Amy Acuff: 6X U.S. Outdoor Champion & Five Time Olympian High Jumper Reveals Her Workout & Diet Secrets

Amy Acuff is a track and field athlete from the United States. A high jump specialist, she competed in the 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 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 m earned her fourth place in the final.

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 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. Acuff graduated from Calallen High School in Corpus Christi, Texas. She attended UCLA and was inducted into the 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.

Her personal best is 2.01 m, which she achieved at the Weltklasse Golden League international track and field meet in Zürich, Switzerland, on August 15, 2003. She finished 4th place at that high jump competition.

During the 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. Her 1.95m at the Texas Relays at age 36 on March 31, 2012 should qualify as the W35 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. That might qualify her for 2015’s US delegation to the world championships in Beijing, which would require a 1.94m performance. Even if she just equals her performance at the USA Championships after her birthday, it will be a new Masters World Record.

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 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.

Acuff’s cover appearances include:

Esquire, “Women of Summer: Strength & Beauty: A Portfolio of America’s 10 Sexiest Athletes”. Men’s magazines, such as Maxim and FHM. Of the 2004 examples the most visible was Acuff’s appearance on the cover and within Playboy’s, “The Women of the Olympics” issue. Acuff appears across the top of the title for The Complete Book of the Olympics: 2008 Edition.

In 2008, she started learning to code and program software via self-study. She loved the big challenge and has never been afraid to go after one that is worthwhile. There is always the possibility of failure, but what you gain in the process always proves to be more valuable than the result. Winning is an amazing thrill and is hard to match. She would love to help equip others who are willing to put forth the effort to achieve success, and so she named her company Winning Edge Apps.

Amy Acuff Achievements

Personal bests

• High jump (outdoors): 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) – Zurich, August 15, 2003
• High jump (indoors): 1.97 m (6 ft 51⁄2 in) – 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 Times U.S. Outdoor Champion: 1995, 1997, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007
• 5 Times U.S. Indoor Champion: 2001, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009

International competitions

• 1993 Pan American Junior Championships Winnipeg, Canada 1st 1.83 m
• 1994 World Junior Championships Lisbon, Portugal 3rd 1.88 m
• 1997 World University Games Sicily, Italy 1st 1.98 m
• 2001 IAAF Grand Prix Final Melbourne, Australia 2nd 1.96 m
• 2006 World Cup Athens, Greece 3rd 1.94 m

Took part in Olympics 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.

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Amy Acuff is a world leading high jumper, model, tech entrepreneur, acupuncturist and a mother. She is six time winner of U.S. Outdoor Championship and five time U.S. Indoor Championship in high jump. She is five time Olympian. She is in conversation with Namita Nayyar, President Women Fitness.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: You started doing long jump and sprinting by the age of 10 years in South Texas. You studied at Calallen High School in Corpus Christi, Texas and did your biology degree from UCLA. You were inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. You reached the pinnacle of success by winning six times Time U.S.A. Outdoor Champion and five times U.S. Indoor Championship in high jump. What factors you consider were responsible that made you achieve that?

Ms. Amy Acuff: To build a unique skill you must apply yourself to your goal with consistency over a very long period of time. It may appear that you are doing nothing exceptional on any given day, but the cumulative effect of your efforts are what will set you apart.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: You are world leading high jumper, model, tech entrepreneur, acupuncturist and a mother. How you manage such a remarkable multi-dimensional lifestyle?

Ms. Amy Acuff: Now that I’m 40, I haven’t modeled in a long time and acupuncture is more of a hobby, but I am really passionate about athletics and the quest to refine and improve training methods. Luckily, my experience in the sport helps me create technology that is useful for coaches and athletes.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: What exercises comprise your fitness regime or workout routine you shall like to share?

Ms. Amy Acuff: For my sport, almost all of my training requires maximum intensity, but is relatively brief. If you can do this in a way that avoids injury, it turns out that this is really the best way to build muscle mass and lose fat. So readers, instead of a long, slow jog, try working up to sprinting up a short hill five times.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: Do you take some special diet or have a strict menu that you follow to remain healthy and physically fit? 
Ms. Amy Acuff: I eat mainly meat, veggies, fruit, and some grains like oatmeal and quinoa. I’m a lazy cook, so it usually end up coming down to what meat I’m grilling and what vegetable I’m steaming.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: Advice and motivational words to the inspiring and budding girls who have chosen the sporting event of high jump and all are your fans, they shall like to know from you, what they should do for their climb to ladder of success in field of high jumping ?

Ms. Amy Acuff: I had a coach that used to tell me that if you had a burning desire to do something and you relentlessly pursue it with hard work, then nothing could stop you from achieving your dreams. The funny thing is, what you might consider hard work in the beginning becomes habit and seems enjoyable later on.

Ms. Namita Nayyar: How did you feel before and after your memorable win of standing first with high jump of 1.98 meters at World University Games 1996 at Sicily, Italy?

Ms. Amy Acuff: Winning is usually such an elating but fleeting type of satisfaction. What motivates me is trying to achieve the ideal form and expression of my craft.

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