12 Facts About Sharika Nelvis

Sharika Nelvis represented the United States at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in 100 m hurdles and the 2018 IAAF World Indoor Championships in 60 m hurdles.

Sharika Nelvis won the women's 60 metres hurdles with a time of 7.70 at 2018 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships and repeated in 2019.

Sharika Nelvis was born in Memphis, Tennessee on May 10,1990.

Sharika Nelvis had a difficult childhood; both of her parents died before she'd turned eight, and after her grandmother had a stroke Nelvis was taken in by an aunt and separated from three of her four siblings.

Sharika Nelvis took up track and field in sixth grade, competing first in the sprints and then the hurdles and the long jump; in addition, she played volleyball, softball and basketball.

Sharika Nelvis broke 13 seconds in the 100 m hurdles for the first time at the 2013 NCAA championships, winning her semi-final in 12.84 ; in the final she ran 12.92 and placed sixth, her first points finish in an NCAA meet.

In 2014, her senior year, Sharika Nelvis developed into America's top collegiate hurdler.

Sharika Nelvis became NCAA indoor champion in the 60 m hurdles and outdoor champion in the 100 m hurdles, both times defeating a field that included Jasmin Stowers.

Sharika Nelvis was named Sun Belt Female Athlete of the Year and won the Honda Sports Award for the best collegiate female track and field athlete in the nation; she was short-listed for the Bowerman, but lost to middle-distance runner Laura Roesler of Oregon.

Outdoors, Sharika Nelvis made her Diamond League debut in Doha, placing second to Stowers in a personal best 12.54.

Sharika Nelvis then scored her first Diamond League victory in Rome, improving to 12.52 as Stowers, Brianna Rollins and Sally Pearson all crashed; the win moved her into an early lead in the 2015 Diamond Race.

Sharika Nelvis entered the national outdoor championships as one of the favorites, and won her heat in a world-leading 12.34 ; the time moved her up to seventh on the world all-time list and third on the national all-time list.