Levern Spencer

Biography

Spencer was an All-American high jumper for the University of Georgia and 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympian for Saint Lucia. Competing as a professional, she set a new facility record at the Georgia Invitational in Athens, Georgia on Saturday 8 May 2010, clearing 1.98m to cruise to a victory with what was at the time the second-best jump in the world for the 2010 season. This is the current Saint Lucia National Record and the record for the Caribbean Community.

Her previous best jump was 1.95 metres, a height she achieved with a second-place finish at the ‘Gran Premio Gobierno de Aragón’ held on Saturday 18 July 2009 in Zaragoza, Spain and prior to that a height of 1.94 metres was first achieved in July 2005 at the Central American and Caribbean Games in Nassau and again at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Osaka in 2007.

Levern attended Entrepot Secondary School in Saint Lucia, then moved on to Albany State University and then 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 was one of three athletics qualifiers for the 2008 Olympics, along with Dominic Johnson and Erma Gene Evans.

In fact, Levern enjoyed a superb 2008 season, setting a new personal best and national record of 1.90m indoors at the Clemson Meeting in South Carolina before embarking on a series of victorious performances, winning in Blacksburg, twice in Athens (Georgia), Iowa and then twice in Central America, in Port-of-Spain in mid-May with a jump of 1.92m and then in Cali when winning the 2008 Central American and Caribbean Championships with a jump of 1.91m.

Levern is a former CARIFTA champion, CAC Junior champion and NACAC (North, Central American and Caribbean Championships) champion. She holds the CARIFTA record of 1.88m and the NACAC Under-23 record of 1.92m for women's High Jump.

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.

In 2010, with a best result of 1.98m, 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 2012, Levern was awarded an Olympic Solidarity Scholarship and began training in Germany. She qualified for the 2012 Olympics in London, Great Britain.

In 2014, Levern had a very similar year to 2010. She made the finals of the World Indoor Championships. She successfully defended her Central American and Caribbean Games title in Veracruz, Mexico. She won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. 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.

Levern qualified for the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, China, and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 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 1.90m. Along with Jeannelle Scheper, Levern represented Saint Lucia at the 2015 Pan Am 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.

Levern is from the community of Babonneau in Saint Lucia, and has won multiple Sportswoman of the Year awards in her home nation. She is a spokesperson for Adidas, having previously been sponsored by Mizuno.