Music City will be represented during the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Tyra Gittens, a 2017 graduate of Ensworth School and athlete at Precision Track Club in Nashville, is heading to the Olympics after surpassing the 6.82 meter-qualifying standard for the long jump during the Heptathlon at the 2021 SEC Track & Field Championships, jumping 6.96 meters or 22 feet and 10 inches.
Her time at Ensworth earned her several state titles as well as 17 gold medals during her four years. As a student-athlete at Texas A&M, Gittens holds the current NCAA titles for the Pentathlon and Heptathlon and was named the 2021 NCAA National Field Athlete of the Year. She also holds the collegiate record in the Pentathlon and has the third-best score in the Heptathlon in collegiate history.
Gittens will represent her home country of Trinidad and Tobago during the Track and Field events, and her former track coach during middle and high school, Jan Pippin, can't wait to watch her former athlete achieve her dreams.
"I am thrilled that's she's going to the Olympics," said Pippin. "Not surprised but thrilled!"
The Tokyo Olympics are set to take place July 23 to August 8, but has faced some obstacles along the way. Originally planned for 2020, the Games were delayed a year due to the pandemic. On Thursday (July 8), Japanese Prime Minister Yoshide Suga announced that the country would be placed under a state of emergency, which in turn bans spectators from Tokyo venues.