Zara Northover (born March 6, 1984) is a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

ter. Northover has dual citizenship in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and Jamaica, and competed for Jamaica at the

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

. Northover attended

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, where she competed on the women's track and field team, and graduated in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in communications and a minor in political science. As a senior, Northover was named

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

Field Athlete of the Year after winning the shot put, discus and hammer and placing seventh in the javelin, helping lead Northeastern to their first CAA title in any sport. Her throw at the

Eastern College Athletic Conference The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) is a college athletic conference comprising schools that compete in 15 sports (13 men's and 13 women's). It has 220 member institutions in NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, ranging in location from ...

Championship during the 2007 outdoor season set both Northeastern and ECAC records. Northover was a five-time

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Championship qualifier and had the best national finish of her career in her final season, placing 10th at the

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

during the 2007 outdoor season, and was nominated for the

NCAA Woman of the Year Award The NCAA Woman of the Year Award was created to honor senior female student-athletes who have distinguished themselves throughout their collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletics excellence, service and leadership. Each year ...

. Internationally, she finished fifth at the

2006 Central American and Caribbean Games The 20th edition of the Central American and Caribbean Games was held in the city of Cartagena, Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, in ...

. On June 8, 2008, Northover won the Island Games in

Uniondale, New York Uniondale is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in central Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, in the Town of Hempstead, within the New York metropolitan area. The population was 32,473 at the time of the 2020 United States census ...

, with a throw of 17.56 meters, allowing her to compete in the Jamaican Olympic Trials in

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

. She won the shot put at the Olympic Trials on June 28, 2008, with a throw of 16.78 meters. She was officially selected to represent Jamaica in Beijing by the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association on July 8, 2008, becoming the first Northeastern women’s athlete to compete in a Summer Olympics.Bolt, Stewart, Campbell-Brown and Powell head Jamaica's Olympic team
, World-track.org. Published July 2, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2008.

References

External links

Official website
*
Zara Northover
at

Track & Field
Zara Northover
at JamaicaAthletics.org

at DirectAthletics, Inc. {{DEFAULTSORT:Northover, Zara 1984 births Living people Jamaican female shot putters Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2011 Pan American Games Olympic athletes for Jamaica Commonwealth Games athletes for Jamaica Pan American Games athletes for Jamaica American sportspeople of Jamaican descent Sportspeople from Elmont, New York Track and field athletes from Nassau County, New York Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in athletics 20th-century Jamaican women 21st-century Jamaican sportswomen Jamaican Athletics Championships winners