| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Born | Hyleas Fountain (1981-01-14)January 14, 1981 (age 44) |
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in) |
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United States |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event(s) | Heptathlon,60 metres hurdles,Long Jump |
| Coached by | Lynn Smith |
Medal record | |
| Updated on 4 August 2012 | |
Hyleas Fountain (born January 14, 1981) is an Americanheptathlete. She was the silver medalist in the event at the2008 Beijing Olympics.
Fountain was born inColumbus, Georgia, and was a member of the 1992 Harrisburg Parks and Recreation track club under coach Horace Camero, until 1994 Greater Paxtonia Track Club under coach Darnell L Williams. She attendedCentral Dauphin East High School inHarrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she was under the coaching of Al Moten, Fred Leuschner, Jim Seidler, and Braden Cook. She then continued her career atBarton Community College (Kansas) under Coach Lance Brauman of PURE Athletics Inc and then going to theUniversity of Georgia under coach Wayne Norton. Fountain has wonNCAA championships in both the heptathlon andlong jump.
She finished 12th at the2005 World Championships and eighth at the2006 World Indoor Championships.
In 2008, Fountain qualified for the2008 Summer Olympics by winning the U.S. Olympic Trials with a personal best score of 6667 points in the heptathlon. Fountain set personal bests in five of the seven heptathlon events at the Trials.[1]
At the Olympics themselves, she originally finished in the bronze medal position. However, after the silver medallistLyudmila Blonska tested positive on her drug test, Fountain was elevated to the silver medal position.
Fountain seemed sure to qualify for the2009 World Championships in Athletics after gaining a significant lead in the heptathlon at the US Championships (5193 points after five events). However, she injured her neck in the high jump event and aggravated the injury after a personal best long jump, thus ruling her out of the US and World Championships.[2]
She finished fourth in the pentathlon at the2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships, setting a personal record of 4753 points as well as setting indoor bests in the shot put, high jump and 800 meters. Later that year she took on reigning world championJessica Ennis in a three-event challenge at theAdidas Grand Prix. Although Fountain won only one of the events, she won the competition by merit of having the greatest points total.[3]
She led the 2011World Championships inDaegu,South Korea after 2 events, but then fell away and pulled out of the final event (800 meters) without announcing why.[4]
Qualified for the 2012 London Olympics on June 30, 2012.
In the Heptathlon at theLondon 2012 Olympics, Hyleas was competitive up until a disappointingLong Jump, where she began to suffer from lower back pains. She continued into theJavelin but was only able to make a non-competitive performance. She did not compete in the800 metres and while finishing with the highest incomplete score, officially registered a DNF.[5]
| Event | Performance | Location | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heptathlon | 6735 | Des Moines | 06-26-2010 |
| 200 meters | 23.21 (0.3 m/s) | Beijing | 08-15-2008 |
| 800 meters | 2:15.32 | Talence | 09-14-2008 |
| 100 meters hurdles | 12.70 (1.3 m/s) | London | 08-03-2012 |
| High jump | 1.90 | Des Moines | 06-25-2010 |
| Long jump | 6.89 (0.6 m/s) | Luzern | 07-15-2009 |
| Javelin throw | 48.15 | Eugene | 06-28-2008 |
| Shot put | 13.81 | Eugene | 06-27-2009 |
Last updated 14 January 2015.
