View source for Amy Acuff

{{short description|American track and field athlete}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
|name          = Amy Acuff
|image         = Amy Acuff Valence 2008.jpg
|imagesize     = 220px
|caption       = Acuff at the 2008 World Indoor Championships
|fullname      = Amy Lyn Acuff
|birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1975|07|14}}
|birth_place    = [[Port Arthur, Texas]], U.S.A.
|death_date     = 
|death_place    = 
|height        = {{convert|6|ft|2|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
|weight        = {{convert|145|lb|abbr=on}}
|country       = {{flagcountry|USA}}
|sport         = [[Track and field]]
|event         = [[High jump]]
|club          = [[UCLA Bruins]]
|team          = [[USA Track & Field]]
|retired       = 
|coaching      = 
|updated       = 
|medaltemplates={{Medal|Sport | Women's [[athletics (sport)|athletics]]}}
{{Medal|Country | {{USA}}}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[Summer Universiade|World University Games]]}}
{{Medal|Gold|[[Athletics at the 1997 Summer Universiade|1997 Sicily]]|High jump}}
{{Medal|Competition|[[IAAF World Junior Championships|World Junior Championships]]}}
{{Medal|Bronze|[[1994 World Junior Championships in Athletics|1994 Lisbon]]|High jump}}
}}
'''Amelia Lyn''' "'''Amy'''" '''Acuff''' (born July 14, 1975) is a [[track and field]] athlete from the [[United States]]. A [[high jump]] specialist, she competed in the [[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Women's high jump|1996]], [[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's high jump|2000]], [[Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|2004]], [[Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|2008]] and [[Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|2012 Olympic Games]] as a member of [[USA Track and Field]]. Her best Olympic performance came at the 2004 Games, where her jump of 1.99&nbsp;m earned her fourth place in the final.

==Biography==
Born in [[Port Arthur, Texas]], she established herself domestically with wins at the [[USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships]] in 1995 and 1997. At the age of 22, she became the [[Universiade]] champion, edging out [[Monica Iagăr]] in the [[Athletics at the 1997 Summer Universiade|1997 high jump final]]. Acuff was the winner of the 1998 [[Hochsprung mit Musik]] meeting in [[Arnstadt]], Germany, becoming the first non-European winner in the history of the event. She went on to win at the national championships in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2007. Six national championships, all in odd numbered years.

Her personal best is 2.01 m, which she achieved at the [[Weltklasse Zürich|Weltklasse Golden League international track and field meet]] in Zürich, Switzerland, on August 15, 2003. She finished 4th place at that high jump competition.<ref>Aquitania, Ray E. M.D.(2001)''Jock-Docs: World-Class Athletes Wearing White Coats'' {{ISBN|9781609106126}}</ref>

During the [[Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|2004 Olympic final]], she was in bronze medal position through 1.99m. At 2.02m, after [[Vita Styopina]] cleared her lifetime personal best on her first attempt, Acuff strategically chose to pass at what would have been her personal best just to equal Styopina and retain bronze medal position. At the time, American television commentator [[Dwight Stones]] said "That is a decision she will think about the rest of her life."

While in high school in 1993 she was named the national Girl's "High School Athlete of the Year" by [[Track and Field News]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/archive/HSAOYs.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-10-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111013091646/http://trackandfieldnews.com/archive/HSAOYs.pdf |archive-date=2011-10-13 }} Track and Field News High School AOY</ref>

Her 1.95m at the [[Texas Relays]] at age 36 on March 31, 2012, should qualify as the W35 [[United States records in masters athletics|American Masters record]].

Just 17 days before her 40th birthday, on June 28, 2015, Acuff placed third at the USATF track championships in [[Eugene, Oregon]], potentially qualifying her for 2015's US delegation to the world championships in Beijing, however she needed jump of 1.94 meters, the qualifying standard. She, and all of the other American women, were ultimately unable to meet this standard and could not compete in [[Beijing]].

She was Inducted into the Texas Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame, Class of 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ttfca2.wixsite.com/txtfhalloffame/inductees |title=Txtfhalloffame |access-date=2017-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116170038/http://ttfca2.wixsite.com/txtfhalloffame/inductees |archive-date=2017-01-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Personal bests==
*High jump (outdoors): {{T&Fcalc|2.01}} - Zurich, August 15, 2003
*High jump (indoors): {{T&Fcalc|1.97}} - Indianapolis, March 11, 1995

==National titles==
* National Scholastic Indoor Champion: 1991, 1992
* NCAA (National Collegiate) Indoor Champion: 1994, 1995, 1997
* NCAA Outdoor Champion: 1995, 1996
* 6 Time [[USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships|U.S. Outdoor Champion]]: 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007
* 5 Time [[USA Indoor Track and Field Championships|U.S. Indoor Champion]]: 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009

==International competitions==
{| {{AchievementTable}}
|-
!colspan="6"|Representing the {{USA}}
|-
|1992
|[[1992 World Junior Championships in Athletics|World Junior Championships]]
|[[Seoul]], South Korea
|9th
|[[1992 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.85 m]]
|-
|1993
|[[1993 Pan American Junior Athletics Championships|Pan American Junior Championships]]
|[[Winnipeg]], Canada
|bgcolor=gold|1st
|1.83 m
|-
|1994
|[[1994 World Junior Championships in Athletics|World Junior Championships]]
|[[Lisbon]], Portugal
|bgcolor="cc9966"| 3rd
|[[1994 World Junior Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.88 m]]
|-
|1995
|[[1995 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Gothenburg]], Sweden
|8th
|[[1995 World Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.93 m]]
|-
|1996
|[[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Atlanta]], United States
|24th (q)
|[[Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics - Women's high jump|1.85 m]] 
|-
|rowspan=3|1997
|[[Athletics at the 1997 Summer Universiade|World University Games]]
|[[Sicily]], Italy
|bgcolor="gold"| 1st
|1.98 m
|-
|[[1997 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Athens]], Greece
|14th (q)
|[[1997 World Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.92 m]]
|-
|[[1997 IAAF Grand Prix Final|IAAF Grand Prix Final]]
|[[Fukuoka]], Japan
|6th
|1.93 m
|-
|1999
|[[1999 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Seville]], Spain
|9th
|[[1999 World Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.93 m]]
|-
|2000
|[[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Sydney]], Australia
| 31st (q)
| [[Athletics at the 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's high jump|1.80 m]] 
|-
|rowspan=3|2001
|[[2001 IAAF World Indoor Championships|World Indoor Championships]]
|[[Lisbon]], Portugal
|4th
|1.96 m
|-
|[[2001 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Edmonton]], [[Alberta]], Canada
|10th
|[[2001 World Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.90 m]]
|-
|[[2001 IAAF Grand Prix Final|IAAF Grand Prix Final]]
|[[Melbourne]], Australia
|bgcolor="silver"| 2nd
|1.96 m
|-
|rowspan=2|2003
|[[2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships|World Indoor Championships]]
|[[Birmingham]], United Kingdom
|10th
|1.92 m
|-
|[[2003 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Paris]], France
|9th
|[[2003 World Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.90 m]] 
|-
|rowspan=2|2004
|[[Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Athens]], Greece
|4th
|[[Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|1.99 m]]
|-
|[[2004 IAAF World Athletics Final|IAAF World Athletics Final]]
|[[Monaco]]
|6th
|1.95 m
|-
|2005
|[[2005 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Helsinki]], Finland
|8th
|[[2005 World Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.89 m]]
|-
|rowspan=3|2006
|[[2006 IAAF World Indoor Championships|World Indoor Championships]]
|[[Moscow]], Russia
|13th (q)
|1.90 m
|-
|[[2006 IAAF World Athletics Final|IAAF World Athletics Final]]
|[[Stuttgart]], Germany
|5th
|1.94 m
|-
|[[2006 IAAF World Cup|World Cup]]
|[[Athens]], Greece
|bgcolor="cc9966"| 3rd
|1.94 m
|-
|rowspan=2|2007
|[[2007 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Osaka]], Japan
|12th
|[[2007 World Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.94 m]]
|-
|[[2007 IAAF World Athletics Final|IAAF World Athletics Final]]
|[[Stuttgart]], Germany
|5th
|1.94 m
|-
|rowspan=2|2008
|[[2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships|World Indoor Championships]]
|[[Valencia]], Spain
|6th
|1.95 m
|-
|[[Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[Beijing]], China
|19th (q)
|[[Athletics at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|1.89 m]]
|-
|2009
|[[2009 World Championships in Athletics|World Championships]]
|[[Berlin]], Germany
|10th
|[[2009 World Championships in Athletics – Women's high jump|1.87 m]]
|-
|2012
|[[Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]
|[[London]], United Kingdom
| 20th (q)
|[[Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics – Women's high jump|1.85 m]]
|}
* Results with a Q indicate Acuff's overall position in the qualifying round.

==Modeling==
Amy Acuff is also known for her career as a model. She was the subject of modeling projects, media stories, and photography relating to her sports career as a track and field athlete. Acuff was even featured on national television commercials. A new challenge was taken in 1999 as she successfully organized the making of the ''2000 Omnilite Millennium Calendar of Champions'', which featured nude/semi-nude photographs of Acuff and 11 other U.S. female track and field stars, with half the proceeds going to the Florence Griffith-Joyner Youth Foundation.<ref>1</ref>

Acuff's cover appearances include:
* ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'', "Women of Summer: Strength & Beauty: A Portfolio of America's 10 Sexiest Athletes"
* [[Men's magazine]]s, such as ''[[Maxim (magazine)|Maxim]]'' and ''[[FHM]]''
* The 2004 Olympics were noted for the large number of female Olympians who posed nude—following in the footsteps of the 2000 [[Australia women's national soccer team|Matildas]] and the Omni calendar. Of the 2004 examples the most visible was Acuff's appearance on the cover and within ''[[Playboy]]'''s "The Women of the Olympics" issue.<ref>{{cite news |title=Posing for magazines: Athlete or sexual plaything? |url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/oconnor/2004-08-13-oconnor_x.htm |first=Ian |last=O'Conner |date=August 13, 2004 |newspaper=[[USA Today]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Olympians posing nude, poses questions |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=boswell/040823 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040825114823/http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page3/story?page=boswell/040823 |url-status=dead |archive-date=August 25, 2004 |first=Laura |last=Boswell |date=October 13, 2004 |publisher=[[ESPN]]}}</ref>
* Acuff appears across the top of the title for [[The Complete Book of the Olympics|''The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition'']].<ref>{{cite book |first=David |last=Wallechinsky |author2=Jaime Loucky |title=The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition |date=May 2008 |publisher=Aurum Press |isbn=978-1-84513-330-6 }}</ref>

==Personal life==
Acuff graduated from [[Calallen High School]] in [[Corpus Christi, Texas]]. She attended [[University of California, Los Angeles|UCLA]] and was inducted into the [[UCLA Bruins#UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame|UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame]] in 2007. Acuff went on to study at the Academy of Oriental Medicine in Austin, Texas, and become a licensed acupuncturist.<ref>1</ref>

She is distantly related to country musician [[Roy Acuff]] (her grandfather's second cousin).<ref>[http://www.acuff.org/ Acuff-Ecoff Family Archives]</ref>

She is married to [[Tye Harvey]], a retired pole vaulter. They have a daughter, Elsa.
<ref>[http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100819/A_SPORTS/8190318 "Olympic high jumper takes leap into motherhood", Recordnet.com]</ref>

In addition to being a model, Acuff is also an artist with work on display with the<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://artoftheolympians.org/artists/amy-acuff/|title=Art of the Olympians {{!}} Amy Acuff|website=artoftheolympians.org|access-date=2016-05-16}}</ref> [[Art of the Olympians]].

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{World Athletics}}
* {{Team USA|new_id=amy-acuff-933981|old_id=AC/Amy-Acuff|archive=20210118013245}}
* {{Olympedia}}
* {{Olympics.com profile}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040814123531/http://www.amyacuff.org/ |title=Official website |date=mdy}}
* {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213010946/http://www.flocasts.org/flotrack/search.php?cx=003556892317167185039%3A536qwfr48fi&cof=FORID%3A11&q=amy+acuff&domain=1&sa=Search |title=Video Interview |date=mdy}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-sports}}
{{succession box
|before=[[Angela Bradburn-Spangler|Angela Bradburn]]<br>[[Tisha Waller]]<br>[[Karol Damon]]<br>[[Tisha Waller]]<br>[[Tisha Waller]]
|title=[[National champions high jump (women)#United States|USA Women's High Jump Champion]]
|years=1995<br>1997<br>2001<br>2003<br>2005
|after=[[Tisha Waller]]<br>[[Tisha Waller]]<br>[[Tisha Waller]]<br>[[Tisha Waller]]<br>[[Chaunte Howard]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Footer Universiade Champions High Jump Women}}
{{USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners in women's high jump}}
{{Footer US NC High Jump Women}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 1996 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 2000 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 2004 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 2008 Summer Olympics}}
{{Footer USA Track & Field 2012 Summer Olympics}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acuff, Amy}}
[[Category:1975 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from Austin, Texas]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Port Arthur, Texas]]
[[Category:Track and field athletes from California]]
[[Category:Female models from Texas]]
[[Category:American female high jumpers]]
[[Category:Olympic track and field athletes for the United States]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:World Athletics Championships athletes for the United States]]
[[Category:UCLA Bruins women's track and field athletes]]
[[Category:Calallen High School alumni]]
[[Category:Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)]]
[[Category:Goodwill Games medalists in athletics]]
[[Category:FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1997 Summer Universiade]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 1998 Goodwill Games]]
[[Category:Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportswomen]]
[[Category:21st-century American sportswomen]]
[[Category:American masters athletes]]
[[Category:NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners]]
[[Category:NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships winners]]