Vashti Cunningham

Vashti Cunningham is a Olympics track and field athlete from the United States who specializes in the high jump. She competed at three Olympics – Paris 2024, Tokyo 2020, and Rio 2016. Her best achievement was finishing 5th in Paris with 1.95m. She is also World Indoor and Pan American U20 champion

Vashti Cunningham was born on January 18, 1998, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. She started in athletics at an early age and showed her great skills and talent.

On April 18, 2015, during the Mt. SAC Relays held in Walnut, California, Vashti Cunningham achieved a jump of 1.94m, thereby establishing a new national high school record. At the age of 17, this feat also corresponded to the No. 4 world Youth mark (for individuals under 19 years old). On that date, it ranked as the No. 3 mark globally in 2015. For this outstanding performance, she was honored as the USATF Athlete of the Week. Subsequently, on June 27, 2015, she secured victory at the US Junior National Championship. A month later, at the 2015 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships, she further improved her performance by jumping 1.96m, a mark that equaled the World Youth Best.

On March 12, 2016, Vashti Cunningham achieved a jump of 1.99m while clinching the title at the 2016 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Portland, Oregon. This jump set a new World Junior Record. At that moment, just one week prior to the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships, which took place in the same venue at the Portland convention center, Vashti Cunningham’s jump was recognized as the No. 1 jump in the world for 2016. Eight days later, she triumphed at the World Indoor Championship.

In March 2017, Vashti Cunningham achieved a jump of 1.96m to secure victory at the 2017 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. On April 15, 2017, she leaped 1.94m to win at the Mt. SAC Relays in Torrance, California. Two weeks later, she jumped 1.95m to triumph at the Penn Relays. On May 27, at the IAAF Diamond League 2017 Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Cunningham cleared 1.95m to finish 3rd, behind World Champion Mariya Lasitskene. On June 23, she won the 2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Sacramento State University with a jump of 1.99m. On July 9, 2017, Cunningham placed 2nd at the London Müller Anniversary Games with a jump of 1.97m. Subsequently, on July 21, 2017, she secured 3rd place at the IAAF Diamond League 2017 Herculis in Fontvieille, Monaco, also with a jump of 1.97m. On August 12, 2017, Vashti Cunningham finished 10th at the World Championships with a jump of 1.92m.

On February 18, 2018, Vashti Cunningham won her third consecutive high jump indoor title and her fourth US senior title at the 2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with a jump of 1.97m . On March 1, she placed second in high jump at the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, United Kingdom, with a jump of 1.93m, finishing behind World Champion Mariya Lasitskene.

In 2019, Vashti Cunningham won the bronze at the Doha World Championships, while in 2022, she won the NACAC Championships title.