Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bird (born 4 October 1994) is a British

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

who specializes in the

3000 metres steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, a ...

. She won the silver medal at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

and a bronze at the

2022 European Athletics Championships The 2022 European Athletics Championships were the 25th edition of the European Athletics Championships and were held in Munich, Germany, from 15 to 21 August 2022. They were part of the European Championships, a multi-sport tournament which brin ...

. Bird is the current British record-holder in the 3000 m steeplechase with a time of 9:07.87. She is a two-time British national champion.

Early career

Elizabeth Bird began running in

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...

, and her first club was Hertfordshire Phoenix Athletic Club. She studied at the

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

graduating in Public and International Affairs in 2017. She was an

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

Honorable Mention All-America honoree in the steeplechase in 2015 and was a four-time

Regional qualifier. Bird was a two-time

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

champion in the steeplechase and part of the 4x800 m team that won a conference title in 2017 as well as being the Ivy League Cross Country Champion in 2015.

Career

Bird competed in the women's 3000 m steeplechase event at the

2019 World Athletics Championships The 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships () was the seventeenth edition of the biennial, global athletics competition organised by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), since renamed World Athletics. It was held betw ...

and did not advance from the heats clocking a personal best of 9:30.13. Having qualified for the delayed

2020 Tokyo 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 1 ...

in her specialist event, she reached the final after finishing fifth in her heat. In the final Bird broke the national record with a time of 9:19.68, placing ninth. In July 2022, she did not qualify for the final at the

World Athletics Championships The World Athletics Championships (until 2019 known as the World Championships in Athletics) are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics (formerly IAAF, International Association of Athletics Federations). Alongside the Ol ...

held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

in a time of 9:23.17. At about three weeks later, Bird won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games

Birmingham 2022 The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

in a personal best of 9:17.79. She set new lifetime best and a British record of 9:07.87 at the

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

five days later. Also in August, she earned a bronze at the

European Athletics Championships The European Athletics Championships is a biennial (from 2010) athletics event organised by the European Athletics Association and is recognised as the elite continental outdoor athletics championships for Europe. Editions First held, for men ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, clocking 9:23.18.

Personal life

Bird studied also for a master's degree in International Studies at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

between 2017 and 2018 but deferred a place at law school in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

in order to focus on the 2020 Summer Olympics. She has been involved in advocacy and support for human rights organisation Detention Action.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bird, Elizabeth 1994 births Living people British female middle-distance runners British female steeplechase runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners Place of birth missing (living people) European Athletics Championships medalists People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire