Levern Spencer
Levern Donaline Spencer is a Saint Lucian high jumper. Spencer was born in Cacao Babonneau, Castries.
Biography
Early career
Born in Castries, Spencer attended the University of Georgia where she earned her bachelor's degree in Health Promotion and Behavior, having first embarked upon a course of study in computer Science. She competed at several CARIFTA Games, particularly bringing home gold in 2001. That same year, she earns the bronze medal at the World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary, jumping 1.81 m. Earlier in the season, she sailed over 1.84 m, a national record.In 2002, she doesn't retain her CARIFTA Games title, winning the silver medal behind Jamaica's Shaunette Davindson. Later that year, she finished in 8th place at the World Junior Championships with 1.83 m, far from the winner, Croatia's Blanka Vlašić. At the end of the season, Levern Spencer makes her first appearance at the Commonwealth Games, ending in 12th place with a low performance of 1.74 m.
In 2003, she betters her national record and personal best, clearing twice 1.86 m in the season. Still a junior athlete, she makes the final at the Pan American Games and ends in 5th place. In 2004, she jumps 1.88 m.
2005 is the year of the breakthrough for Levern Spencer. As she just turns 21, the Saint-Lucian wins her first major title by winning at the Central American and Caribbean Championships by clearing a new personal best and national record of 1.94 m. This result earns her a sport for the 2005 World Championships in Athletics. There, she faces her first big disappointed by exiting the competition in the qualifying round, only recording 1.84 m.
2006 isn't her best year. Though she takes gold at the NACAC Under-23 Championships and bags bronze at the Central American and Caribbean Games, Levern Spencer fails again to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games, finishing 5th. During the season, she only jumped 1.90 m in April.
First major final (2007) and first olympic team (2008)
During the 2007 season, Levern Spencer wins the NACAC Championships and takes bronze at the Pan American Games, behind Mexico's Romary Rifka and Canada's Nicole Forrester. Competing at her second senior 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Spencer creates history when making the final, equalling in the qualification round her own national record of 1.94 m. She then finished 15th with 1.90 m.The following year, 2008, she Dominic Johnson and Erma Gene Evans are the three athletes representing Saint Lucia at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She did not make the final, only managing 1.85 m for 27th. Earlier in the season, she won the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships with a jump of 1.91 m.
Professional career
In 2009, Levern signed her first professional contract with Stellar Group, becoming the first high jumper on their roster. She repeated as Central American and Caribbean champion in Havana, Cuba and signed an endorsement deal with Caribbean telecommunications provider, LIME – Landline, Internet, Mobile and Entertainment. She is featured on the cover of the 2010 LIME Services Directory, over 75,000 copies of which were distributed.After taking the gold medal at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, Spencer was the sole Saint Lucian to qualify for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Berlin, but she failed to make the final. She also narrowly missed out on making the cut for the season-ending 2009 IAAF World Athletics Final, finishing ninth in the world for women's High Jump. On Saturday 18 July 2009, she achieved her best jump of 1.95 m in Zaragoza.
On Saturday 8 May 2010, in Athens, Georgia, she clears 1.98 m to cruise to a victory with what was at the time the second-best jump in the world for the 2010 season. It's also the current Saint Lucia National Record and the record for the Caribbean Community. With this result of 1.98 m, Levern was the leading women's high jumper in the Commonwealth. At the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India, however, she needed two attempts to clear 1.88m, and eventually recorded Saint Lucia's best-ever individual finish at Commonwealth Games athletics with a bronze medal, joining Dominic Johnson, who took bronze in men's Pole Vault in 2002 in Manchester. In 2010, Levern recorded six of the top ten best jumps of her career. She scored a victory at the 2010 CAC Games with a jump of 1.94 m and also had success on the European circuit, scoring five straight victories in Finland to scoop the 2010 Finnish Elite Games jackpot.
In 2011, she failed to make the final at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, narrowly missing it by one spot. In the IAAF Diamond League, she makes a top 3 in Rome, finishing second with 1.92 m behind two-time reigning world champion Blanka Vlašić. After the world championships, she wins her fifth consecutive Central American and Caribbean Championships in Mayagüez but finished at a disappointing 7th place at the 2011 Pan American Games.
2012, Levern was awarded an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship and began training in Germany. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain but did not make the final there, finishing 19th with 1.90 m.
In 2013, Spencer wins a sixth gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Championships in Athletics, jumping 1.95 m, her highest jump since 2010. At the World Championships in Moscow, she qualifies for her second major final, thanks to a 1.92 m jump. She finished 11th in the final, her best honor at that time, only finishing ahead of Germany's Marie-Laurence Jungfleisch.
In 2014, Levern had a very similar year to 2010. She made the finals at the World Indoor Championships with a new national indoor record of 1.95 m in the qualifying rounds, before finishing 7th in the final. This is her best performance at a world championship. Then, she cleared 1.96 m, her best jump since 2010, before successfully defending her Central American and Caribbean Games title in Veracruz, Mexico. She won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland with 1.88 m. Disappointed, she's beaten by Australia's 18-year-old Eleanor Patterson and England's Isobel Pooley She placed fifth at the Continental Cup. She won gold at the Pan Games Festival in Mexico City, Mexico. She placed second at the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States Championships, behind Jeannelle Scheper, who also beat her at Saint Lucia's National Championships.
First olympic final (2016)
Spencer qualified for the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, in Beijing, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, by clearing 1.94 m at the Meeting Madrid in July. This made her eligible for her sixth World Championships and third Olympics. She won the Saint Lucia National Championship with a height of 1.90 m. Along with Jeannelle Scheper, Spencer represented Saint Lucia at the 2015 Pan American Games. She won gold with a best height of 1.94 m. It was Saint Lucia's first gold medal ever at the Pan Am Games; the country had been represented at these Games six times since 1985 and then claimed the NACAC Championships title in San José, Costa Rica. At the World Championships, she again qualified for the final but there failed to show her potential, taking 12th place with 1.88 m.On 13 February 2016, Levern Spencer equals her own national indoor record in Hustopeče, with 1.95 m. A month later, at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships, she places sixth with 1.93 m, three centimeters away from the gold medal, won by USA's 18-year-old Vashti Cunningham. On 30 April, she jumps a World Lead of 1.95 m in Des Moines, Iowa, before attacking 2.00 m., where she failed her three attempts.
On 14 May, at the IAAF Diamond League tour in Shanghai, she earned a victory with a jump of 1.94 m, on countback ahead of Uzbekistan's Nadiya Dusanova. In late June, she won the national title with 1.94 m. Spencer arrives in Rio de Janeiro with the goal to make her first Olympic final at the age of 32. On 18 August, she competed in the qualifying round of the women's high jump at the Olympics and became the first Saint-Lucian athlete to qualify for the final. Two days later, she finished in 6th place. The title was won by Spain's Ruth Beitia. Back in Saint Lucia, the local population came to celebrate her performance. Two weeks after the Olympics, she jumped 1.96 m at the Meeting de Paris to place second behind Ruth Beitia. At the end of the season, she finishes second in the IAAF Diamond League tournament, behind Beitia again.
Spencer had a poor 2017 season with a best of 1.92 m. At the 2017 World Championships in London, she was the only Saint-Lucian athlete. She failed to enter into the final, finishing in 13th place in the qualifying round.
In 2018, she decided to compete in the indoor season. For her first outing, she cleared the Commonwealth Games standard with 1.90 m. On 27 January, she won the high jump competition in Hustopeče with 1.93 m, the third best result in the world. Three days later, she equaled her national indoor record from 2014 and 2016 in Třinec, jumping 1.95 m and claiming victory. She then raised the bar at 1.97 m but failed. She competed at the 2018 NACAC Championships, winning a third consecutive title at 1.91m. Having won in 2007 and 2015 previously, she is the only women's high jump champion the event has ever had.