Jemma Louise Simpson OLY (born 10 February in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

) is a British athlete who competes in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since the ...

and

1500 metres 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 ...

. She is a former British champion over 800m, winning both 2007, 2009 and 2010 British Championships. She was formerly coached by Olympic medallist

Mark Rowland Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * Fi ...

Early life

Simpson attended Mount Charles Junior school, and Penrice School, before receiving a scholarship to

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding schoo ...

at the age of 13, and graduated from St. Mary's College, Twickenham where she studied English and Media. Simpson has starred as an extra in ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera, which has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons an ...

'', and '' The Da Vinci Code''.

Career

As a junior athlete, she finished eighth at the 2001 World Youth Championships, fourth at the 2002 World Junior Championships and won a bronze medal at the 2003 European Junior Championships. She also won the gold medal for

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 ...

at the 2002

Commonwealth Youth Games The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is an international multi-sport event organized by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The games were held in the years, mid-way between when the Commonwealth Games are held, until 2008. They continued to be held ...

. In 2005 Simpson won a silver at the European Cup, despite only competing as a replacement for the injured

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance athlete. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres and 1,500 metres events and won gold medals for both distances at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She set Briti ...

. Simpson's highlights of the 2006 season were taking sixth place in the 800 metres final at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006 (Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm 2006'' or ''Naarm 2006''), was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth held ...

and finishing second at the British Championships, behind Rebecca Lyne. She finished 2006, being the fifth fastest British athlete over 800 metres, behind Rebecca Lyne, Susan Scott,

Amanda Pritchard Amanda Kate Pritchard (born May 1976) is a British healthcare official and public policy analyst who has been the Chief Executive of NHS England since 1 August 2021. Pritchard previously served as chief operating officer of NHS England and as chi ...

and

Marilyn Okoro Marilyn Chinwenwa Okoro (born 23 September 1984, in London) is a British track and field athlete. She finished third in the 800 metres at both the 2007 and 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final. She was on the bronze winning 4 × 400 m relay at the 2 ...

. After an injury plagued winter, missing many indoor championships and training sessions, Simpson made her major comeback at the British Championships, taking the gold medal, and becoming Britain's number 1 over 800 m. She was then selected for the British team for the 800 m at the 2007 World Championships. At the championships, she qualified into the semi-finals, coming second in her heat with a time of 2:00.47 minutes. In the semi-final she finished sixth with a time of 2:00.48 minutes and failed to qualify for the final. Like Simpson fellow British athletes, Marilyn Okoro and

Jenny Meadows Jennifer Brenda "Jenny" Meadows (born 17 April 1981) is a retired British athlete. Her main event was the 800 metres, although she previously competed also over the 400 metres. She won the bronze medal at the 2009 World Championships, and a ...

both failed at the semi-final stage having finished second in their respective heats. She finished eighth at the 2007 World Athletics Final. At the 2009 World Championships Simpson went out at the semi-final stage of the 800m. At the start of the 2010 outdoor season, she set a 1500 m personal best of 4:06.39 at a meeting at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...

, in the United States. She also improved her 800m personal best to 1:58.74 at the

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 ...

event in

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 ...

on 22 July 2010.

Personal bests

*800 metres - 1:58.74 min (2010) *1500 metres - 4:06.39 min (2010)

References

External links

* *
Profile at Powerof10 (UK Athletics)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Jemma 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Plymouth, Devon English female middle-distance runners British female middle-distance runners Olympic female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham