Background
Born in Wichita, Kansas, his family moved to Texas and he grew up in the state in Schertz, Texas, attending Randolph High School.
Born in Wichita, Kansas, his family moved to Texas and he grew up in the state in Schertz, Texas, attending Randolph High School.
His personal record for the event is 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in), set as he was the 2015 runner-up at the United States of America Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Early life and college After graduation he went on to study business management at Texas Technical University. He began to compete for the school"s Texas Technical Red Raiders college athletics team
In his freshman year he took fifth place at the Big 12 Conference Championships and ranked seventeenth at the, being one of five freshmen athletes to have qualified for the top level meet.
Though he was only eighth at the 2013 Big 12 indoor meet, he managed runner-up at the conference outdoor event. He again qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Outdoor Championships and improved to seventh place with a personal record equalling mark of 2.20 m (7 ft 21⁄2 in).
A new best of 2.23 m (7 ft 33⁄4 in) followed at the Big 12 indoors (ranking second) and on his debut at the he placed fifth. Outdoors, he cleared 2.23 m (7 ft 33⁄4 in) to place third at the Texas Relays before setting an outright best of 2.27 m (7 ft 51⁄4 in) in Lubbock, Texas in May.
He was somewhat short of that height at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships, repeating his runner-up finish, and was down to tenth place at that year"s National Collegiate Athletic Association Outdoor Championships.
He gained his first international selection for the 2014 NACAC Under-23 Championships in Athletics, but failed to record a height. Duffield showed marked improvement in the 2015 season, setting a new best of 2.28 m (7 ft 53⁄4 in) indoors in February. He and fellow Texas Technical alumnus Bradley Adkins made it the first time in over forty years since a school had provided the top two athletes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association high jump.
This performance raised him to the top of the global rankings at that point of the season.
He extended his winning streak to include the Drake Relays and then the Big 12 Conference outdoor championship. This was the peak performance of his career as a Texas Technical athlete, and also his last for the school.
Professional career At the 2015 United States of America Outdoor Track and Field Championships he improved his personal best to 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in) and was beaten only by Erik Kynard (the 2012 Olympic runner-up). This earned Duffield the right to represent the United States at the World Championships in Athletics.
High jump outdoor: 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in) (2015) High jump indoor: 2.29 m (7 ft 6 in) (2015).