Ashia Hansen

Medal record
Women’s Athletics
Competitor for Great Britain
World Indoor Championships
Gold	1999 Maebashi	Triple jump
Gold	2003 Birmingham	Triple jump
Silver	1997 Paris	Triple jump
European Championships
Gold	2002 Munich	Triple jump
European Indoor Championships
Gold	1998 Valencia	Triple jump
Silver	2002 Vienna	Triple jump
Competitor for England
Commonwealth Games
Gold	1998 Kuala Lumpur	Triple jump
Gold	2002 Manchester	Triple jump

Ashia Hansen, MBE (born 5 December 1971 in Evansville, Indiana) was a British triple jumper who competed internationally from 1994–2008.

Early life

Although born in the USA, Hansen was adopted at the age of 3 months by a Ghanaian father and a British mother and grew up in the UK after spending a few years in Ghana.

Athletics career

Hansen is a member of the Birchfield Harriers Athletics Club in Birmingham, along with other successful British athletes such as Denise Lewis, Kelly Sotherton, Mark Lewis-Francis and Katharine Merry. She was trained by Commonwealth Games medallist Aston Moore.

Hansen has also represented Great Britain (and England) on the international stage at a senior level since 1994, competing at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games, as well as the World and European Championships and the World and European Cups.

At the 1998 European Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, Hansen won the gold medal with a world record jump of 15.16m. This record lasted for 6 years. She is also the British record holder for the outdoor event with a jump of 15.15m in 1997.

Hansen won her first major outdoor gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a jump of 14.32m.

At the 1999 World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, Hansen won Gold with a world leading jump of 15.02m.

At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England Hansen retained her Commonwealth gold with a Games Record jump of 14.86m.

In 2002 Hansen won gold at the European Championships in Munich, Germany with a jump of 15.00m.

Hansen won her second World Indoor title at the 2003 Championships in Birmingham, UK with a jump of 15.01m.

Hansen suffered a serious knee injury during the 2004 European Cup, requiring extensive surgery, however she did finally return to triple jumping and competed at the British Championships where she immediately climbed back to the top of the British rankings, however she decided not to be part of the team for the European Athletics Championships that summer.^{[citation needed]} Ashia has now retired from Athletics after failing to recover from a long line of injuries.

MBE

Hansen was made an MBE in 2003, in the New Year Honours. She then retired 1 year after, in 2004, but still holds the UK record for the outdoor event.

External links

• BBC
• IAAF profile for Ashia Hansen
• Women's British Indoor Records at UK Athletics