Elizabeth "Liz" Gleadle (born December 5, 1988, in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

) is a Canadian

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete competing in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

. She is the national record holder and has twice won

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

medals, thrice made the World Championship finals (with a best result of 9th) and is a three-time Olympian, making the final at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, finishing 12th.

Life and career

Elizabeth Gleadle was born in Vancouver, on December 5, 1988, to parents Dan and Sonia. Her parents enrolled her in almost every sport available throughout elementary school, including playing fastball for the Vancouver Wildcats Rep fastball team as a pitcher. In 2002, while in grade 8 at

Kitsilano Secondary School , motto_translation = Let There Be Light , staff = 121 , founded = 1917 , schoolboard = School District 39 Vancouver , superintendent = Scott Robinson , director = Magdalena Kassis (Director ...

, Geladle threw javelin in Caroline Wittrin's gym class. That year she won the Vancouver City's with a throw of 17 metres. In 2004, while in grade 10, Gleadle placed third at BC High School Championships and won both the BC Youth Championships and the Canadian Youth Championships. In the fall of 2004, Gleadle decided to concentrate on track and field, and joined the Vancouver Thunderbirds Track and Field Club. After winter training, she decided to focus solely on javelin. In the summer of 2005 she was the BC and Canadian Youth Champion, and made the World Youth Team to compete in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, where she threw 50.51m, breaking the Canadian Youth Record and finishing fifth. In 2005 despite offers of full scholarships from many

NCAA Division 1 NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athletic ...

schools Gleadle stayed in Vancouver and competed for the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. Over the course of her university career, she won the NAIA Championships each of the four times she entered and broke the NAIA record twice. In the spring of 2011, Gleadle took a break from her

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, biomechanical, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kinesiology to human health ...

degree at UBC to devote herself full-time to training. She moved to the National Training Centre for throws in

Lethbridge Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 Alberta municipal censuses, 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

with coach Lawrence Steinke. After the London Olympics, she resumed her studies while also training in Lethbridge. Gleadle missed the entire 2013 competitive season due to a back injury. In 2014 she placed fifth at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, throwing 60.69 meters. She also placed third at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakesh, Morocco. Gleadle broke her own Canadian record in May, 2015 with 64.83 meters when she won the Golden Grand Prix meet in Kawasaki, Japan. On July 4, 2015, she won the 2015 Canadian Track and Field Championships throwing 59 meters in less-than-ideal conditions. She also finished 11th at that year's World Championships. During the 2016 Harry Jerome Classic in Vancouver, one of Gleadle's throws went out of bounds and narrowly missed a cameraman, piercing his shirt. The cameraman finished shooting the event and she apologized immediately afterwards. She said, "I’m not going to throw a javelin at someone and not see if they’re OK. I don’t feel like that’s polite." At the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Gleadle finished 16th in qualifying and did not advance to the final. In 2017, she again reached the

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

final. In 2020 Gleadle competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

, finishing 23rd in qualifying and missing the final.

International competitions

¹Representing the Americas

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleadle, Elizabeth 1988 births Living people Track and field athletes from Vancouver Canadian female javelin throwers Olympic track and field athletes for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Canada Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games silver medalists for Canada Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games track and field athletes for Canada UBC Thunderbirds players World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada Competitors at the 2009 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games