Ashia Hansen, (born 5 December 1971) is a retired British

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

er. Fourth in the 1996 Olympic final, she broke the world indoor record when winning the 1998 European Indoor title, and went on to win gold medals at the World Indoor Championships in 1999 and 2003, at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in 1998 and 2002, and at the 2002 European Championships. Her British records of 15.15 metres (1997 outdoors) and 15.16 metres (1998 indoors), still stand.

Early life

Although born in the United States, Hansen was adopted when she was 3 months old by a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

father who worked for the United Nations and his Caucasian English wife. They moved to

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

before settling down in London when she was eight. She was often the only black child at her

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the f ...

school and later spoke of the racist sentiment and teasing she experienced. She discovered a talent for running and was introduced to athletics by a teacher. Although she competed in her first international at age 17, she remained ambivalent about turning professional and only gave up her day job seven years later to fully commit herself.

Athletics career

Hansen trained at Ilford AC then

Birchfield Harriers Birchfield Harriers is an athletics club, founded in 1877. Its home is at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, England. As well as welcoming recreational runners they cater for all levels of experience up to and including Olympic athletes whether ab ...

Athletics Club in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, along with other successful British athletes such as

Denise Lewis Denise Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports presenter and former track and field athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was twice Commonwealth Games champion, ...

Kelly Sotherton Kelly Jade Sotherton (born 13 November 1976) is a British former heptathlete, long jumper and relay runner. In the heptathlon she was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and, following the disqualification of two other athletes, a ...

Mark Lewis-Francis Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis, MBE (born 4 September 1982) is a retired British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialised in the 100 metres and was an accomplished regular of GB 4 x 100m relay. A renowned junior, his greate ...

and

Katharine Merry Katharine Merry (born 21 September 1974) is an English former sprinter. She won the bronze medal in the 400 metres at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and was the fastest woman in the world over 400 m in 2001, with her career best of 49.59 seconds. Sh ...

. She was trained by

medallist Aston Moore. At the 1998 European Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, Hansen won the gold medal with a world record jump of 15.16m. This record lasted for 6 years. She is also the British record holder for the outdoor event with a jump of 15.15m in 1997. Hansen won her first major outdoor gold at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a jump of 14.32m. At the 1999 World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, Hansen won Gold with a world leading jump of 15.02m. At the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in Manchester, England Hansen retained her Commonwealth gold with a Games Record jump of 14.86m. In 2002 Hansen won gold at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

in Munich, Germany with a jump of 15.00m. Hansen won her second World Indoor title at the 2003 Championships in Birmingham, UK with a jump of 15.01m. Hansen suffered a serious knee injury during the 2004 European Cup, requiring extensive surgery. She returned to triple jumping and competed at the British Championships, where she immediately climbed back to the top of the British rankings; however, she decided not to be part of the team for the European Athletics Championships that summer. She was hoping to make the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

in Beijing but was unable to regain fitness in time and announced her retirement in July 2008.

Competition record

Personal life

Hansen was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

for services to athletics. Hansen has two younger sisters, one of them is her parents' biological child and the other an adopted cousin. She has two children herself.

References

External links

*
Women's British Indoor Records
at

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics (sport), athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hansen, Ashia 1971 births Living people British female triple jumpers British adoptees British people of American descent Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of Great Britain Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Birchfield Harriers European Athletics Championships medalists Members of the Order of the British Empire Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics World Athletics Indoor Championships winners Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games