Olympics at 400 hurdles. In 2012, she won the

Arcadia Invitational The Arcadia Invitational is a high school track and field meet in the United States. It is considered the most competitive meet in the country and has been billed as the "Home of National Records". The meet is held at Arcadia High School in Arcadi ...

in the 400 meters, which she repeated in 2013. She won the Junior National Championships in 400 hurdles, which qualified her for the

2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics was an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors (born 1993 or later) which was held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, on 10–15 ...

, but she did not finish the final, falling over the last hurdle while in medal contention. In 2013, Little tried 100 meters hurdles and 400 at the National Championships, finishing off the podium in both.

Career

After high school, Little chose to go to

. As a freshman, she won 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 ...

at 400 hurdles and helped her team get second place in the 4 × 400 meters relay. Later that summer, she won the 2014 World Junior Championships in the 400 hurdles. In 2015, before winning the national championship against the big girls, she repeated as NCAA Champion, running the #1 time worldwide to that point in the season. The National Championship offered Little an invitation to run in the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

, where she took the gold medal. In 2016, Little won a third consecutive NCAA 400 m hurdles champion title.

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 fo ...

profile.

Personal bests

International competitions

Circuit wins

* Diamond League meetings :: 400 metres hurdles wins, other events specified in parenthesis :*

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

: Zürich Weltklasse :*

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

: Lausanne Athletissima, London Anniversary Games :*

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: Lausanne :*

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

: Rabat Meeting International ()

National and NCAA titles

USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships The USA Track & Field Outdoor Championships is an annual track and field competition organized by USA Track & Field, which serves as the American national championships for the sport. Since the year 1992, in the years which feature a Summer Oly ...

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 ...

: 2015,

NCAA Division I Women's 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 ...

** 400 m hurdles:

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 ...

, 2015,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Little, Shamier Living people 1995 births Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Track and field athletes from Kentucky American female hurdlers American female sprinters African-American female track and field athletes Pan American Games track and field athletes for the United States Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Texas A&M Aggies women's track and field athletes World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States World Athletics Championships medalists USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century American people 21st-century African-American women 21st-century American sportswomen Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy alumni