Grant Rivers

Grant Rivers (born March 11, 1995) is a Bermudian-American track and field athlete. In 2019 he was selected by the Bermuda Olympic Association^[1] (BOA) to train on Bermuda's National Team for the Toyko 2021 Olympics^[2]. He is a four time Bermuda National Champion in the discus, shot put, javelin, and high jump^[3][4][5]. Likewise, he holds Bermuda's Indoor National Records in the pole vault, 60 meter hurdles, shot put, and heptathlon^[6]. Rivers has one outdoor national record in pole vault. This record stood for over three decades before the young Bermudian broke it by over a foot^[7]. Moreover, he was selected to compete in Naples, Italy for the 2019 Summer World University Games^[8]. He is parented by Colleen and University of Tennessee baseball alum Gary Rivers^[9]. Grant's father was a pitcher for Tennessee and is recognized as being the first African-American baseball signee^[10] to the university in 1975^[11]. Grant is also accompanied by an older sibling, Andrea Rivers.

Rivers attended Hendersonville High School in North Carolina. He competed in football, basketball, and track year round. Rivers set several school records in football at the quarterback position and also holds a school record in the high jump (6ft 8in)^[12]. In high school he claimed multiple state titles in the high jump and All-State honors in the long jump and 110 high hurdles. Although Grant had never competed in the decathlon in high school he was widely viewed by recruiters as being naturally gifted at everything he did. Rivers was recruited for football and track, but chose to run for NCAA Hall of Fame coach Rollie Gieger^[13] at North Carolina State University^[14]. North Carolina State is one of 15 division one schools in the Atlantic Coastal Conference.

As a redshirt freshman Rivers showed promise in the multi events when he became NC State's school record holder^[15] in the heptathlon^[16]. Throughout Rivers collegiate career he proved he was gifted both athletically and academically. While at State, he received a Master of Science degree in Communication and co-authored the book Reimagining Communication^{[17] [18]}. As a result he received several nationally recognized academic honors such as All District Google Cloud Scholar and national runner up for the Arthur Ashe Scholar award^[19]. At the conclusion of his five and a half year tenure at State, Rivers was top 10 in school history as a decathlete^[20]. Also, he earned three All-ACC honors and won NC State's first ACC title^[21] in the men's heptathlon^[22]. His first ACC Championship title landed him in the top 30 in the United States and broke his previous school record^[23]. This feat was accomplished on a partially torn achilles that was later diagnosed at the conclusion of the season.

After graduation Rivers moved back to Hamilton, Bermuda to train. Within a few weeks his professional career was jump started after landing sponsorships with billion dollar vegan protein company Vital Protein^[24]. Also, he is sponsored by Champion Heating and Cooling in western North Carolina^[25]. He no longer competes in the multi events due to a partial achilles tear suffered in 2018 at ACC Outdoor championships in Miami, Florida. Instead, Rivers is focusing on the Javelin for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics^[26]. He currently ranks number one on the island in the event and number two in Bermuda's history. Rivers has not yet qualified for the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, due to the cancelation of the 2020 outdoor season as a result of Covid-19. He hopes to qualify in the future.

References[edit]

External Links[edit]

• Grant Rivers on facebook
• Grant Rivers on Twitter
• Grant Rivers on Instagram

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