Amy Acuff

Amy Acuff

Acuff at the 2008 World Indoor Championships
Personal information
Full name	Amy Lyn Acuff
Nationality	American
Born	(1975-07-14) July 14, 1975 (age 36) Port Arthur, Texas
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	145 lb (66 kg)
Sport
Country	United States
Sport	Track and field athletics
Event(s)	High jump
Club	UCLA Bruins
Team	USA Track & Field
Achievements and titles
World finals	See table
National finals	Outdoor: 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003–2005 Indoor: 2001, 2004–2008
Olympic finals	2004
Highest world ranking	2nd (2001 Grand Prix) 3rd (2006 World Cup)
Personal best(s)	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) August 15, 2003

Amy Lyn Acuff (born July 14, 1975, Port Arthur, Texas) is a track and field athlete from the United States. A high jump specialist, she competed in the 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics as a member of USA Track and Field. Her best Olympic performance came at the 2004 Games, where her jump of 1.99 m earned her fourth place in the final.

She established herself domestically with wins at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in 1995 and 1997. At the age of 22, she became the Universiade champion, edging out Monica Iagăr in the 1997 high jump final. Acuff was the winner of the 1998 Hochsprung mit Musik meeting in Arnstadt, Germany, becoming the first non-European winner in the history of the event. She went on to win at the national championships in 2001, 2003, and 2005.

Her personal best is 2.01 m, which she achieved in Zürich on August 15, 2003.

While in high school in 1993 she was named the named the national Girl's "High School Athlete of the Year" by Track and Field News.^[1]

Her 1.95m at the Texas Relays at age 36 on March 31, 2012 should qualify as the W35 American Masters record and meets the A standard for the 2012 Olympics.

Competition record

• National Scholastic Indoor Champion: 1991, 1992
• Pan-Am Junior Champion: 1993
• NCAA Indoor Champion: 1994, 1995, 1997
• NCAA Outdoor Champion: 1995, 1996
• 6 Time U.S. Outdoor Champion: 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007
• 5 Time U.S. Indoor Champion: 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009

• results with a Q indicate Acuff's overall position in the qualifying round.

Modeling

Acuff is also known for her career as a model. She organized the 2000 Omni Lite Millennium Calendar of Champions, featuring nude (or semi-nude) photos of Acuff and 11 other U.S. female track and field stars, with half the proceeds going to the Florence Griffith-Joyner Foundation.

Acuff's cover appearances include:

• Esquire, “Women of Summer: Strength & Beauty: A Portfolio of America’s 10 Sexiest Athletes”
• “Men's magazines”, such as Maxim and FHM

• The 2004 Olympics were noted for the large number of female Olympians who posed nude—following in the footsteps of the 2000 Matildas and the Omni calendar. Of the 2004 examples the most visible was Acuff's appearance on the cover and within Playboy's, “The Women of the Olympics” issue.^[2][3]

• Acuff appears across the top of the title for The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition.^[4]

Personal life

Acuff graduated from Calallen High School in Corpus Christi, Texas. She attended UCLA and was inducted into the UCLA Bruins Hall of Fame in 2007.

She is distantly related to country musician Roy Acuff (her grandfather’s second cousin).^[5]

References

External links

• Amy’s official website
• IAAF profile for Amy Acuff
• Video Interview
  • "Flotrack Video Interviews and pictures of Amy Acuff". http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/search.php?cx=003556892317167185039%3A536qwfr48fi&cof=FORID%3A11&q=amy+acuff&domain=1&sa=Search. 

Sporting positions
Preceded by Angela Bradburn	USA National High Jump Champion 1995	Succeeded by Tisha Waller
Preceded by Tisha Waller	USA National High Jump Champion 1997	Succeeded by Tisha Waller
Preceded by Karol Damon	USA National High Jump Champion 2001	Succeeded by Tisha Waller
Preceded by Tisha Waller	USA National High Jump Champion 2003	Succeeded by Tisha Waller
Preceded by Tisha Waller	USA National High Jump Champion 2005	Succeeded by Chaunte Howard