Background
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Little is the child of athletic parents, her father a football cornerback and her mother a star basketball player and high jumper at Eastern Kentucky University.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Little is the child of athletic parents, her father a football cornerback and her mother a star basketball player and high jumper at Eastern Kentucky University.
Shamier began participating in youth track and field as an 8 year old. She made her first appearance at the national level at the 2004 USATF Youth Championships as a 100 meter sprinter running for the University of Chicago Youth Track Club. She regularly participated in all comers track meets.
Later she ran for the Country Club Hills Gazelles both in USATF and Amateur Athletic Union competitions.
None of her early youth competitions could be labeled exceptional. At Robert Lindblom Mathematics & Science Academy in Chicago, Little got more serious setting the IHSA Class 2A records in 100 meters hurdles, 200 meters and 400 meters.
In 2013, she tried 100 meters hurdles and 400 at the National Championships, finishing off the podium in both. After high school, Little chose to go to Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University.
The National Championship offered Little an invitation to run in the 2015 Pan American Games, where she took the gold medal.