Yvette Lewis facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Yvette Lewis

Personal information
Born	(1985-03-16) March 16, 1985 (age 40) Flensburg, Germany
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	75 kg (165 lb)
Sport
Event(s)	Hurdling
Medal record Women's athletics Representing the  United States Pan American Games Gold 2011 Guadalajara 100 m hurdles Silver 2011 Guadalajara 4×100 m relay Representing  Panama Bolivarian Games Silver 2013 Trujillo 100 m hurdles
Updated on 3 January 2015.

Yvette Lewis (born March 16, 1985) is an amazing athlete who competes in track and field. She was born in Germany but grew up in the United States. Yvette is known for two main events: the 100 meter hurdles and the triple jump.

She used to compete for the United States. But in October 2012, she started competing for Panama. Yvette has achieved great things in her sport. For example, she won a gold medal in the hurdles at the 2011 Pan American Games.

Early Life and College Sports

Yvette Lewis was born in Flensburg, Germany. Her dad, Donnie Lewis, was in the army, which is why her family lived there. Her mom, Lorna Dowlin, was also an athlete. However, she stopped competing to focus on her family.

Yvette grew up in Newport News, Virginia. She tried many different sports events when she was younger. Her first international competition was in 2004. She competed in the triple jump at the 2004 World Junior Championships in Athletics.

She went to Hampton University for college. There, she was part of the Lady Pirates team. She competed in many events for her university. These included triple jump, hurdles, long jump, and short sprints.

In 2006, Yvette became a national champion! She won the NCAA Indoor Championship in the triple jump. She set a personal best of 13.75 meters. The next year, in 2007, she won the NCAA Outdoor Championship in the triple jump too.

Becoming a Professional Athlete

After graduating from Hampton University in 2007, Yvette became a professional athlete in 2008. This meant she would compete in bigger events. She started running the 100-meter hurdles in under 13 seconds. She even set a new personal best of 12.87 seconds.

She also improved her triple jump, reaching 13.84 meters. In 2008, she competed in Europe. She ran her best 100-meter hurdles time of 12.85 seconds at a meeting called Herculis.

In 2009, Yvette started her season with indoor meets in Europe. She won the 60 meter hurdles at one event. She also set new indoor personal bests in the long jump and 400 meters. Back in the U.S., she won the 100-meter hurdles at the Mt. SAC Relays. She also won the triple jump at the adidas Track Classic.

Major Wins and Records

In 2010, Yvette focused mostly on hurdling. She set a new best time of 7.90 seconds for the 60-meter hurdles indoors. Unfortunately, she had a serious ankle injury that year. This meant she couldn't compete as much outdoors.

She came back strong in 2011. She finished third in the hurdles at the USA Indoor Championships. At the 2011 USA Outdoor Championships, she reached the hurdles final. She also set a new personal record of 12.76 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.

Yvette was chosen to be on the national team for the 2011 Pan American Games. She did incredibly well there! She won the gold medal in the 100-meter hurdles. This was a big achievement, as she was the first American to win this event in 24 years. She also won a silver medal with the American team in the 4×100 meter relay race.

After 2012, Yvette began competing for Panama. She continued to achieve great results. In 2013, she won a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles at the Bolivarian Games. In 2014, she won gold medals at the South American Games, the Ibero-American Championships, and the Pan American Sports Festival. She even competed at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Personal Bests

These are Yvette Lewis's best times and distances in her events:

Outdoor

• 100 m: 11.56 – New York City, 2007
• 200 m: 23.50 – Greensboro, North Carolina, 2006
• 100 m hurdles: 12.67 – Lahti, Finland, 2013
• Triple jump: 13.84 m – Eugene, Oregon, 2013
• Heptathlon: 5378 pts – Chula Vista, California, 2012

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the  United States
2004	World Junior Championships	Grosseto, Italy	15th (q)	Triple jump	12.96 m
2006	NACAC U-23 Championships	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	4th	Triple jump	13.30 m
2007	Pan American Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	8th	100 m hurdles	13.69
			6th	Triple jump	13.49 m
2011	Pan American Games	Guadalajara, Mexico	1st	100 m hurdles	12.81
			7th	Triple jump	13.17 m
			2nd	4 × 100 m relay	43.10
	DécaNation	Nice, France	1st	100 m hurdles	12.84
Representing  Panama
2013	Bolivarian Games	Trujillo, Peru	2nd	100 m hurdles	13.20
2014	World Indoor Championships	Sopot, Poland	9th (sf)	60 m hurdles	8.00
	South American Games	Santiago, Chile	1st	100 m hurdles	13.11
	Ibero-American Championships	São Paulo, Brazil	1st	100 m hurdles	13.05
	Pan American Sports Festival	Mexico City, Mexico	1st	100m hurdles	12.86 A
2015	South American Championships	Lima, Peru	4th (h)	200m	24.64
			1st	100m hurdles	13.31
	World Championships	Beijing, China	36th (h)	100 m hurdles	14.12
2016	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	42nd (h)	100 m hurdles	13.35