Education
Brigham Young University.
Brigham Young University.
She represented her nation Trinidad and Tobago in two editions of the Olympic Games (2000 and 2004), finishing twenty-second in Sydney and twenty-fifth in Athens with a current national record and her personal best score of 5962 points. Leading up to her Olympic career, Mark-Baird also picked up a silver medal in heptathlon at the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games in Maracaibo, Venezuela. While competing for the Cougars, Mark-Baird placed ninth in the heptathlon at the outdoor National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships and had contributed to a stalwart, runner-up finish for the women"s track and field team at the Western Athletic Conference in San Diego, California on her junior year.
After graduating from Brigham Young University with a master"s degree in social work, Mark-Baird emerged herself to be part of the world elite in heptathlon.
Olympic Games
On her Olympic debut in Sydney 2000, Mark-Baird became the first ever athlete from Trinidad and Tobago to compete in the heptathlon, finishing in twenty-second with 5627 points. At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Mark-Baird qualified for her second Trinidad and Tobago team in the women"s heptathlon.
Leading up to her second Games, she improved her personal best score to 5934 at the track and field meeting in California during her 2004 season, that got her past the IAAF Olympic "B" standard. Mark-Baird put up a startling effort in the javelin throw to accumulate a Trinidad and Tobago record total of 5962 points, but slipped to twenty-fifth overall from her position in Sydney four years earlier.
Retirement and comeback
After the 2004 season, Mark-Baird announced her retirement from the sport to focus on both her personal life and social work endeavors.
Upon watching United States. swimmer Dara Torres and fellow sportsman and table tennis player Dexter Saint Louis compete at the age of 41 in Beijing 2008, Mark-Baird sought her sights of planning an Olympic comeback. In early 2015, she began to train and compete again in heptathlon for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Masters
In August 2015, Mark-Baird competed in her first World Masters Championships in Lyon, France.
She earned individual gold in the W40 heptathlon and long jump, and anchored the victorious women"s over-35 4 × 100 m relay with Ayanna Hutchinson, Dawnelle Stafford and Sasha Springer.
All information taken from IAAF profile.
Two years later, she transferred to Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah on a sports scholarship, training as a member of the Brigham Young University Cougars track and field squad under the tutelage of head coach Craig Poole.