(Reprinted from St Lucia News Online)
Levern Spencer has made history once again, becoming the first Saint Lucian ever to qualify into a final at the Olympic Games.
The veteran high jumper, many times Sportswoman of the Year in Saint Lucia, cleared 1.94m on her first attempt at the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday morning.
The 32-year-old Pan American Games champion cleared 1.80, 1.85, 1.89 and 1.92, all on her first attempts.
She will become the second Saint Lucian to contest an Olympic final, following Zepherinus Joseph in men’s Marathon (a straight final) in 2004.
The women’s High Jump final will be on Saturday, 20 August from 7:30pm Eastern Caribbean time.
Unfortunately, Saint Lucia will not have two women in the final on this occasion, as was the case in the 2015 IAAF World Championships. Jeanelle Scheper was unable to negotiate 1.92m, which would have been a season’s best for her.
Levern came into the qualifying rounds with a season’s best of 1.95m, and she cleared at least 1.94m for the fourth time this season on Thursday.
Levern ended the qualification phase tied for first, while Jeanelle was 25th out of 34 athletes.
