Levern Spencer
Levern Spencer is a retired Saint Lucian high jumper whose career included a Pan American Games gold medal and a national-record leap of 1.98 m. Spencer represented Saint Lucia at four Olympic Games and reached the Olympic final at Rio 2016. Her career also brought medals at the Commonwealth Games and repeated success across regional championships.
Pan American Games gold, Toronto 2015
Olympic finalist, Rio 2016
1.98 m
Athens, GA, 8 May 2010 · NR
1.95 m
Sopot, 7 March 2014 · NR
4
2008, 2012, 2016, 2020
6th
Rio 2016 final
Key facts
Spencer’s Career Timeline
CARIFTA · Debrecen · CAC
Spencer won the CARIFTA Games in 2001, then took bronze at the World Youth Championships in Debrecen with a 1.81 m jump. Earlier that season, she had cleared 1.84 m to set a Saint Lucian national record. These results established her as one of the top ten most successful junior jumpers while she was still competing at regional level.
At the 2002 CARIFTA Games, Spencer finished second behind Jamaica’s Shaunette Davidson. Her mark of 1.83 m earned eighth place at the World Junior Championships, where Croatia’s Blanka Vlašić won. Her first Commonwealth Games appearance came that year, where she finished 12th after clearing 1.74 m.
Spencer improved her national record and personal best twice in 2003, reaching 1.86 m on both occasions. At the Pan American Games that year, she made the final as a junior and finished fifth. After jumping 1.88 m in 2004, she won her first major senior title in 2005 at the Central American and Caribbean Championships.
The 2005 title came with a 1.94 m national record and secured Spencer a place at the World Championships. She cleared 1.84 m in the qualifying round but did not advance. In 2006, she claimed victory at the NACAC Under-23 Championships, placed fifth at the Commonwealth Games and took a bronze medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games.
Osaka · Beijing · Athens, GA
Spencer won the NACAC Championships in 2007 and added Pan American Games bronze, finishing behind Mexico’s Romary Rifka and Canada’s Nicole Forrester. At the World Championships in Osaka, she reached the final by matching her national record of 1.94 m. In a dramatic final round, she placed 15th in the final after clearing 1.90 m.
At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, Spencer cleared 1.85 m and finished 27th, outside the final. She also won the Central American and Caribbean Championships that year with a 1.91 m jump.
In 2009, Spencer became Stellar Group’s first high jumper when she signed her debut professional deal with the organisation. In Havana, she again became Central American and Caribbean champion. At the World Championships in Berlin, she was Saint Lucia’s only qualifier but did not reach the final.
A jump of 1.95 m in Zaragoza in July 2009 marked a personal best. On 8 May 2010, Spencer cleared 1.98 m in Athens, Georgia, winning the competition and setting Saint Lucia’s national record and the Caribbean Community record. That mark was then the second-best jump worldwide for the season, and Spencer recorded six of the ten highest jumps of her career during 2010.
At the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, Spencer won bronze after clearing 1.88 m on her second attempt. It was Saint Lucia’s best individual athletics finish at the Commonwealth Games at that point. She also won the Central American and Caribbean Games with 1.94 m and recorded five successive victories on the Finnish circuit.
Daegu · London · Moscow
Spencer narrowly missed the World Championships final in Daegu in 2011, finishing one place short. She later placed second in the Diamond League with 1.92 m, behind Blanka Vlašić. In Mayagüez, Spencer secured another Central American and Caribbean Championships title, her fifth in succession, before finishing seventh at the Pan American Games.
An Olympic Solidarity Scholarship brought Spencer to Germany for training in 2012 and made her a flag bearer. At the London Olympics, she cleared 1.90 m and finished 19th, having qualified for the competition but not the final.
In 2013, Spencer won her sixth Central American and Caribbean Championships gold with a 1.95 m jump. She reached the final at the Moscow World Championships with a clearance of 1.92 m, finishing 11th. The result gave her another major outdoor final after her earlier appearance in Osaka.
Sopot · Glasgow · Toronto · Rio
Spencer cleared 1.95 m during qualification at the 2014 World Indoor Championships, setting an indoor national best. She went on to finish seventh in the final. That was her best World Championships finish. Later that year, she cleared 1.96 m, her strongest mark since 2010, defended her Central American and Caribbean Games title and won Pan Games Festival gold.
At the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Spencer took bronze with 1.88 m. Eleanor Patterson won with 1.94 m, while Isobel Pooley cleared 1.92 m. Spencer also finished fifth at the Continental Cup and second at the OECS Championships, behind Jeannelle Scheper.
A 1.94 m jump at the Meeting Madrid in July 2015 secured qualification for the Beijing World Championships and the Rio Olympics. Spencer won the Pan American Games in Toronto with the same height, earning Saint Lucia’s first gold medal at those Games. She later reached the World Championships final in Beijing and finished 12th with 1.88 m.
Spencer matched her indoor national record with 1.95 m in Hustopeče in February 2016, then placed sixth at the World Indoor Championships. She won the Diamond League meeting in Shanghai with 1.94 m, beating Nadiya Dusanova on countback. At Rio, Spencer became the first Saint Lucian to qualify for the Olympic high-jump final and finished sixth.
London · Třinec · Toronto
At the World Championships in London, she was Saint Lucia’s only athlete and finished 13th in the qualifying round. Spencer chose to compete indoors in 2018 and cleared the Commonwealth Games standard with a 1.90 m jump. She won in Hustopeče with 1.93 m, then took victory in Třinec with 1.95 m, equalling her national indoor record. Later that year, she secured a third consecutive NACAC Championships title with 1.91 m.
Spencer announced her retirement on 31 October 2021, after the Tokyo Olympics.
Major Medals & Marks
| Year | Competition | Event / Venue | Result | Mark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | World Youth Championships | Debrecen, Hungary | Bronze | 1.81 m |
| 2007 | Pan American Games | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Bronze | 1.87 m |
| 2010 | Commonwealth Games | Delhi, India | Bronze | 1.88 m |
| 2013 | CAC Championships | Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | Gold | 1.95 m |
| 2014 | Commonwealth Games | Glasgow, Scotland | Bronze | 1.88 m |
| 2015 | Pan American Games | Toronto, Canada | Gold | 1.94 m |
| 2018 | NACAC Championships | Toronto, Canada | Gold | 1.91 m |
National Records For Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia first competed at the Olympics in 1996 and has sent athletes to every Summer Games since then. Spencer represented the country in the women’s high jump and carried the national flag at Olympic opening ceremonies.
| Category | Historic Milestone |
|---|---|
| Olympic Appearances | 4 Summer Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020) |
| Highest Olympic Finish | 6th Place (Rio 2016 Final) — Highest field event finish in Saint Lucia’s Olympic history |
| First Olympic Finalist | Rio 2016 — First athlete from Saint Lucia to reach an Olympic high jump final |
| Pan American Games Gold | Toronto 2015 (1.94 m) — First-ever Pan American Games gold medal for Saint Lucia |
| National Olympic Flag Bearer | Beijing 2008 & London 2012 — Led the national delegation at Opening Ceremonies |
| World Outdoor Championship Finals | 2 Appearances — Osaka 2007 (15th) and Moscow 2013 (11th) |
| Regional Championship Gold Medals | 8 Titles — CAC Championships (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013), NACAC Championships (2007, 2018), Pan American Games (2015) |