Athletics
Vashti Cunningham: Top career moments
See the high jumper's top moments in her track & field career so far.
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Watch a high jumping competition, and it’s easy to think the sport defies the laws of nature. After all, you’ll see athletes hurling their bodies over a bar at least 1.8 meters (six feet) off the ground. High jumper Vashti Cunningham says that the pressure is solely on the athlete’s shoulders in this highly individual track and field discipline.
“It’s all on you at the end of the day,” Cunningham says. “Your wins, your losses, your times, your heights.”
Vashtin Cunningham trains in Chula Vista, California
© Damien Noble Andrews / Red Bull Content Pool
While Cunningham has experienced all of the above, her highs far outnumber her lows. Read ahead for the top Vashti Cunningham career moments — you’ll learn how she became the top female high jumper in America.
01
Early family life
Vashti Cunningham was born on January 18, 1998 in Las Vegas with star athleticism in her genes. Her father, Randall Cunningham, Sr. is a former NFL quarterback, playing for teams such as the Philadelphia Eagles and Minnesota Vikings for 16 seasons. Today, her father is by her side at every competition as her coach. But it’s her older brother — and greatest rival — Randall Cunningham II whom she credits with sparking her interest in high jumping.
“Anything that he was doing, I wanted to try and do better than him or beat him at it,” she said.
Throughout her childhood, Vashti had to try any sport her brother played, including soccer, flag football, and basketball. When Randall II started high jumping, Vashti officially found her calling. (Randall II has a respectable high jump record himself as a former NCAA Champion and U.S. Junior National Champion.)
Vashti Cunningham trains in Chula Vista, California
© Damien Noble Andrews / Red Bull Content Pool
Vashti’s mother, Felicity de Jager Cunningham — a former Dance Theatre of Harlem ballerina — has also profoundly influenced her. In addition to introducing her daughter to the fundamentals of ballet, Felicity encouraged Vashti to celebrate her creativity whenever she could. She explains to Red Bull how much her mother’s unwavering compassion and support mean to her.
“I’m kind of blown away at the fact that she’s my actual mother,” she says. “She’s really like an angel. She is one of the most comforting people in any circumstance.”
02
From high school to top high jumper in the country
Under her father’s supervision, Cunningham began training alongside her brother before she was in middle school. She quickly found that, in high jumping, she needed to give 100 percent every time — and that’s exactly why she loved it so much.
“I think my favorite thing is just the fact that it’s not easy.”
© Getty Images
“It’s not something that’s a natural movement like running,” she says. “It’s something you have to learn and really treat as a process. The further you get along, the more you see that every little detail counts toward your success. I think my favorite thing is just the fact that it’s not easy.”
By 2015, her commitment to training would pay off big-time. The then-high school student became a nearly overnight sensation at the Pan American Junior Championships. She won her event by clearing a distance of 1.96 meters and shot up to the top rankings of American women high jumpers.
The following year, Cunningham won the World Indoor Championships, making her the best high jumper in the country. The then-18-year-old began getting athletic scholarship offers, but she turned them down to officially launch her professional career. Instead of college, she kicked off her first sponsorship with Nike and earned a spot as the youngest track and field member of Team USA.
03
World championships and records
In 2019, Cunningham won the bronze medal in high jump.
© Getty Images
Two years after her triumphant first appearance at the World Indoor Championships, Cunningham earned silver at the 2018 event. At her first World Championship in 2019 in Doha, Qatar she earned a bronze medal and set a new personal record of clearing two meters. In February 2021, she cleared two meters once again at an American Track League event in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She pushed the bar even higher, though, on the 2021 IAAF Continental Tour, where she cleared 2.02 meters.
Cunningham hopes to keep pushing that distance as high as she can. In the meantime, she continues reaching the podium at track and field events. She most recently landed gold medals at the 2022 U.S. Outdoor Championships and the 2023 U.S. Indoor Championships.
Cunningham won gold at the Athletics World Cup in London in 2018.
© Getty Images
04
Milestones off the track
High jumping is only one part of Cunningham’s life — the track and field athlete does plenty to balance her many passions. For starters, she’s loved fashion almost as long as she’s loved high jumping. She models when she’s not competing, and she hopes to one day pursue her dream of becoming a photographer. She once again says she owes all of it — the creative inclinations, the desire to stay well-rounded — to her mother.
“I have to remember that God gave me the blessing of being a professional track athlete, but this is not my life and there’s still life out there,” she tells Red Bull. “This is something I learned from my mom. To hear my mom tell me that there are other things in life, that you have desires and you can chase them but remain focused on the platform that God has given you—that was a game changer for me.”
Cunningham recently signed with a modeling agency.
© Dana Scruggs
05
Future prospects and building her legacy
Cunningham has already achieved so much, but all signs indicate that we’re still in the beginning chapters of her story. As she sets her sights on greater wins, there’s another record she plans to conquer. The current world record for women's high jump stands at 2.09 meters, set by Bulgarian jumper Stefka Kostadinova in 1987. Cunningham may still have another 0.07 meters to clear, but she’s determined to get there — or even higher.
Vashti Cunningham knows what matters the most
As Cunningham sets her sights on even bigger horizons, she remains grounded in what matters most. Ultimately, her family will always be her number-one priority — and she knows they will always feel the same about her.
“I know there’s never going to be a moment where I can’t turn to one of them and have them encourage or love me,” Cunningham says. “I feel like I’m going to be good for life, regardless of what happens, because at the end of the day, I know I’ll always have a home base and a support community that I can be with and be happy.”