Diana Clare Davies (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Elliott; born 7 May 1961) is a retired female

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er from Great Britain, born in

Catworth Catworth is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. Catworth lies approximately west of Huntingdon. The civil parish covers an area of . Catworth village has two parts, Catworth, at the top of the hill, and Little Catworth, at t ...

. Her personal best of 1.95 metres set on 26 June 1982, at a meet in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway, stood as the UK national record until 2014. She competed at two

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, reaching the final on both occasions. In

Los Angeles 1984 The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, she finished in 9th place (1.88 m), while in

Seoul 1988 The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

, she finished 8th (1.90m).

Career

As a 17-year-old, Diana Elliott finished second at the 1978

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

with 1.76 metres. She would also be runner-up at the 1980 AAAs Indoors and the 1981 AAAs Outdoors. Her breakthrough year came in 1982 when she broke the UK records, both indoors and outdoors. Indoors she broke

Ann-Marie Cording Ann-Marie Theresa Cording (née Devally) (born 1959), is a female former athlete who competed for England. Athletics career Cording was a two times National champion after winning the 1980 and 1981 AAA National Championships in the high jump. ...

's record of 1.91 m with a clearance of 1.94 to finish fifth at the European Indoor Championships in Milan. She then set a new outdoor mark of 1.95 m in Oslo, to add one centimetre to Louise Miller's previous record. The indoor record would survive for 15 years.

Debbie Marti Deborah Jane Marti (born 14 May 1968) is a former high jumper from England, who was born in Switzerland. She represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Barcelona 1992 and Athletics at the 1996 Summer ...

(1991) and

Jo Jennings Joanne Loraine "Jo" Jennings (formerly Steele; born 20 September 1969 in Pakenham, Suffolk) is a female retired high jumper from England. Athletics career Jennings twice competed for Great Britain at the Summer Olympics and won silver at the 19 ...

(1993) both equalled it, before Marti cleared 1.95 in 1997. This remained the record until

Katarina Johnson-Thompson Katarina Mary Johnson-Thompson (born 9 January 1993) is an English athlete primarily known as an elite multi-eventer, both as a heptathlete and an indoor pentathlete. She has been World Champion in both disciplines, and a double Commonwealth G ...

cleared 1.96 m in 2014. The outdoor record stood for 32 years. It was equalled by both Susan Jones (2001) and

Jessica Ennis Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...

(2007), before

Isobel Pooley Isobel Pooley (born 21 December 1992) is a former British track and field athlete who specialises in the high jump. She won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Career Pooley's first high jump was in the gymnasium at Court ...

broke it with a clearance of 1.96 m in August 2014. She represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the high jump event, at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. She won her first national titles in 1984, winning all three, AAAs Indoor,

UK Championship The UK Championship is a professional ranking snooker tournament. It is one of snooker's prestigious Triple Crown events, along with the World Championship and the Masters. It is usually held at the Barbican Centre, York. Ronnie O'Sullivan h ...

and AAAs Outdoor. At her first

in Los Angeles, she cleared 1.90 in the qualification round, before finishing equal ninth in the final with 1.88. In 1986, now Diana Davies, she again won all three national titles and finished fourth at two major Championships. At the European Indoor Championships in Madrid she was fourth with 1.90 m. Then representing

at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, in one of the highest quality Commonwealth high jump competitions, she again found 1.90 m not enough for a medal, losing out on countback to the Northern Irish pair,

Sharon McPeake Sharon Hutchings (née McPeake, born 22 June 1962) is a former high jumper from Northern Ireland. She won a silver medal at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh with a lifetime best of . Career McPeake was born in Ballymena, Northern Ireland ...

and

Janet Boyle Janet Margaret Boyle (born 25 July 1963) is a former high jumper from Northern Ireland. She represented Great Britain & Northern Ireland at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. At the Commonwealth Games, she won a bronze medal in Edinburgh 1986 an ...

. The winner was Australia's

Christine Stanton Christine Frances "Chris" Stanton (née Annison, born 12 December 1959) is a retired high jumper from Australia. She set her personal best on 26 January 1985, jumping 1.96 metres at a meet in Adelaide, South Australia. An eight-time national cham ...

with 1.92 m. At the European Championships in Stuttgart, both McPeake and Boyle failed to reach the final, leaving Davies as the only UK finalist, placing eighth with 1.87 m. In 1987, she finished a fine fifth at the World Indoor Championships in Indianapolis, with 1.91 m. Davies qualified for her second

in 1988. At the games in Seoul, she again reached the final. Having cleared 1.92 m in qualification she cleared 1.90 m for equal eighth. With fellow UK jumper Janet Boyle also reaching the final (12th), 1988 remains the last Olympic high jump final to feature two UK women. Davies is also the last British women to reach two Olympic high jump finals. The only UK finalist since being Debbie Marti in 1992. Davies won her fourth AAAs Outdoor title in 1989, earning selection for

, at the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, which were held in January. In Auckland she finished ninth, only managing to clear 1.80 m. This would be her last major international competition. After several low key years, Davies won her first national medal in six years at the 1995 AAAs National Championships, finishing second to

Lea Haggett Lea Haggett (9 May 1972 - 31 December 2013) was an English high jumper. She represented Great Britain at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and won a bronze medal at the 1990 World Junior Championships in Plovdiv. She held the UK junior record f ...

on countback, both having cleared 1.85 m. She now works in Woolden Hill primary school in Leicester.

National titles

* 4 Times AAAs National Champion: 1984, 85, 86, 89 (2nd in 1978, 81, 95) * 2 Times AAAs National Indoor Champion: 1984, 86 (2nd in 1980, 82, 87) * 4 Times UK National Champion: 1984, 86, 87, 88 (2nd in 1982)

International competitions

* Results in brackets is the height achieved in qualifying round.

References

Statistics
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Diana (athlete) 1961 births Living people British female high jumpers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games