GITTENS Tyra

Trinidad and Tobago

Athletics

Date of Birth: 6 Jun 1998

Age: 23

Gender: Female

Birth Country:

Trinidad and Tobago

Place of residence : COLLEGE STATION, TX

Residence Country:

United States of America

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Athletics	Women's Long Jump	10

Schedule

Change

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Olympic Stadium - Long Jump A	Women's Long Jump Qualification - Group A	Finished
	Olympic Stadium - Long Jump A	Women's Long Jump Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Athlete:

Pan American Games

Year	Location	Heptathlon
2019	Lima, PER	DNF

NACAC Championships

Year	Location	Long Jump	4 x 100m
2018	Toronto, ON, CAN	4th (6.25)	DNS

World Combined Events Challenge

Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
DNF	Heptathlon	2019	Lima, PER	DNF

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

Occupation:

Athlete, Student

Education:

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

Languages spoken:

English

Club name:

Texas A&M University [College Station, TX, USA]

Coach:

Pat Henry [club]

Injuries:

She competed with an ankle problem at the 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] Division One Outdoor Championships in Eugene, OR, United States of America. (newsday.co.tt, 13 Jun 2021)

In October 2018 she sustained a knee injury and underwent surgery. (texags.com, 14 Apr 2021; newsday.co.tt, 02 Jul 2019)

Start:

She began competing in track and field in the sixth grade at school. She took up multi-sport events at Ensworth High School in Nashville, TN, United States of America. "I was meant to be a jumper. When I was younger I wanted to sign up for all the events [during competition]. I have a lot of energy and cannot do just one event. My coach then asked if I would do the heptathlon. The 800m was a bit demotivating but once I did it I didn't stop. If I had to choose, I'd go with high jump. That's my baby. My second best event, I'd like to say, is long jump, but hurdles are probably it. Point-wise, javelin is the most difficult." (texags.com, 14 Apr 2021; newsday.co.tt, 14 Feb 2021; usatodayhss.com, 09 May 2017)

Reason:

She enjoyed watching her father Sterling coaching her six older siblings and wanted to join them. "My dad ran track in Trinidad before he blew [out] his knee. I saw how much he loved to coach my brothers and sisters. I wanted the same relationship with my dad." (newsday.co.tt, 02 Jul 2019; usatodayhss.com, 09 May 2017)

Ambition:

To compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (TTgameplan Facebook page, 21 Mar 2020)

Training:

"I train for seven events, my training is split up in days. One day I would either do a running workout or general strength. The next day would be long and high jump approaches. We train how the heptathlon is set up." (newsday.co.tt, 14 Feb 2021)

Influence:

Her family. (thebatt.com, 07 May 2021)

Award:

In 2021 she was named National Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, South Central Regional Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year, National Indoor Field Athlete of the Year, and South Central Regional Indoor Field Athlete of the Year by the US Track and Field Cross Country Association [USTFCCCA]. In the same year she was also named Collegiate Women's Athlete of the Year by Track and Field News. (12thman.com, 16 Jun 2021; tt.loopnews.com, 25 Mar 2021)

She was named the 2020 USTFCCCA South Central Regional Indoor Field Athlete of the Year. (12thman.com, 16 Jun 2021; ensworth.com, 30 Mar 2020)

She was named the 2018 USTFCCCA South Central Regional Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year. In the same year she was also named Southeastern Conference [SEC] Freshman Field Athlete of the Year. (12thman.com, 16 Jun 2021; kbtx.com, 30 May 2018)

In 2017 she was named Girls Track and Field Athlete of Year at the Tennessean Sports Awards in the United States of America. (tennessean.com, 07 Jun 2017)

General Interest

General
FAMILY
She grew up in Saint Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, before moving to Nashville, TN, United States of America, when she was in middle school. Her father Sterling Gittens has worked as a gospel singer and music producer. "Life was all about music, not even sports. The women in the family are athletes, and the men are musicians. I always looked at it as, 'The rest of my family is special, how am I going to stand out?' My older siblings ran track and they didn't continue." (thebatt.com, 07 May 2021; Texas A&M Athletics YouTube channel, 19 Mar 2021; Spread the Positive Podcast, 13 Sep 2018; usatodayhss.com, 09 May 2017; sportsnashville.net, 09 Nov 2016)

HEPTATHLON
She has combined her studies at Texas A&M University with attempting to qualify in heptathlon for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "Even though I'm number three in the world right now [speaking in June 2021], there's a points system that is used in relation to the types of meets that you did. When you do a lot of bigger meets, like the Diamond League, you get points towards this. I haven't done a lot of big meets because I'm in college. Those meets I do in college don't score as much as the big international meets that professional athletes compete in. I was born to do seven events. It fits my personality. I value being able to adapt to situations. To be a multi-sport athlete you have to be able to adapt to anything thrown at you." (newsday.co.tt, 21 Jun 2021, 14 Feb 2021; associatestimes.com, 19 May 2021; texags.com, 14 Apr 2021; sportsmax.tv, 10 Mar 2021)

Social Media

Legend

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

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos