George Kitchens
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 30, 1983 |
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) |
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  United States |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | Long jump |
| Updated on 15 August 2012 | |
George Kitchens (born January 30, 1983) is an American track and field athlete who competes in the long jump. He has a personal record of 8.23 meters (27 ft 0 in) for the event and was a member of the United States 2012 Olympics team.
Career
Kitchens was raised in Hephzibah, Georgia. While attending Glenn Hills High School in Augusta, Georgia, he won the long jump at the 2001 national high school championships. He went on to study at Clemson University and competed for the Clemson Tigers track team. In his second year at the institution he earned All-America honours at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, was the NCAA East Regional champion, and competed at the 2003 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He cleared a personal record of 7.89 meters at the Georgia Tech Invitational meet in June 2003. Kitchens earned NCAA Outdoor and Indoor All-America honours in his final year, and also managed to finish runner-up at the NCAA East Regionals after winning the Atlantic Coast Conference outdoor long jump title.[1]
Kitchens ranked top ten in the long jump at both the American indoor and outdoor championships in his first year as a professional in 2006. He competed sparingly in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. He re-emerged in 2009 with a fourth-place finish at the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships,[2] followed by a podium finish at the USA Outdoors, taking third with a mark of 8.23 m. Typically this would have gained him a spot for the World Championships squad, but because the mark was wind-aided and he did not possess the "A" qualifying standard, he did not get called up.[3] He began to compete in Europe for the first time that year and set a new best of 7.98 m at a meeting in Salamanca, Spain.[4] He failed to build on this in 2010 and he finished out of the top ten at the USA Outdoors with his season's best mark of 7.64 m.[2]
He started the 2012 season strongly at the Georgia Relays, winning with a wind-assisted jump of 8.27 m and setting a wind-legal personal record of 8.14 m.[5] He placed third at the Colorful Daegu Meeting and the Adidas Grand Prix meet in New York City.[2] He earned his first ever national selection at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, where his personal best clearance of 8.21 m was enough for third place in the long jump.[3]
References
- ^ Kitchens George. Clemson Tigers. Retrieved on 2012-06-26.
- ^ a b c George Kitchens. Tilastopaja. Retrieved on 2012-06-26.
- ^ a b Gordon, Ed (2012-06-25). The men’s dash captivates as usual - US Olympic Trials, Day 3. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-06-26.
- ^ Kitchens George. IAAF. Retrieved on 2012-06-26.
- ^ Spearmon Named USATF Athlete of the Week. USATF (2012-03-27). Retrieved on 2012-06-26.
