TAPPER Megan

Jamaica

Athletics

Date of Birth: 18 Mar 1994

Age: 27

Gender: Female

Place of birth: KINGSTON

Birth Country:

Jamaica

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Athletics	Women's 100m Hurdles	3

Schedule

Change

Location	Event	Status
Olympic Stadium - Track	Women's 100m Hurdles Round 1 - Heat 5	Finished
Olympic Stadium - Track	Women's 100m Hurdles Semi-Final 3	Finished
Olympic Stadium - Track	Women's 100m Hurdles Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

World Athletics Championships

Year	Location	100m Hurdles
2019	Doha, QAT	8th (DNF)

World Relays

Year	Location	Shuttle Hurdles Relay
2019	Yokohama, JPN	3rd (DNS)

Diamond League overview - Three best ranks per season and event since 2017

Year	100m Hurdles
2021	1 x 4th, 1 x 5th
2019	1 x 4th, 1 x 10th

Diamond League - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Location	Result
4	2021	100m Hurdles	Florence, ITA	12.94
4	2019	100m Hurdles	London, GBR	12.66
5	2021	100m Hurdles	Gateshead, GBR	13.53
10	2019	100m Hurdles	Birmingham, GBR	13.07

World Athletics Continental Tour - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Competition	Location	Result
5	2021	100m Hurdles	World Athletics Continental Tour	Hengelo, NED	13.05

World Challenge - Ten best performances since 2020

Rank	Year	Event	Competition	Location	Result
7	2018	100m Hurdles	World Challenge	Kingston, JAM	13.38

Legend
SF - Semifinal, QF - Quarterfinal, 1R - 1st Round, Qual. - Qualification, QR - Qualification Round, DNF - Did Not Finish, DNS - Did Not Start, DQ - Disqualified, NM - No Mark, [Relay athlete without time] - Did not run in final

Previous names:

Megan Simmonds

Occupation:

Athlete

Education:

University of Technology, Jamaica, Jamaica

Family:

Husband Mathue Tapper

Languages spoken:

English

Coach:

Phillip Unfried [personal], AUT; Mathue Tapper [husband], JAM

Injuries:

In 2015 she missed two months of training due to injury, and later that year tore ligaments after suffering a fall in competition. She returned from the injury in mid-2016. (jamaica-gleaner.com, 13 Jan 2018)

Start:

She took up gymnastics at age seven before turning her focus to athletics at age 12. (jamaica-gleaner.com, 13 Jan 2018; gc2018.com, 05 Apr 2018)

Reason:

"My love affair with running started in prep school where coach Winston Keyes saw me running and decided he had to have me on his track and field team. My parents didn't appreciate the idea, because they saw that it could have hindered my progress in gymnastics, but I suppose because I was so talented, they eventually obliged with a heavy heart. In 2008, I joined the track and field team at St. Andrew High School, where I did the long jump. It wasn't long after, though, that I realised my body had already been pummelled by my strenuous career in gymnastics and couldn't handle the pounding that long jump entailed. With my great start and my career in gymnastics, I set my sights on a different event, the sprint hurdles." (jamaica-gleaner.com, 13 Jan 2018)

Hero:

Australian hurdler Sally Pearson. (gc2018.com, 05 Apr 2018)

Philosophy:

"I'm a caged lion behind the blocks, I'm thinking about popping out of those blocks. I get a really good start, I don't have to focus on that first hurdle." (gc2018.com, 05 Apr 2018)

General Interest

General
SWITCHING SPORT
When she took up the sport she was training to compete as a gymnast at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. After beginning athletics training, she initially hoped to represent Jamaica in both sports at the Games. "From prep school into high school, I was the girl that did pretty much everything. When I wasn't doing gymnastics, I was on the track, when I wasn't doing either, you could find me at the top of cheerleading pyramids or dancing with a world-leading youth ensemble, and when I was completely free I would be making up dances and teaching them to my friends after school. There came a time when I had to settle down. Thank God for my parents. They sat me down one day and told me it was time to choose. It was heart-wrenching to see my dream of becoming the first Jamaican athlete to go to the Olympics for two different sports come to an end, but my love for track and field made it a pretty easy decision." (jamaica-gleaner.com, 13 Jan 2018)

Social Media

Legend

:: Bronze Medal
:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

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