Helen Teresa Clitheroe (née Pattinson) (born 2 January 1974 in Preston,

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 ...

) is a female former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

middle and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

Athletics career

She competed in the

1500 m The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

at the

2000 Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney and in the 3000 m steeplechase at the

2008 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 Nati ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She represented

in the 1,500 metres event, 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 ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, Malaysia. Four years later she was the 1500 m bronze medallist 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 ...

. She achieved the Olympic A qualifying standard for the 3000 m steeplechase at the

Meeting Iberoamericano The Meeting Iberoamericano de Atletismo () is an annual track and field meeting held at the Estadio Iberoamericano in Huelva, Spain since 2005 by the Royal Spanish Athletics Federation. It is typically held in mid-June. The name of the meeting ste ...

, in

Huelva Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The rias ...

on 13 June 2008, where she finished eighth in a time of 9:43.56. Her place in the British team for the Games was confirmed when she won the British trials in a new national record time of 9:36.98. At the Games she finished sixth in her heat and did not advance to the next round of competition, despite beating her own national record with a time of 9:29.14. At the

2008 IAAF World Athletics Final The 6th IAAF World Athletics Final was held at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on September 13 and September 14, 2008. A number of road races also took place on the second day of competition. There were seven different starting po ...

, in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

, Clitheroe placed 9th in the 3000 m steeplechase in a time of 9:39.72. She completed a spell of high-altitude training in

Iten Iten is a town in Elgeyo-Marakwet County in the Republic of Kenya. Iten serves as the capital and is the largest town in the county. The town is located along the road between Eldoret and Kabarnet at the junction of the road heading to Kapsowar. ...

, Kenya and then came close to a 3000 m lifetime best at the

Aviva International Match The Sainsbury's International Match, formerly known as the Aviva International Match, was an annual indoor track and field athletics meeting which takes place in late January in Glasgow, Scotland. The televised competition is the first major ind ...

in January 2011, finishing with a stadium record run. The May 2011 Great Manchester Run saw her produce a career best for the 10K as she completed a dominant performance to win the race in a time of 31:45 minutes. She set herself a similar target at the

European Cup 10000m The European 10,000m Cup is an annual 10,000 metres race for European athletes which was first held in 1997. The competition is organised by the European Athletics Association and first began as the European 10000 Metres Challenge (''European 1 ...

in June 2011, but suffered in hot conditions and finished in fourth with a time of 32:11.29 minutes.Portugal double victory at the European Cup 10000m
. European Athletics (2011-06-04). Retrieved on 2011-06-05. She continued working in the Industry as a coach, and during 2022 was coaching with the

New Balance New Balance Athletics, Inc. (NB), best known as simply New Balance, is one of the world's major sports footwear and apparel manufacturers. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, the multinational corporation was founded in 1906 as the New Balance Arch ...

team at

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, working as personal coach to

Ciara Mageean Ciara Mageean ( ) (born 12 March 1992) is a middle-distance runner from Portaferry in Northern Ireland who specialises in the 1500 metres. She is a three-time European Athletics Championship medallist at the event, with bronze in 2016 and silve ...

during her very successful 2022 season.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clitheroe, Helen Teresa Pattinson 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from Preston, Lancashire British female long-distance runners English female long-distance runners English female middle-distance runners British female middle-distance runners British female steeplechase runners English female steeplechase runners Olympic female middle-distance runners Olympic female steeplechase runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain European Athletics Indoor Championships winners British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games