Sharron Davies
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Sharron Elizabeth Davies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
National team | Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Plymouth, Devon, UK | 1 November 1962|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 10 st 6 lb (66 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | sharrondavies.com | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Strokes | Freestyle, individual medley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club | Portsmouth Northsea Swimming Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sharron Elizabeth Davies, MBE (born 1 November 1962) is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics and European championships[1] and competed for England in the Commonwealth Games. Davies has attended 12 consecutive Olympic Games, competing in three games[2] and then working in the media for the BBC Sport.
She competed in three Olympic Games[2] over three decades, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. She also competed in the international community spanning over 20 years.
Since retiring from the sport, she has worked for various media organisations and programmes. In 2005, Davies supported the British Olympic bid by profile-raising and appearing as spokesperson on BBC's
Early life
Davies was born in Plymouth, Devon, and grew up in Plymouth and Plymstock. She has twin brothers. She attended Plymstock Comprehensive School and the private school Kelly College, which is now known as Mount Kelly, in Tavistock.[3]
She originally learnt to swim with
Swimming
She set a record by swimming for the British national team at the age of 11. In 1976, at age 13, Davies was selected to represent Great Britain at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The next year she won two bronze medals in the 1977 European Championships. The following year, at age 15, she won gold medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in the 200 and 400-metre individual medleys and also a silver and a bronze medal.[6]
In the 1980 Olympics, Davies took the silver medal in the 400 m individual medley behind Petra Schneider from East Germany, who later admitted that the victory was drug enhanced.[7]
At 18, Davies called time on the first stage of her swimming career to build her television profile and a career in modelling. In 1989, and training at Bracknell & Wokingham Swimming Club, she returned to the pool, where she picked up two more medals at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.[6][failed verification]
Medals and awards
Davies has broken or re broken many British records whilst competing and winning[8][9] For medals table, see Medal record.
- silver medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow[2]
- two gold, two silver and two bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games in 1978[10] and 1990.[11]
- two bronze medals at European Championships[12]
Davies held the Commonwealth Record for 400-metre individual medley for 18 years. She has broken five World Masters records.[9]
In the latest development in the story of the East German state-run doping programme, The Times broke the news in 2021 of a possibility that the bronze and silver medals won may be upgraded to gold.[13]
At the
In the 1993
Politics and activism
Davies is a supporter of the
Davies is known for her views on gender identity, trans rights campaigning and has been associated with the gender-critical movement. She has expressed concerns about the impact of self-identification on women's sports and spaces, arguing that it may disadvantage cisgender women. These views have generated significant debate and controversy.
In 2019, Davies made comments about participation by trans women in women's sports competitions, opposing such participation and saying that trans women hold a biological advantage in sports.[23] She became involved in the question of trans women in sport because at the 1980 Olympics she lost out on gold to Petra Schneider who, along with other East German athletes, had been put on testosterone to enhance their performances through doping.[24]
In a tweet posted on 21 December 2019, Davies expressed her disapproval of
In 2022, Davies said that trans women hold a potential biological male performance advantage at the elite level of 10–20% over cisgender females and called for women's sport to exclude XY chromosome athletes.[27] In March, she wrote a column for The Times arguing that trans women's advantage is the result of going through male puberty, resulting in a narrower angle between the hips and knees which testosterone reduction does not eliminate, and called for trans women to compete in an open category rather than being excluded from competition entirely.[28] In the same article, she stated: "This month we saw an athlete, Lia Thomas, who was an average club swimmer as a man claim an NCAA title as the US No 1 woman with 20 years of male development in the tank."[28]
In her 2023 book, Unfair Play: The Battle for Women’s Sport, Davies argues against the inclusion of trans women in women's sport.
Publications, media programmes and other work
This article is in prose. is available. (April 2022) |
- Swimming biography Against the Tide published in 1984[34]
- Learn to Swim in a Weekend (1992, translated into multiple languages)[35]
- Channel 4 television comedy series The Optimist, in an episode that was filmed entirely on location on Mexico
- This Morning – presenting a mums and babies learning to swim series on ITV
- BBC Question time – discussing the winning Olympic bid for London 2012 which Davies was part of
- 1996 presented Channel 4's The Big Breakfast
- 1995 she joined ITV's Gladiators being given the nickname "Amazon"
- 1995 with Julia Thorley, book Pregnant and Fit [36]
- Presenter of Ace Reports, ITV's version of Blue Peter
- Survived on The Island with Bear Grylls
- 1994 – a "British Girls of Sport" calendar, raising money for the Sports Aid Foundation
- Guest dart player, throwing for charity, on British game show Bullseye
- Presenting and commentating on swimming coverage for the BBC (extended to other sports for the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics)
- 2008 presented with Five's latest revival of the long running celebrity sports competition Superstars[37]
- 2010 – ITV series the series)
- Ski tuition video with world champion Franz Klammer, alongside fellow swimmer Duncan Goodhew
- Presenter at London's 2012 Olympics Handover Party in the Mall
- In January 2022, she launched an online fitness site, Sharron Davies Training.[38]
- In her 2023 book, Unfair Play: The Battle for Women’s Sport, on trans women in women's sport.[39]
Personal life
In the 1980s, Davies lived with and was engaged to Neil Adams[40] an Olympic and World Championship medallist in judo.
Davies then married gym manager John Crisp in West Sussex in 1987. They were divorced in 1991.[41]
In 1992, she met athlete
Davies's third marriage was to
See also
- List of Olympic medalists in swimming (women)
- List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (women)
References
- ^ Searcey, Ian (27 July 2012). "Olympic archive: Sharron Davies (1977)". Channel 4 News. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ a b c "Sharron Davies – Olympics". Olympics. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
- ^ "Mount Kelly Swimming". Mount Kelly Boarding and Day School. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ^ Raymond, Clare (30 November 1998). "Interview: I do want to swim in the Olympics.. but I will not let dad bully me the way he did Sharron; Exclusive: the lengths a sister will go to for fame". Daily Mirror. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022 – via The Free Library.
- ^ a b "Hall of Fame". British Swimming Coaches Association. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ a b Ria Tesia (30 June 2022). "Who is Sharron Davies? Former athlete's quest to get Brits healthy". WiltshireLive. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
- ^ "Schneider Fesses Up". Swimming World. 13 April 1998. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ^ "Davies underlines return with new British record". The Herald. Glasgow. 21 October 1989. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Sharron Davies – Patron of The National Vintage Games". National Vintage Games. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "England Edmonton 1978". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "England Auckland 1990". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 4 April 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Searcey, Ian (27 July 2012). "Olympic archive: Sharron Davies (1977)". Channel 4 News. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Lord, Craig. "Sharron Davies in line for gold medal 41 years later as swimming chief Husain al-Musallam vows to confront Olympic doping". The Times. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ "Swimming – Downie chosen for British team". The Times. 25 July 1977. p. 6. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ Hennessy, John (29 May 1978). "Hennessy, John. "Swimming." Times, 29 May 1978, p. 12". The Times. p. 12. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2019.
- ^ Hennessy, John (30 May 1978). "Swimming – Seven out of seven gives a record for and a bonus for Miss Davies". The Times. p. 6. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ Hennessy, John (24 May 1980). "Swimming – Campbell brakes his record twice". The Times. p. 17. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ Hennessy, John (26 May 1980). "Swimming – Day of those who have come from nowhere". The Times. p. 11. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ Downes, Steven (17 July 1989). "Selectors juggle numbers for Bonn". The Times. p. 31. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ "Results from Sheffield". The Times. 15 June 1992. p. 28. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ "No. 53153". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 1992. pp. 12–13.
- ^ Sharron Davies MBE [@sharrond62] (13 July 2022). "I'm supporting @KemiBadenoch a fresh, brave & intelligent woman who's prepared to tackle issues head on so many have ignored for too long, total transparency & integrity. The @Conservatives party needs to vote for someone who will win at the ballot box & look forward #Kemi4PM" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Former Olympian says transgender athletes should not compete in women's sport". The Independent. 3 March 2019. Archived from the original on 3 March 2019. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ "'I Was an Olympic Swimmer, I Want Trans Women Banned From Female Sports'". Newsweek. 24 June 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
- ^ "https://twitter.com/sharrond62/status/1208312498086187009". X (formerly Twitter). Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
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: External link in
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- ^ "Former Olympian criticised for comparing drag shows to blackface". The Independent. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ "Sharron Davies on trans women in sport". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ a b Davies, Sharron (20 March 2022). "Sharron Davies: Injustice of transgender athletes has echo of the dopers I faced". The Times. Archived from the original on 1 April 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2022.
- ^ Melanie Reid (17 June 2023). "Unfair Play: The Battle for Women's Sport by Sharron Davies review – women are being cheated of medals". The Times. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
Davies is determined to stop another generation of female athletes being cheated.
- ISBN 9781800752801.
- ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
- ^ "https://twitter.com/WhatIsAWomanUK/status/1705838899531014159". X (formerly Twitter). Retrieved 27 September 2023.
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: External link in
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- ^ Coen, Susie; Corless, Blathnaid (7 April 2023). "Sharron Davies calls for Nike boycott after trans influencer promoted its sports bra". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
- ISBN 978-0002181204.
- ISBN 978-0679412762.
- ISBN 9781852252403.
- ^ "Superstars twinkle with 1.3m". broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ^ Ball, Elliot (10 January 2022). "Olympian Sharron Davies launches new online training class". The Herald. Plymouth. Archived from the original on 11 January 2022. Retrieved 4 April 2022.
- ^ Melanie Reid (17 June 2023). "Unfair Play: The Battle for Women's Sport by Sharron Davies review – women are being cheated of medals". The Times. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
Davies is determined to stop another generation of female athletes being cheated.
- ^ "The water babe". The Daily Telegraph. 29 August 2004. Archived from the original on 19 May 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ^ Eden, Richard (19 September 2009). "Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies separates from her third husband". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
- ^ "Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies separates from her third husband". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 20 July 2015. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ^ "Make Christmas Villages easily with My Village". MyVillage. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
- ^ "find my past". findmypast.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
- ^ Fulton, Rick (23 January 2010). "Swimmer Sharron Davies hopes to prove Dancing on Ice critics wrong". Daily Record. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 25 January 2010.