Jessica Anne "Jess" Martin (née Andrews; born 1 October 1992) is a British

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 ...

who competed 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 ...

, held in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil. She currently runs for Aldershot, Farnham & District AC.

Personal life

Martin was born on 1 October 1992. She attended school on the Isle of Wight. As a student she received financial support from fellow Great Britain Olympian

Mo Farah Sir Mohamed Muktar Jama Farah (born Hussein Abdi Kahin; 23 March 1983) is a British long-distance runner. His ten global championship gold medals (four Olympic and six World titles) make him the most successful male track distance runner ever ...

's foundation, studying for a degree in Sport, Health & Exercise Sciences at

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...

. She is married to Irish road cyclist

Dan Martin Daniel Martin may refer to: People * Dan Martin (actor) (born 1951), American actor *Dan Martin (drama educator) (born 1953), American academic *Dan Martin (cyclist) (born 1986), Irish road bicycle racer *Dan Martin (footballer) (born 1986), Britis ...

. The couple met whilst they were training in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. In 2014, she moved from Surrey to Martin's home in

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

, and she currently splits her time between Andorra and

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

, where she trains with her coach Josep Carballude.

Career

Martin was unable to compete in the summer of 2013 after suffering a stress-fracture in her foot but returned to competition towards the end of the year. At the

2013 European Cross Country Championships The 2013 European Cross Country Championships was the 20th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Belgrade, Serbia, on 8 December 2013. The senior individual winners were Alemayehu Bezabeh of Spain ...

, held in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Serbia, she finished 16th in the individual women's under-23's race. She also won a gold medal as part of the British women's under-23's team alongside

Charlotte Purdue Charlotte Purdue (born 10 June 1991) is a British long-distance runner who competes in the Marathon and Half Marathon, as well as cross country running for Aldershot, Farnham and District Athletics Club. After winning a number of youth titles ...

Kate Avery Kate Avery (born 10 October 1991) is a British long-distance runner. She competes in track and road competitions but specialises in cross country running. She was twice silver medallist at the 2014 European Cross Country Championships and 2015, ...

, Lily Partridge, Rhona Auckland and

Laura Weightman Laura Weightman (born 1 July 1991) is a British Middle-distance running, middle-distance runner who competes in the 1500 metres and 5000 metres. She reached the 1500 metres final at the Athletics at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2012 London Olympic ...

. In February 2014 she finished fifth over the eight kilometre distance at the National Cross-Country Championships in Nottingham, with her team Aldershot Farnham and District, winning the team title. Later that year she competed at the Southern Cross Country championships, winning the senior women's title and finished fifth at the Saucony English Cross Country Nationals. At the 2016 British Olympic trials, Martin beat her personal best in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

by 83 seconds to win the event in a time of 31 minutes 58 seconds and qualify for the Great Britain team for the

, being held in

, Brazil. The trials race was only Martin's second competitive 10,000 metre track race, having made her debut six weeks earlier at a meeting in Portugal.

Beth Potter Beth Potter (born 27 December 1991) is a Scottish long-distance runner and triathlete competing internationally for Great Britain, and for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. She competed for Great Britain in athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympi ...

finished second in the race to also qualify for Rio. Martin further improved her personal best in the Olympics finals, finishing in 16th place at 31 minutes 35 seconds After stepping off the track with six laps remaining of the 2017 World Championships 10,000m race she subsequently announced her retirement from international athletics aged 24.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Jess 1992 births Living people British female long-distance runners English female long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain