Lynsey Sharp

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Lynsey Sharp
Sharp competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Personal information
Born (1990-07-11) 11 July 1990 (age 33)
Dumfries, Scotland, United Kingdom
EducationEdinburgh Napier University[1]
Height1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)
Weight59 kg (130 lb) (2014)
Sport
Country Great Britain
 Scotland
SportAthletics
Event800 metres
Coached byDavid Harmer
Medal record
Women's
athletics
Representing  Great Britain
Diamond League
Second place 2015 800 m
Third place 2014 800 m
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2012 Helsinki 800 m
Silver medal – second place 2014 Zürich 800 m
European U23 Championships
Silver medal – second place 2011 Ostrava 800 m
Representing  Scotland
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2014 Glasgow 800 m
Commonwealth Youth Games
Bronze medal – third place 2008 Pune 800 m

Lynsey Sharp (born 11 July 1990) is a former Scottish

2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.[4]

Personal life

Lynsey Sharp was born in Dumfries, Scotland and lived her early life in nearby Lochmaben. She is the daughter of former Scottish athletes Cameron Sharp and Carol Sharp (née Lightfoot). Her father won a 1982 European silver medal in the 200 m and competed at the 1980 Olympic Games, while her mother has an 800 m best of 2:02.91 and competed at the 1982 Commonwealth Games.

Sharp went to The Mary Erskine School in Edinburgh. She graduated with a 2:1 in Law (LLB) from Edinburgh Napier University in 2012 a few weeks before competing in the London Olympics. She has said she was inspired to study law after her father fought a medical negligence case following permanent injuries he sustained in a road crash.[5] She is also a fan of Scottish Premiership side Rangers.[6]

Sharp lives with fellow Scottish athlete Andrew Butchart in San Diego, US. In October 2019, it was reported that the couple had become engaged.[7]The couple have a son, Max, born in October 2021.[8]

Career

As a teenager, Sharp competed at the

IAAF World Junior Championships. In 2011, she improved her 800 m personal best by almost four seconds. In June, she took her best down from 2:04.44, to 2:02.48 in Watford then 2:01:98 in Prague. Then in July, at the European U23 Championships in Ostrava, she further improved to 2:00.65, to win a bronze medal. This would be upgraded to silver due to the 2013 disqualification of Elena Arzhakova
.

In June 2012, at the UK Championships & Olympic trials, Sharp was a surprise winner of the 800 metres. Olympic qualifying rules stated that a country could send three athletes in an event provided they had achieved the A standard, or one athlete who had the B standard. Sharp only had the B standard, while four other British women had the A standard: an injured

biological passport.[10] Arzhakova was stripped of both her 2012 European title and 2011 European U23 title.) The selectors decided to select Sharp and leave behind athletes including Meadows and Marilyn Okoro
. At the Olympics, she ran 2:01.41 in her heat to qualify for the semi-finals, where she finished seventh in 2:01.78, failing to reach the final.

At the end of the 2013 season, Sharp had surgery on her ankle as it had become infected. This resulted in her competing throughout the 2014 season against medical advice with an open wound in her foot.

Maryna Arzamasava
of Belarus in 1:58.15.

2016 Olympics

Sharp finished sixth in the

Melissa Bishop.[16]
Sharp has since defended her comments, saying on Twitter that:

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Caster. She is someone who I talk to regularly on the circuit... When asked on live TV, I felt I gave an honest and diplomatic response.[17]

Sharp had previously claimed that "there were obvious athletes with heightened testosterone" and that there were "two separate races being run."[18]

2017–present

Sharp ran 1:58.80 in the 800 metres at the Athletissima Lausanne Diamond League race in July 2017, then later in the month ran a season's best of 1:58.01 at the Herculis Monaco Diamond League. Three weeks later at the 2017 World Championships in London, she reached the 800 m final, finishing eighth in 1:58.98.

At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Sharp was eliminated in the heats of the 800 m, running 2:01.63.

After competing throughout 2019, Sharp went on hiatus due to surgery to remove pre-cancerous cells followed by pregnancy, but stated that she intends to return to competition.[19]

Despite making a comeback in January 2023,[20] in December 2023, Sharp announced her retirement from international athletics.[21]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Great Britain
2007 World Youth Championships
Ostrava, Czech Republic
 15th (sf) 800 m 2:11.36
2008 World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 18th (sf) 800m 2:09.00
2011 European U23 Championships
Ostrava, Czech Republic
 2nd 800 m 2:00.65
2012 European Championships
Helsinki, Finland
 1st 800 m 2:00.52
2012 Olympic Games London, England, United Kingdom 20th (sf) 800 m 2:01.78
2014 European Championships
Zürich, Switzerland
 2nd 800 m 1:58.80
2015 World Championships
Beijing, China
 14th (sf) 800 m 1:59.33
2016 Olympic Games
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
 6th 800 m 1:57.69
2017 World Championships
London, United Kingdom
 8th 800 m 1:58.98
2019 World Championships
Doha, Qatar
 31st (h) 800 m 2:03.57
Representing  Scotland
2008 Commonwealth Youth Games
Pune, India
 3rd 800 m 2:06.77
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom 2nd 800 m 2:01.34
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 14th (h) 800 m 2:01.33
6th 4 × 400 m 3:29.18
Representing  Europe
2014 Continental Cup
Marrakech, Morocco
 5th 800 m 2:00.80
1st Women's team 440.5 pts
(#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) or semifinals (sf)
  • All information taken from IAAF profile and power of 10 profile.[24][25]

Circuit wins and titles

References

  1. ^ "2018 CWG bio". Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  2. ^ Hart, Simon (3 July 2012). "Team GB athletics squad for London 2012 Olympics announced". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  3. ^ "Ranking List".
  4. ^ "2016 800m Olympic Final". Rio 2016 - Women's 800m final. Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  5. ^ "Lynsey Sharp". Edinburgh Napier University – Study – Be different. Edinburgh Napier University. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Rangers are in my blood, says Lynsey Sharp". The Scotsman. The Scotsman. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  7. ^ "Edinburgh runner Lynsey Sharp gets engaged to fellow athlete Andrew Butchart". Scotsman. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  8. ^ Susan, Egelstaff. "Returning to the top remains a huge challenge for mums". The National. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Olympics: Lynsey Sharp grabs silver, but London looks out of reach". The Scotsman. 30 June 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2012.
  10. ^ "Great Britain's Lynsey Sharp made European champion after 800m silver is upgraded". The Telegraph. 4 June 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  11. ^ Bloom, Ben (16 May 2015). "Lynsey Sharp prepares for surprise captaincy after 'coming of age' season". The Telegraph. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Brave Lynsey Sharp wins silver".
  13. ^ English, Paul; McGivern, Mark (2 August 2014). "Glasgow 2014: Lynsey Sharp shrugs off hospital visit before 800m final at Hampden to win silver with a 'miracle' run". Daily Record. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  14. ^ "Glasgow 2014: Lynsey Sharp overcomes illness for 800m silver". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
  15. ^ Jack Rathborn (21 August 2016). "Tearful Lynsey Sharp claims it is 'difficult' to compete with Caster Semenya after rule change". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  16. ^ Hart, Simon (3 July 2012). "Team GB athletics squad for London 2012 Olympics announced". Telegraph. Archived from the original on 4 July 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
  17. ^ "Lynsey Sharp Twitter Response". Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  18. Huffington Post
    . Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  19. ^ "Lynsey Sharp: Pregnant athlete not done with competing". BBC News. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  20. ^ "Lynsey Sharp makes comeback from injury and child birth". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  21. ^ "Lynsey Sharp: Former European 800m champion retires from athletics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  22. ^ "Lynsey is Kurri Athlete of the Year... Again". scottishathletics.org.uk. 28 October 2012. Retrieved 14 November 2012.
  23. ^ "Athlete of the Year 2014 short-lists". Scottish Athletics. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  24. IAAF
    . Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  25. ^ "Athlete Profile". Thepowerof10.info. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  26. ^ "Results: Brussels Diamond League - Memorial Van Damme 2018". Watch Athletics. 31 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2022.

External links

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