Quanesha Burks

Burks in 2018
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  United States
NACAC Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 San JoséLong jump
Gold medal – first place2022 FreeportLong jump

Quanesha Burks (born March 15, 1995) is an American track and field athlete who mainly competes as a long jumper. She represented her country at the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2017 World Championships in Athletics. She was the gold medalist at the regional 2015 NACAC Championships in Athletics. Collegiately, she competed for Alabama Crimson Tide and was the 2015 NCAA Division I champion in long jump.

Career

Born to Lesha Dobbins in Ozark, Alabama, she attended Hartselle High School and went on to study at University of Alabama. Burks has four younger siblings; two brothers and two sisters. While a high school student, she took up track and performed well, going on to place third in the triple jump at the 2012 USATF Junior Olympics and winning a 100-meter dash/long jump/triple jump triple at the 2013 state championships.[1]

College

Burks competed for the Alabama Crimson Tide where she was a multiple-time Southeastern Conference champion and multiple-time NCAA champion, including being Alabama's first women's long jump champion.[2][3][4] In college, she also competed in the 100 meter dash and 4x100 relay.[5] Her first NCAA long jump title came at the 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She was runner-up to Jamaica's Chanice Porter at the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Championships and also took second at the 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships after Sha'Keela Saunders.

Professional

Burks made her international debut at the age of nineteen, competing in the long jump at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Athletics, where she placed fifth.[6] A senior gold medal came at the 2015 NACAC Championships in Athletics, where she set the championship record at 6.93 m.[7] She managed eighth place in the final at the 2015 Pan American Games, but took a second regional gold at the 2016 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics, breaking the championship record with a jump of 6.74 m.[8] After a fourth place finish at the 2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships,[9] her global senior debut came at the 2017 World Championships in Athletics, though she did not make it beyond the qualifying round.[6]

She was third at the 2018 PSD Bank Meeting on the IAAF World Indoor Tour,[10][11] then finished second to Brittney Reese at the 2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships to earn qualification to the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships[12] where she finished 4th.

International competitions

Representing the  United States
YearCompetitionVenuePositionEventNotes
2014 World Junior Championships Eugene, United States 5th Long jump 6.04 m
2015 NACAC Championships San José, Costa Rica 1st Long jump 6.93 m CR
Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 8th Long jump 6.47 m
2016 NACAC Under-23 Championships San Salvador, El Salvador 1st Long jump 6.74 m CR
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 14th (q) Long jump 6.44 m
2018 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, United Kingdom 4th Long jump 6.81 m
NACAC Championships Toronto, Canada 2nd Long jump 6.59 m
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 13th (q) Long jump 6.56 m
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 5th Long jump 6.77 m
World Championships Eugene, United States 4th Long jump 6.88 m
NACAC Championships Freeport, Bahamas 1st Long jump 6.75 m
2023 World Championships Budapest, Hungary 16th (q) Long jump 6.57 m

National titles

Personal life

Burks grew up in poverty. She worked at McDonald's as a high school student to help pay for her grandmother's car insurance.[13]

References

  1. ↑ Quanesha Burks. Team USA. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  2. ↑ "Alabama Crimson Tide Football CB Tony Brown takes part in first track & field meet of 2017".
  3. ↑ "Alabama's 'impossible' athlete Quanesha Burks set to cap illustrious NCAA career at Outdoor Championships". 6 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Burks wins Alabama's first NCAA long jump title".
  5. ↑ Staff report. "Hartselle's Burks, Town Creek's Gholston headed to NCAA meet".
  6. 1 2 Quanesha Burks. IAAF. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  7. ↑ Clavelo Robinson, Javier (2015-08-09). Dwyer, Jefferson and Burks the stars of the final day of NACAC Championships . IAAF. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  8. ↑ Team USA turns in 23-medal performance Sunday at NACAC U-23 Championships. USATF (2017-07-17). Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  9. ↑ USATF Championships - 6/22/2017 to 6/25/2017 Hornets Stadium, Sacramento Results. USATF. Retrieved on 2017-06-13.
  10. ↑ Chaudry, Ziad. "Beagles star wins despite poor start".
  11. ↑ "Su lowers Asian record again at IAAF Indoor Tour event in Düsseldorf".
  12. ↑ "Brittney Reese is back in beast mode with 11th national title under her belt".
  13. ↑ Chavez, Chris. "How Quanesha Burks Went From McDonald's to the Olympics". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
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