Sonia Lannaman

Sonia Lannaman

Personal information
Born	(1956-03-24) 24 March 1956
Medal record Women's Athletics Representing Great Britain Olympic Games 1980 Moscow 4x100 m relay European Championships 1978 Prague 4x100 m relay Representing England Commonwealth Games 1978 Edmonton 100m 1978 Edmonton 4x100m relay 1982 Brisbane 4x100m relay 1974 Christchurch 4x100m relay 1978 Edmonton 200m

Sonia May Lannaman (born 24 March 1956) is a former British athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres title in Edmonton 1978 and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1980 Moscow Games. In the 1977 Track and Field News world merit rankings, she was ranked number two in the world at both 100 metres (to Marlies Gohr) and 200 metres (to Irena Szewinska).

Career

Lannaman was born in Aston, Birmingham, England and competed in her first Olympics in 1972 (held in Munich), where she set a British junior record of 11.45 sec. In 1973 she became European junior champion winning gold in the 100 metres, followed by a bronze in the 4 x 100 metres relay. In the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch she won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay.

In 1976 Lannaman won a silver medal at 60 metres at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Munich. In the summer of that year she made a major breakthorough into world class sprinting. She ran the 100 m in a hand-timed, wind assisted (+3.6) 10.8 sec. She also set a British record in the 200 metres. She was strongly tipped for medals in both sprints at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, but due to injury was unable to compete.

In 1977 Sonia Lannaman was ranked second only to world record holder Marlies Göhr in the 100 m. In the European Cup of that year she was second in both the 100 and 200 m and in the inaugural World Cup, second again in the 100 m and first in the 4 × 100 m representing Europe. She also ran the fastest ever electronically timed 100 m by a British woman with 10.93 sec in Dublin, which was wind assisted (+3.8), so did not stand for record purposes.

In 1978 Lannaman won the 100 m gold medal and 200 m silver medal in the 1978 Commonwealth Games for England and for Great Britain in the 1978 European Championships won a silver in the 4 × 100 m relay with team mates Kathy Smallwood-Cook, Beverley Goddard and Sharon Colyear.

In 1980, she ran her fastest official time in the 100 m of 11.20 sec in July, having set another British record in the 200 m of 22.58 sec in May. She competed again for Great Britain in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, Russia in the 4 × 100 m relay, where she won the bronze medal with her team mates Heather Hunte, Kathy Smallwood-Cook and Beverley Goddard. She also reached the 200 m final, finishing eighth.

In 1982 Lannaman competed in her third Commonwealth Games, winning a gold in the 4 × 100 m relay.

She currently lives in the village of Chorley in Staffordshire.

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Great Britain / England
1972	Olympic Games	Munich, West Germany	quarterfinal	100 m	11.72 (11.45)
1973	European Junior Championships	Duisburg, West Germany	1st	100 m	11.73
			3rd	4 × 100 m	45.38
1974	Commonwealth Games	Christchurch, New Zealand	semifinal	100 m	11.93
			2nd	4 × 100 m	44.30
	European Championships	Rome, Italy	semifinal	100 m	11.53
1977	World Cup	Düsseldorf, West Germany	2nd	100 m	11.26
			1st	4 × 100 m	42.51
1978	Commonwealth Games	Edmonton, Canada	1st	100 m	11.27
			2nd	200 m	22.89
			1st	4 × 100 m	43.70
	European Championships	Prague, Czechoslovakia	8th	100 m	11.67
			semifinal	200 m	23.36
			2nd	4 × 100 m	42.72
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	semifinal	100 m	11.38
			8th	200 m	22.80
			3rd	4 × 100 m	42.43
1982	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	9th	100 m	11.48
			1st	4 × 100 m	43.15

Note: Results in brackets, indicate superior time achieved in earlier round.

References

• sports-reference