Background
Erica Bougard was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but grew up in Byhalia, Mississippi.
Erica Bougard was born in Memphis, Tennessee, but grew up in Byhalia, Mississippi.
Her first sport was basketball. She took up track and field at Byhalia High School, and went to Mississippi State University on a track scholarship. She made her international debut at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Barcelona, placing 13th.
In the heptathlon, Bougard is strong in the five running and jumping events, but weak in the shot put and javelin throw.
At the outdoor National Collegiate Athletic Association meet she placed fourth in the heptathlon (with a personal best 5976 points) and sixteenth in the long jump. Two weeks later, she improved to 5990 points at the 2013 United States of America Outdoor Track and Field Championships, placing third and qualifying for the senior World Championships in Moscow.
Bougard scored 5829 points at the World Championships, placing 24th. At the 2014 National Collegiate Athletic Association indoor championships Bougard was second to Williams with 4586 points.
Both Williams and Bougard broke the previous collegiate record of 4569 points by Makeba Alcide.
Outdoors, Bougard redshirted the collegiate season but broke 6000 points for the first time at the United States championships, repeating her third place from the previous year with 6118 points. At the 2015 USATF championships Bougard placed third for the third consecutive year, improving her best to 6288 points and qualifying for the World Championships in Beijing.