Michael Hartfield (born March 29, 1990) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the long jump. He holds a personal best of 8.34 m (27 ft 4+1⁄4 in) for the event, set in 2016. He competed in the 2016 Olympics for Team USA in the long jump.
Injuries prevented him from achieving a high standard in the 2012 indoor season, but outdoors he returned to form with a Big Ten Conference long jump win in a new best of 7.96 m (26 ft 1+1⁄4 in). He was also fifth in the triple jump. He came eleventh at that year's NCAA Outdoor Championships then had his highest national placing at the 2012 United States Olympic Trials, taking sixth place. In 2013 – his third and final year of competition for the Buckeyes – he skipped indoor collegiate meets and instead competed at the 2013 USA Indoor Track and Field Championships, taking second place behind Jeremy Hicks.[3] Turning outdoors, he broke Jesse Owens' 77-year-old Ohio State school record in the long jump with a personal record clearance of 8.15 m (26 ft 8+3⁄4 in) at the Texas Relays.[4] A triple jump best of 15.84 m (51 ft 11+1⁄2 in) followed in Tucson, Arizona. Hartfield became a horizontal jumps double champion at the 2013 Big Ten Conference meet, extending his conference streak in the long jump to three wins at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.[5] In his final collegiate competition he had his first and only podium finish at the 2013 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, ending the long jump contest in third place.[1]
Hartfield placed fifth at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials with a wind-aided jump of 8.39 m (27 ft 6+1⁄4 in).[14] As one of the jumpers ahead of him (Will Claye) did not have the Olympic qualifying standard, Hartfield was named to the American team as an alternate; he received the opportunity to compete at the Olympics after Marquis Dendy withdrew due to an injury.[14]
Personal records
Long jump outdoor – 8.34 m (27 ft 4+1⁄4 in) (2016)
Long jump indoor – 7.98 m (26 ft 2 in) (2013)
Triple jump outdoor – 15.84 m (51 ft 11+1⁄2 in) (2013)