Tyra Gittens-Spotsville (born 6 June 1998) is an Olympic athlete from Trinidad and Tobago.[1] Gittens set 6 national records for Trinidad and Tobago indoor records in Pentathlon 4746 points, high jump 1.93 m (6ft 4 in), and long jump 6.68 m (21ft 11 in), Trinidad and Tobago outdoor records in Heptathlon 6418 points, high jump 1.95 m (6ft 5 in), and long jump 6.96 m (22ft 10 in).[2]
In July 2017, Gittens broke her own national junior heptathlon record in winning the Pan American Combined Events Cup in Ottawa, Canada, gaining 5,490 points in the seven-discipline event to improve on the 5,337-point standard she had established in 2016.[4]
Competing in the long jump at the 2022 World Athletics Championships Gittens finished 19th in the qualifying heats with a best jump of 6.44m.[5] Gittens has had an ongoing Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) for treatment for ADHD. However, a failure to complete the application for a renewal of the TUE correctly led to a positive test for methylphenidate/ritalinic acid at the World Championships and a six-month doping violation ban.[6]
Gittens won silver in the women's long jump at the 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Oregon.[13] She did however win gold in the heptathlon, despite the fact she injured her ankle in the days before the event.[14]
In June 2021, she was named to the US Track and Field Cross Country Association (USTFCCCA) National awards list, winning the Women's National Field Athlete of the Year award, as they stated that with her win at the SEC event she had become the third best performer in collegiate history in the heptathlon.[15]
In Texas on 14 May 2021 at SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, she jumped 6.96m to place her inside the top 10 for the year so far and set Trinidad and Tobago records in Heptathlon 6418 points, high jump 1.95m (6ft 5in), and long jump 6.96m (22ft 10in).[16] Her performance at the Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships (SEC) in Texas, as well as attaining the Olympic standard for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the long jump, she won silver in the women's high jump competition with a height of 1.89m, she missed out on qualifying for the heptathlon at the 2020 Olympics on that day by just two points, accumulating 6,418 points in winning the seven-discipline event.[17]
