Kelly Sotherton

Seen by many as the current UK number 1 sportswoman, Kelly Sotherton was a relative newcomer to international level heptathlon when she left for Athens in 2004 but she returned a new British star.

Seen by many as the current UK number 1 sportswoman, Kelly Sotherton was a relative newcomer to international level heptathlon when she left for Athens in 2004 but she returned a new British star.

SPORT BIO

Kelly first made her mark on the Heptathlon when she won the English Schools Championship as an inter in 1992 and again as a senior two years later. In 1995 she won the AAA U20 title and went on to make her junior international debut.

1997 was a breakthrough year for Kelly, achieving a personal best of 5513 points and taking her long jump best to 6.10. And all this training paid off when the following winter she took silver in the AAA indoor 400m. Unfortunately Kelly then suffered a knee injury which kept her out of major competition until 2000. But her gradual return to form, whilst also holding down a job, shows the focus and relentless determination that Kelly had to keep upping her game.

After a spell training in the United States Kelly performed in the European Cup  – she finally broke the 6000 points mark, qualified for Lottery funding and her career was well on truly on its way. In late 2003 Kelly left her job, working full time in a bank, to concentrate fully on the heptathlon and 10 months later she was crowned with the Olympic Bronze medal in Athens. She far surpassed expectation with an incredible performance, winning a bronze medal in one of athletics' toughest competitions – and narrowly missing the silver medal by only 11 points.

After breaking onto the International scene in spectacular style in 2004, Kelly's progress continued apace in 2005. The first half of the year saw her achieve some fantastic results - smashing the British pentathlon record and securing Silver at the European Indoor Championships in Madrid. On top of this, in April she broke Sally Gunnell’s record of 20 years for the 100m Hurdles with an outstanding 13.52sec.

She was then identified by many of the national newspapers as “One to Watch” for the summer season but, in a rain-drenched World Championships in Helsinki, she did not produce quite the result that she was looking for. However, despite a disappointing overall performance in the Heptathlon which saw her finish 5th, she had a phenomenal race in the 800m, smashing her personal best. She also made it to the final of the individual Long Jump which was an incredible achievement as she was competing against the event specialists.

After the relative disappointment of Helsinki, attention turned to the Commonwealth Games and throughout the close season Kelly trained tirelessly to ensure that she was in peak physical condition for the Games in Melbourne. Her determination and hard work paid off and she acheived her goal of Gold.

SPECIALIST AREAS

Achieving such magnificent results as an outsider, Kelly is a great role model for young women throughout Britain. Always “good for a laugh” and extremely approachable, Kelly has never faltered in her dream to be recognised as the great athlete she is.

The Heptathlon is the most physically gruelling women’s event, and Kelly has experienced her share of injuries. But her determination and ability to bounce back even stronger stands her in excellent stead for a very successful future and a memorable Beijing Olympic Games.