GREENVILLE, N.C. – Former East Carolina high jumper and seven-time All-America performer Tynita Butts-Townsend is headed to the Tokyo Olympics in just a few weeks as part of the United States track and field team.
 
The women’s high jump competition is slated for August 5th (qualifying round) and 7th (finals) at the Japan National Stadium.
 
Butts-Townsend earned the third and final spot on the squad due to her current No. 21 world ranking. She is the third former Pirate track and field athlete to represent the USA at the Olympic Games, joining Lee McNeil (1988) and Lashawn Merritt (2008, 2012, 2016).
 
In 2014, Butts-Townsend’s redshirt senior season, she was named the Conference USA Women’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year after winning the league title and finishing second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships – the highest-ever finish for an East Carolina athlete at the meet.
 
Butts-Townsend completed her Pirate career as the school record holder in both the high jump (1.91-meters) and long jump (6.22-meters). She qualified for the NCAA Championships every year in which she competed at the collegiate level while placing seventh at the 2012 USA Olympic Trials.