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Sally Jane Janet Gunnell OBE (born 29 July 1966 in Chigwell, Essex, England) is a former British Olympic champion in the 400 m hurdles. She has also worked as a television presenter predominantly for the BBC until January 2006.[1]
[edit] Early life
She attended the West Hatch High School on High Road in Chigwell.
[edit] Career
[edit] Athletics
Gunnell started out in athletics with the Essex Ladies club[2] as an accomplished long jumper and pentathlete before turning to the sprints and hurdling.
Gunnell won the 400 m hurdles at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona.[3] She set the world record in the same event when she won gold in the 1993 World Championships. This record was broken by Kim Batten in 1995, but is still the UK record. Her defence of her Olympic title in Atlanta in 1996 was cut short as she pulled up in one of her races, injured. This seemed a particularly cruel blow as this race occurred on her 30th birthday.[4]
In 1996, Gunnell worked as a Red Cross ambassador in Angola. In September 1997, she retired after a recurrence of an achilles tendon injury.
Gunnell remains the only woman to have held the European, World, Commonwealth and Olympic 400 metre hurdles titles at the same time.[5] This record can only be matched by an athlete from the United Kingdom, Gibraltar, Malta or Cyprus, as these are the only European nations that also compete in the Commonwealth Games.
[edit] Television
In summer 2006, she was a celebrity showjumper in the BBC's Sport Relief event Only Fools on Horses.[6] She also won a Weakest Link Sporting Heroes Special, first broadcast on Saturday 25th July 2009 on BBC ONE.
[edit] Recognition
In 1998, Gunnell was made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire). [7]
[edit] Personal life
She is married to fellow athlete Jonathan Bigg, and has three sons; Finley, Luca, and Marley. She lives in Steyning, a village just outside Brighton in West Sussex.[8]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Great Britain
England
Irina Privalova
Tatyana Ledovskaya
Kim Batten
