Sally Gunnell

Sally Gunnell

400 m hurdles
Club	Essex Ladies
Medal record
Women's Athletics
Representing Great Britain
Olympic Games
World Championships
Goodwill Games
IAAF World Cup
European Championships
European Cup
European Indoor Championships
Representing England
Commonwealth Games

Sally Jane Janet Gunnell

track-and-field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won every international event open to her, claiming Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championship, Commonwealth Games, Goodwill Games, IAAF World Cup and European Cup golds in the event, and breaking the British, European and World records in it. She is the only female British athlete to have won all four 'majors'; Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles,^[3] and was the first female 400 metres hurdler in history to win the Olympic and World titles and break the world record. Her former world record time of 52.74 secs in 1993, still ranks in the world all-time top ten (as of 2022) and is the current British record. She was named World and European Female Athlete of the Year in 1993, and was made an MBE in 1993 and an OBE

in 1998.

Early life

Gunnell was born in Chigwell, Essex, England to Les and Rosemary Gunnell, and grew up on the family's three-hundred-acre^[4] farm and attended the local primary and West Hatch High schools in Chigwell.^{[citation needed]}

Athletics career

Gunnell started out in athletics with the Essex Ladies club^[5] as an accomplished long jumper and heptathlete, before specialising in hurdling. In 1984, she narrowly missed Olympic selection at both heptathlon, with a score of 5680 points and in the 100 metres hurdles, where she set a UK junior record of 13.30 secs.

In 1986, having won the AAAs and UK titles, Gunnell won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles in Edinburgh, ahead of Wendy Jeal and 1984 Olympic heptathlon champion Glynis Nunn. She would remain the UK number one in the event over the next four seasons and reach the semi-finals at the 1987 World Championships and 1988 Olympics in the event.

Gunnell first attempted the 400 m hurdles event in 1987, with a 59.9 clocking. In 1988, in her first full season at the event, she would reach the Olympic final in Seoul. At the Olympic trials in Birmingham, she broke the UK record with 55.40. In Seoul she would improve this twice, first to 54.48 in the semis then to 54.03, to finish fifth in the final. This would remain her best time in the event for three years.

In 1989, Gunnell won the European Indoor title at 400 metres. Outdoors, she finished second in the 400 m hurdles at the European Cup behind East Germany's

European Championships

.

Gunnell entered into the best phase of her career in 1991, improving her own three-year-old UK record three times. In Monaco she ran 53.78, in Zurich she ran 53.62, then at the World Championships in Tokyo, she won the silver medal behind Ledovskaya with 53.16, the then third fastest time of all-time. Ledovskaya won with 53.11.

Gunnell won the

400 m hurdles at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, running 53.23 to defeat Sandra Farmer-Patrick.^[6] She also anchored the British 4 × 400 m quartet to a bronze medal. In 1993, she reached her peak, when she set the world record in the 400 hurdles to win gold in the World Championships

in Stuttgart, winning in 52.74, narrowly ahead of Farmer-Patrick who ran 52.79, also inside the old record. This record was broken by

Sydney McLaughlin

.

In 1994, Gunnell added the

ambassador in Angola. In September 1997, she retired after a recurrence of an Achilles tendon

injury forced her to pull out of the World Championships semi-final.

Gunnell remains the only woman to have won the

European, World, Commonwealth and Olympic 400-metre hurdles titles.^[8]

Gunnell is now involved as one of the ambassadors for McCain's Track & Field partnership with UK Athletics.^[9]

Television

Gunnell worked as a television presenter, predominantly for the

ITV with Mike Smith and Jeremy Guscott.^[10]

Gunnell was one of the four celebrity guests in the ITV's

This is Your Life programme.^{[citation needed}

]

In summer 2006, she was a celebrity

showjumper in the BBC's Sport Relief event Only Fools on Horses.^[11] She also won a Weakest Link Sporting Heroes Special, first broadcast on 25 July 2009 on BBC One.^{[citation needed}

]

She took part in a celebrity version of TV show Total Wipeout which aired on 2 January 2010.^[12]

In 2012, Gunnell took part on ITV's The Cube and won £20,000 for her charity.^{[citation needed]}

Recognition

In the 1993 New Year Honours, Gunnell was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) and in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire).

Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex.^[14]

In 2012, Sally was one of five Olympians chosen as part of a series body-casting artworks by

Louise Giblin exhibited in London and copies being sold in aid of the charity Headfirst.^[15]

Personal life

Gunnell is married to fellow athlete Jonathan Bigg, and has three sons; Finley, Luca and Marley. She lives in Steyning, in West Sussex, just outside Brighton.^[16]

National titles

7-times AAAs 100 m hurdles champion (1986–1989, 1991–1993)
2-time AAAs 400 m hurdles champion (1988, 1996)
2-time UK Champion – 100 m hurdles (1986) 400 m hurdles (1997)
2-time AAAs Indoor Champion – 200 m (1987) 400 m (1988)

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing Great Britain / England
1983	European Junior Championships	Schwechat, Austria	13th	Heptathlon	5395
1986	Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, Scotland	1st	100 m hurdles	13.29
1986	European Championships	Stuttgart, West Germany	17th (h)	100 m hurdles	13.22 (wind: 0.0 m/s)
1987	World Championships	Rome, Italy	10th (sf)	100 m hurdles	13.06
1988	European Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	4th	400 m	51.77
	Olympic Games	Seoul, South Korea	11th (sf)	100 m hurdles	13.13
			5th	400 m hurdles	54.03
			6th	4 × 400 m	3:26.89
1989	European Indoor Championships	The Hague, Netherlands	1st	400 m	52.04
	World Indoor Championships	Budapest, Hungary	6th	400 m	52.60
	World Cup	Barcelona, Spain	3rd	400 m hurdles	55.25
1990	Commonwealth Games	Auckland, New Zealand	2nd	100 m hurdles	13.12
			1st	400 m hurdles	55.38
			1st	4 × 400 m	3:28.08
	European Indoor Championships	Glasgow, Scotland	4th	400 m	53.38
	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	6th	400 m hurdles	55.45
	European Championships	Split, Yugoslavia	3rd	4 × 400 m	3:24.78
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	2nd	400 m hurdles	53.16
1991	World Championships	Tokyo, Japan	4th	4 × 400 m	3:22.01
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	1st	400 m hurdles	53.23
1992	Olympic Games	Barcelona, Spain	3rd	4 × 400 m	3:24.23
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	1st	400 m hurdles	52.74
1993	World Championships	Stuttgart, Germany	3rd	4 × 400 m	3:23.41
1994	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	1st	400 m hurdles	53.33
	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	4th	4 × 400 m	3:24.14
	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	1st	400 m hurdles	54.51
	Commonwealth Games	Victoria, Canada	1st	4 × 400 m	3:27.06
	World Cup	London, England	1st	400 m hurdles	54.80
	World Cup	London, England	1st	4 × 400 m	3:27.36
1996	Olympic Games	Atlanta, United States	DNF (sf)	400 m hurdles	55.29 (heat)
1997	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	13th (h)	400 m	53.05
	World Indoor Championships	Paris, France	6th	4 × 400 m	3:32.25
	World Championships	Athens, Greece	DNS (sf)	400 m hurdles	54.53 (heat)
(#) Indicates overall position in qualifying heats (h) or semifinals (sf)

Note: Represented Great Britain in all events excluding the Commonwealth Games, where she represented England and the 1989 World Cup, where she represented Europe.

References

^ "Sally Gunnell". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^ "Sally Gunnell". teamgb.com. British Olympic Association. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
^ Sophie Hahn and Hannah Cockroft have won Paralympic, World Para, European Para and Commonwealth Games gold.
^ Running Tall, Sally Gunnell and Christopher Priest, Bloomsbury, 1994, pp. 25–6
^ "Woodford Green Athletic Club with Essex Ladies". website.lineone.net. Archived from the original on 3 February 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^ "Home". Archived from the original on 7 September 2007.
^ "Essex – Features – Essex at 20: Sally Gunnell". BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
^ "BBC SPORT | Commonwealth Games 2002 | BBC Coverage | Sally Gunnell". BBC News. 18 July 2002. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
^ "McCain Track & Field – Meet The Athletes: Sally Gunnell". mccaintrackandfield.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
^ "Body Heat". UK Game Shows. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
^ "Celebs saddle up for Sport Relief". Newsround. CBBC. 8 June 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
^ Episode #2.11, 2 January 2010, retrieved 27 January 2020
^ "Queens Birthday Honours | Sports stars share honours". BBC News. 13 June 1998. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
^ Walker, Tim (10 October 2011). "Sally Gunnell to be Queen's loyal lieutenant". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
^ "Louise Giblin body cast sculptor". Louisegiblin.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
^ David Morgan Super Sally's Spanish Success at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 December 2000) Sporting Life (PA Sport), 11 December 2000

External links

Sally Gunnell Official Website
Sally Gunnell at
IMDb
"Sally Gunnell OBE – MTC". Mtc-uk.com. 26 June 1994. Retrieved 24 November 2016.

Awards
Preceded by None	Women's European Athlete of the Year 1993	Succeeded by Irina Privalova
Sporting positions
Preceded by Tatyana Ledovskaya	Women's 400 m Hurdles Best Year Performance 1992–1994	Succeeded by Kim Batten

[1] "Sally Gunnell". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2014.

[2] "Sally Gunnell". teamgb.com. British Olympic Association. Retrieved 9 February 2014.

[3] Sophie Hahn and Hannah Cockroft have won Paralympic, World Para, European Para and Commonwealth Games gold.

[4] Running Tall, Sally Gunnell and Christopher Priest, Bloomsbury, 1994, pp. 25–6

[5] "Woodford Green Athletic Club with Essex Ladies". website.lineone.net. Archived from the original on 3 February 2002. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

[6] "Home". Archived from the original on 7 September 2007.

[7] "Essex – Features – Essex at 20: Sally Gunnell". BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2016.

[8] "BBC SPORT | Commonwealth Games 2002 | BBC Coverage | Sally Gunnell". BBC News. 18 July 2002. Retrieved 24 November 2016.

[9] "McCain Track & Field – Meet The Athletes: Sally Gunnell". mccaintrackandfield.co.uk. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 7 August 2012.

[10] "Body Heat". UK Game Shows. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

[11] "Celebs saddle up for Sport Relief". Newsround. CBBC. 8 June 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2016.

[12] Episode #2.11, 2 January 2010, retrieved 27 January 2020

[13] "Queens Birthday Honours | Sports stars share honours". BBC News. 13 June 1998. Retrieved 24 November 2016.

[14] Walker, Tim (10 October 2011). "Sally Gunnell to be Queen's loyal lieutenant". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2011.

[15] "Louise Giblin body cast sculptor". Louisegiblin.co.uk. Retrieved 24 November 2016.

[16] David Morgan Super Sally's Spanish Success at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 December 2000) Sporting Life (PA Sport), 11 December 2000

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v t e Commonwealth Games champions in women's 100 metres hurdles
80 metres hurdles (1934–1966)	1934: Marjorie Clark (RSA) 1938: Barbara Burke (RSA) 1950: Shirley Strickland (AUS) 1954: Edna Maskell (NRH) 1958: Norma Thrower (AUS) 1962: Pam Kilborn (AUS) 1966: Pam Kilborn (AUS)
100 metres hurdles (1970–present)	1970: Pam Kilborn (AUS) 1974: Judy Vernon (ENG) 1978: Lorna Boothe (ENG) 1982: Shirley Strong (ENG) 1986: Sally Gunnell (ENG) 1990: Kay Morley (WAL) 1994: Michelle Freeman (JAM) 1998: Gillian Russell (JAM) 2002: Lacena Golding-Clarke (JAM) 2006: Brigitte Foster-Hylton (JAM) 2010: Sally Pearson (AUS) 2014: Sally Pearson (AUS) 2018: Tobi Amusan (NGR) 2022: Tobi Amusan (NGR)

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Poland
People	World Athletics