Jasmin Marie Stowers (born September 23, 1991) is a formerAmericantrack and field athlete, who competed in the100-meter hurdles. Her personal best for the event is 12.35 seconds, set in 2015, which ranks her 14th on the world all-time lists.
Stowers ran forLouisiana State University in collegiate competition and was the 2014NCAA runner-up outdoors. She was the 2015 American indoor champion in the60-meter hurdles. Stowers represented her country at the2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics. Stowers announced her retirement from the sport in October 2020.
Born to Ronald and Gena Stowers, she grew up inPendleton, South Carolina and attendedPendleton High School. She performed well in her studies there and was a member of her school'sacademic honor roll five years running, as well as serving as the school president for theNational Honor Society. She took uptrack and field while at school and made her first international appearance at the age of fifteen, competing at the 2007 World Youth Championships in Athletics. There she ran a personal record of 13.52 seconds in the 100 m hurdles qualifiers, but was slower in the final and finished fourth in the youth event. She placed third in the 60 m hurdles at theNike Indoor Nationals that same year.[1]
She emerged at national level in 2008, winning theNike Outdoor Nationals and taking second at theUSATF Junior Olympics. She ranked as the number one high school athlete in the 2009 season, retaining her Nike Outdoor Nationals title in a time of 13.59 seconds and winning the Junior Olympics and Nike Indoor Nationals titles as well.[1]
Stowers gained a scholarship to attendLouisiana State University and began to study Nutrition and Food Science there in 2010. She began to compete for the institution'sLSU Lady Tigers track and field team and in her first major competition ranked sixth in the 60 m hurdles at theNCAA Indoor Women's Track and Field Championships with a personal best of 8.12 seconds. She was the winner of theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) titles indoors and outdoors, setting a personal best of 12.88 seconds at the latter meet. She won at thePenn Relays and was a quarterfinalist at theNCAA Outdoor Women's Track and Field Championships. She also competed at the2011 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where she was a semi-finalist.[1]
In her second year at Louisiana State, Stowers defended both her SEC titles and was a finalist indoors and out in NCAA competition. She won the Penn Relays for a second year running and ended the year with a best of 12.92 seconds for the 100 m hurdles. Reflecting her focus on studying, she was listed on the SEC Academic Honor Roll that year. At the2012 United States Olympic Trials she was a semi-finalist. In 2013, she retained her SEC indoor title for a third time – only the second person to do so for Louisiana afterLolo Jones. She was again an NCAA finalist both indoors and outdoors, managing a third-place finish in the 60 m hurdles indoors. She suffered from ahamstring injury during the middle of the year, which contributed her defeat at the SEC Outdoor Championships. She again featured on the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2013.[1]
In her fourth and final college year Stowers featured in the top three in NCAA competition. At the2014 NCAA Indoor Championships she ran a school record of 7.94 to take third place again in a tight race, where the top three (includingSharika Nelvis andTiffani McReynolds) all finished within one hundredth of a second of each other. The2014 NCAA Outdoor Championships bore similar results, as Stowers finished in a wind-assisted 12.54 seconds to place second behind Nelvis, who was just two hundredths ahead of her.[1] She was usurped by Kentucky'sKendra Harrison in SEC competition, ranking second behind her both indoors and outdoors.[2][3] Her third career win at the Penn Relays made her the first woman to achieve that feat. She ended the year on a high note at the2014 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships: after setting a personal record of 12.71 seconds in the qualifying round, she progressed to the final and finished in fourth place – her highest ever senior national ranking.[1]
Stowers finished her collegiate career with five titles in Southeastern Conference competition and sevenAll-American honors in NCAA competition.[1]
Stowers made a strong start to her professional career with a national title at the2015 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Her winning time of 7.84 seconds took a tenth of a second off her previous best for the 60 m hurdles.[4] No longer having to do both academics and sport, her new focus onhurdling brought results at theDrake Relays, where she moved up to twelfth on the all-time lists with a new personal record of 12.40 seconds – three tenths faster than she had gone before. She also defeated former Olympic championDawn Harper-Nelson and world championBrianna Rollins in the process.[5] She improved one hundredth further at theJamaica International Invitational, with a meeting record of 12.39 seconds.[6] Her debut appearance on the2015 IAAF Diamond League circuit established her as an elite international performer. She won theDoha Diamond League meeting in a series record time of 12.35 seconds – this moved her up to seventh on the all-time rankings for the 100 m hurdles.[7][8] In October 2020, Stowers announced her retirement on Twitter, citing an ongoing spinal injury that had severely hampered her ability to train and compete at the highest level.
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | World Youth Championships | Ostrava, Czech Republic | 4th | 100 m hurdles | 13.70 |
