Reviewed by: Michael Seale
Huntsville Native JuVaughn Harrison’s Journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics
The Olympics are often seen as the pinnacle of athleticism and talent. Athletes work their entire lives to make it to the games for a chance to represent their country.
This year among the 592 athletes representing Team USA is one Huntsville-born and raised native: JuVaughn Harrison.
JuVaughn Harrison
Next week, JuVaughn Harrison will take the stage and make his second Olympic appearance representing Team USA.
Track and field runs in his veins, both his grandmother and mother (a member of the Alabama A&M Athletic Hall of Fame) were accomplished track and field athletes.
He was born and raised right here in Huntsville, attending both Providence Elementary (who you can see wished him luck above) and Columbia High School (go Eagles!).
While at Columbia JuVaughn Harrison competed in the high jump, long jump, 300 hurdles and 110 hurdles, all of which he holds the school record for.
Harrison attended LSU after graduation, where he continued to excel in athletics and received a degree in Sports Administration.
Competition History
This isn’t Harrison’s first Olympic Games. He competed in not one but two events during the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics:
- Long Jump: 5th
- High Jump: 7th
He was the first man to represent the US in both sports at the same Olympics since Jim Thorpe in 1912.
Recently Harrison won silver in high jump at the 2023 World Athletics Championships, second only to the 2020 Olympic gold medalist. An impressive win that (fingers crossed) can be repeated next week in Paris.
Other career highlights include:
- The first man ever to win both NCAA national titles for long and high jump at the 2019 NCAA outdoor meet, a feat he repeated twice in 2021 at both indoor and outdoor championships.
- Nine-time All-American at LSU
- Won six NCAA championships
- Won six SEC titles
- Recipient of The 2021 Bowerman trophy, the highest accolade given to student-athletes in American track and field
When + where to watch
On Wednesday August 7, a week from today, JuVaughn Harrison will compete in the qualifying round of the men’s high jump competition in Paris alongside fellow Team USA members Shelby McEwen and Vernon Turner (pictured above).
Of the three members that make up Team USA’s male high jump team, Harrison sports the highest personal best.
If you want to catch his qualifying performance you’ll want to set an alarm, as the live coverage will be at 3:05 AM.
If Harrison makes it through qualifying you’ll get a better chance to see him in the final competition on August 10 at noon.
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