Tiffany Porter

Tiffany Porter (née Ofili; born 13 November 1987) is a track and field athlete with joint British and American nationality who specialises in the 100 metres hurdles. She represented the United States as a junior, but began representing Great Britain in 2010 on joining the senior ranks after moving to England and competed for Great Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.[5]

Tiffany Porter

Porter at the 2016 European Indoor Championships
Personal information
Birth name	Tiffany Ofili
Nationality	British, American
Born	13 November 1987[1] Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States[2]
Alma mater	University of Michigan
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Weight	68 kg (150 lb)[1]
Sport
Country	United Kingdom United States
Sport	Track and field
Event(s)	60 metres hurdles 100 metres hurdles 200 metres Long jump
College team	University of Michigan
Club	Birchfield Harriers
Team	GB
Coached by	Rana Reider[3]
Achievements and titles
National finals	British Team Trials 2012/2016
Olympic finals	Rio 2016
Personal best(s)	60m hurdles: 7.80 NR (2011)[4] 100m hurdles: 12.51 (2014) Long jump: 6.48m (2009)
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Championships 0 0 1 World Indoor Championships 0 1 2 Continental Cup 0 1 0 European Championships 1 0 1 European Indoor Championships 0 1 0 Commonwealth Games 0 1 0 NACAC Championships 0 1 0 World Junior Championships 0 0 1 NACAC U-23 Championships 1 0 0 Total 2 5 5 Representing  Great Britain World Championships 2013 Moscow 100 m hurdles World Indoor Championships 2012 Istanbul 60 m hurdles 2014 Sopot 60 m hurdles 2016 Portland 60 m hurdles European Championships 2014 Zürich 100 m hurdles 2016 Amsterdam 100 m hurdles European Indoor Championships 2011 Paris 60m hurdles Representing  England Commonwealth Games 2014 Glasgow 100 m hurdles Representing  Europe Continental Cup 2014 Marrakesh 100 m hurdles Representing  United States NACAC Championships 2007 San Salvador 100 m hurdles NACAC U-23 Championships 2008 Toluca 100 m hurdles World Junior Championships 2006 Beijing 100 m hurdles

Porter won a bronze medal in the 100 m hurdles at the 2013 World Championships. In 2014, she won a silver medal representing England at the Commonwealth Games. Later in 2014 she took her first major title, a gold medal at the European Championships, becoming the first British woman to win a European title in the event. Her personal best of 12.51 is the current British record. She is also a two-time medallist over 60 m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships.

She is the sister of Cindy Ofili, another elite-level sprint hurdler with dual British and American nationality; Ofili, too, chose to represent Great Britain internationally. Unlike Porter, Ofili had never represented the United States as a junior. Both sisters made the final of the 100 metre hurdles at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Early life

Tiffany Porter's father Felix is Nigerian, her mother Lalana is British of African descent. She herself was born in the United States. Porter has held both American and British nationality since her birth. She has therefore been eligible to represent both the United States and Great Britain. She describes herself as "proud to be American, British and Nigerian".[6]

Athletics career

As an American athlete, Porter represented the United States at the inaugural NACAC Championships winning a silver medal. However, at the end of the 2010 season, she changed her allegiance to Great Britain. Commenting on her switch, she said: "I knew I was going to perform no matter what vest I had on. I have always regarded myself as British, American and Nigerian. I'm all three."[7]

On 29 May 2011, at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games, Porter broke Angie Thorp's 15-year-old British record of 12.80s in the 100m Hurdles with a run of 12.77s.[8] Thorp said that losing her record had made her "devastated". She stated that if a British-born athlete, for example Jessica Ennis or Sarah Claxton, who at the time both had personal bests of 12.81s, had broken her record she would have been "the first to congratulate", but as Porter had transferred from the United States, she was "absolutely distraught".

Porter lowered her British record on 22 July 2011, with a time of 12.60s at the Diamond League meeting in Monaco, breaking her previous personal best of 12.73s (set when she was still a US athlete). Her record was broken on 3 August 2012 by Jessica Ennis in the London Olympics heptathlon achieving 12.54s.[9] In September 2011 she was nominated for "European Athlete of the Year".[10] In October 800m runner Mariya Savinova was announced as the winner.[11]

UK Athletics head coach, Charles van Commenee gave Porter the responsibility of the team captaincy ahead of the 2012 World Indoor Championships in March;[12] she was subsequently labelled a "Plastic Brit" after refusing (or being unable) to recite the words of the British national anthem in a press conference.

In 2012 Porter was nominated for "European Athlete of the Month" twice. In March she was nominated along with fellow Brits Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Yamile Aldama.[13] She was nominated again in May, this time with Hannah England and eventual winner Jessica Ennis.[14]

In 2013 Porter switched coaches from James Henry to Rana Reider, and moved to Loughborough to train with Reider's group at Loughborough University's High Performance Centre.[15] At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, she won a bronze medal in the 100 m Hurdles in a personal best time of 12.55 seconds, just one hundredth of a second off Jessica Ennis' British record of 12.54.

Porter began 2014 by winning a bronze medal in the 60 m hurdles at the World Indoor Championships. Then in August, she ran 12.80 to win a silver medal in the 100 m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, behind Sally Pearson of Australia. Two weeks later, she won the European Championships in Zurich, with a time of 12.76. In September, at the IAAF Continental Cup, she broke the UK record with a time of 12.51 secs, finishing behind Dawn Harper-Nelson of the USA.

Personal life

Porter is the older sister of the hurdler Cindy Ofili, who also competes for Great Britain.

Porter married American hurdler Jeff Porter in May 2011,[8] and began to compete under her married name in July 2011, initially as Tiffany Ofili-Porter, then simply as Tiffany Porter.[16] She graduated from the University of Michigan with a PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy) degree in 2012.[17]

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the  United States
2006	World Junior Championships	Beijing, China	3rd	100 m hurdles	13.37 (0.0 m/s)
2007	NACAC Championships	San Salvador, El Salvador	2nd	100 m hurdles	13.27
2008	NACAC U-23 Championships	Toluca, México	1st	100m hurdles	12.82 (-0.6 m/s) A
Representing  Great Britain /  England
2011	European Indoor Championships	Paris, France	2nd	60 m hurdles	7.80
	World Championships	Daegu, South Korea	4th	100 m hurdles	12.63
			heats	4 × 100 m relay	43.95
2012	World Indoor Championships	Istanbul, Turkey	2nd	60 m hurdles	7.94
	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	semi-final	100 m hurdles	12.79
2013	World Championships	Moscow, Russia	3rd	100 m hurdles	12.55
2014	World Indoor Championships	Sopot, Poland	3rd	60 m hurdles	7.86
	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, Scotland	2nd	100 m hurdles	12.80
	European Championships	Zürich, Switzerland	1st	100 m hurdles	12.76
	Continental Cup	Marrakesh, Morocco	2nd	100 m hurdles	12.51
2015	World Championships	Beijing, China	5th	100 m hurdles	12.68
2016	World Indoor Championships	Portland, United States	3rd	60 m hurdles	7.90
	European Championships	Amsterdam, Netherlands	3rd	100 m hurdles	12.76
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	7th	100 m hurdles	12.76
2017	World Championships	London, United Kingdom	29th (h)	100 m hurdles	13.18
2018	Commonwealth Games	Gold Coast, Australia	6th	100 m hurdles	13.12

References

1. "Tiffany Porter". teamgb.com. British Olympic Association. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
2. Matthew Nash (2 March 2011). "Tiffany Ofili: 'Representing UK, not USA, always at the back of my mind'". Metro.co.uk. Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
3. "Athlete Profile". Power of 10. Retrieved 3 June 2013.
4. "GB's Tiffany Ofili wins European indoor hurdles silver". BBC Sport. 4 March 2011. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
5. "Ten Essential Facts about...Tiffany Porter", London Evening Standard, 7 August 2012
6. Tiffany Porter: I am proud to be American, British and Nigerian, The Guardian, 28 May 2012
7. Alex Sphinx (5 March 2011). "Tiffany Ofili smashes record held by Jess Ennis to take European silver". Mirror Online. Mirror Group Newspapers. Retrieved 3 September 2011.
8. "Proctor adds Caribbean flavour to lift British medal prospects". The Independent. 8 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
9. "Mo Farah and Tiffany Ofili-Porter set records in Monaco". BBC Sport. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
10. "Williams is Rising Star". uka.org.uk. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
11. "Russia's Savinova voted 2011 European Athlete of the Year". european-athletics.org. 3 October 2011. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
12. "Van Commenee defends handing GB captaincy to US-born Porter". bbc.co.uk. 8 March 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
13. "vote for european athlete of the month for march". uka.org.uk. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
14. "vote in athlete of the month for may". uka.org.uk. 6 June 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
16. "Tiffany Porter: Set to silence critics by being plastic fantastic". The Independent. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
17. "Tiffany Porter: I am proud to be American, British and Nigerian". guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media. 28 May 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.

External links

• Tiffany Porter at World Athletics