Tisha Felice Waller, (born December 1, 1970) is an American athlete competing in the high jump, who participated in the 1996 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Olympics.[1] She is a five time American Champion, and internationally won the 1998 Goodwill Games, plus bronze medals in the 1991 World University Games and the 1999 World Indoor Championships.
Born in South Boston, Virginia, Waller was raised in Decatur, Georgia.[2] She graduated from Halifax County High School and the University of North Carolina. After graduating she became a kindergarten teacher, becoming 1996 Teacher of the year honors at Livsey Elementary School in DeKalb County, Georgia. That same year she won the United States Olympic Trials (track and field) and competed in the home town Olympics. She concentrated on High Jump, coached by Nat Page[2] [3] for a few years but taking the 2001 season off to finish her master's degree at Clark University and return to teaching first grade at a brand new school, Wynbrooke Traditional Theme School in Stone Mountain, Georgia. She was named USATFs Visa Humanitarian Athlete of the Year in 2003.
Waller established an American women's indoor record of 2.01 meters (6' 7.25") at the 1998 USA Indoor Championships on February 28, 1998. Her mark stood for 14 years until it was broken by Chaunté Lowe by a single centimeter, 2.02m, at the 2012 USA Indoor Championships.[4]
| Representing | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Universiade | Sheffield, United Kingdom | 3rd | 1.90 m | ||
| 1995 | World Indoor Championships | Barcelona, Spain | 7th | 1.93 m | ||
| World Championships | Gothenburg, Sweden | 17th (q) | 1.90 m | |||
| 1996 | Olympic Games | Atlanta, United States | 9th | 1.93 m | ||
| 1998 | Goodwill Games | New York City, United States | bgcolor=gold | 1st | 1.97 m | |
| World Cup | Johannesburg, South Africa | 3rd | 1.93 m | |||
| 1999 | World Indoor Championships | Maebashi, Japan | 3rd | 1.96 m | ||
| World Championships | Seville, Spain | 4th | 1.96 m | |||
| 2002 | World Cup | Madrid, Spain | 4th | 1.96 m | ||
| 2003 | World Indoor Championships | Birmingham, United Kingdom | 7th | 1.96 m | ||
| 2004 | Olympic Games | Athens, Greece | 16th (q) | 1.89 m | ||
| (q) = overall position in qualifying round | ||||||