As a high schooler in 2009, Barrett won the Texas Class 5A State Championship in the girls high jump. In 2011 Barrett won the National Championships and
World University Games in
Shenzhen, China, jumping 1.96 m, a personal best. She also participated in the
World Championships in
Daegu, where she qualified for the final and placed 10th with 1.93 m.
2012 and 2013: Olympic and World silver medals In January, Barrett jumped 1.97 m indoors at the Fayetteville Invitational. She qualified for the
2012 Summer Olympics by placing second behind
Chaunté Lowe at the
US Olympic trials. At the Olympic Games in London, however, she jumped higher than Lowe and became silver medalist, by jumping 2.03m, a new personal best. In 2013, Barrett won the
NCAA Indoor Championships with a jump of 1.95 m. She also won the
2013 NCAA Outdoor Championships. She jumped a new world lead and personal best of 2.04 m in winning the US Championships. Barrett won silver at the
World Championships in
Moscow with a jump of 2.00 m. Barrett was a finalist for the 2013
Bowerman award.
Injuries and retirement (2016) Barrett, who hails from
Wappingers Falls, New York, jumped on June 6, 2014 at
Rice University Track Stadium. Barrett placed third in the high jump in at
2014 US Outdoor Championships in
Sacramento, California. Struggling with injuries, she decided not to jump and to miss the
World Championships in
Beijing in August 2015. She returned to high jump in January 2016 where she cleared 1.83 m. She decided to retire at the age of 25 and to concentrate herself on her own business. In April 2017, she went back on that decision and competed in the Drake Relays in Iowa. ==Personal==