Chelsea Alicia Hayes (born February 9, 1988) is an American track and field athlete who competes primarily in the long jump and 100-meter dash.

[2][3] Displaced by Hurricane Katrina, she attended high school in multiple states during her senior year before graduating from Marion Abramson.

[1] After high school, Hayes attended Butler Community College for two years before transferring to Louisiana Tech, where she graduated in 2012 with a degree in nursing.

At Louisiana Tech, she was a 14-time Western Athletic Conference (WAC) champion in track and field and 15-time first team All-WAC member.

[2] She was named "WAC Female Track Athlete of the Year" four times and set nine conference records.

[2] In 2012, Hayes was runner up t the NCAA Indoor Championship in long jump with a mark of 6.61 metres (21.7 ft).

[4] Hayes qualified for the 2012 US Olympic Trials, but was not expected to do much; a commentator for NBC called her "unheralded and unknown".

[1] Previously, fellow LA Tech alumna Olivia McKoy represented Jamaica during the 2000 and 2008 Games.