Lea Haggett (9 May 1972 - 31 December 2013) was an English

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er. She represented

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at the

1996 Olympic Games The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and won a bronze medal at the 1990 World Junior Championships in

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. She held the UK junior record for 23 years, from 1991 to 2014.

Career

Haggett was born in

Dulwich, London Dulwich (; ) is an area in south London, England. The settlement is mostly in the London Borough of Southwark, with parts in the London Borough of Lambeth, and consists of Dulwich Village, East Dulwich, West Dulwich, and the Southwark half ...

, England and was a member of the Croydon Harriers Athletics Club. In 1986, she cleared 1.81 metres as a 14-year-old. In 1990, still only eighteen, Haggett was the UK's number one female high jumper, winning the

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the officia ...

with a personal best of 1.88 m, defeating Olympic finalist Janet Boyle. A week later at the World Junior Championships in

Plovdiv, Bulgaria Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...

, she again cleared 1.88 m to win the bronze medal. She would remain the only British woman to win a medal at the World Junior Championships in the high jump until

Morgan Lake Morgan Lake (born 12 May 1997) is a British track and field athlete, specialising in heptathlon and the high jump. She is the 2014 World Junior champion in heptathlon and high jump, and the 2015 European Junior champion in high jump. Lake broke ...

won gold in 2014. She ended the season by competing at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

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. As the only British entrant, she managed 1.80 m and was eliminated in the qualifying round. Haggett began the 1991 season by improving her personal best to 1.91 m at a meeting in

Chania Chania ( el, Χανιά ; vec, La Canea), also spelled Hania, is a city in Greece and the capital of the Chania regional unit. It lies along the north west coast of the island Crete, about west of Rethymno and west of Heraklion. The muni ...

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on 2 June. Although she would not improve on this for the rest of the year, she had another consistent season. Also in June, she won the UK Championships title with 1.85 m. In July, she cleared 1.88 m to finish second at the AAAs Championships behind

Debbie Marti Deborah Jane Marti (born 14 May 1968) is a former high jumper from England, who was born in Switzerland. She represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Athletics at the 1996 Summer Olympics, Barcelona 1992 and Athletics at the 1996 Summer ...

. In August, she cleared 1.89 m for fourth at the European Junior Championships in

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. In 1992, at the AAAs Championships, incorporating the Olympic trials, Haggett won her second AAAs title with 1.89 m but failed to earn Olympic selection. Her 1.91 m best from the previous year was one centimetre short of the qualifying standard. After a year out with an injury, Haggett returned in 1994 and earned selection for both the

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and the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

. At the Europeans, she managed only 1.75 m in qualification. She fared better at the Commonwealth Games, clearing 1.88 m to finish fifth in the final. In 1995, Haggett was the UK number one for the second time, with a season's best of 1.90 m. At the AAAs Championships, she won on countback ahead of Diana Davies and Debbie Marti, to earn World Championships selection. All three cleared 1.85 m. At the

World Championships 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, ...

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, she cleared 1.75 m and was eliminated in qualification. Haggett earned Olympic selection in 1996 by achieving her lifetime best of 1.92 m at the AAAs Championships (Olympic trials) in Birmingham. She finished second to Debbie Marti who cleared 1.94. At the

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, although failing to reach the final, she produced her best jump in a major championships with 1.90 m, defeating Marti, who cleared 1.85 m. Haggett and Marti were the last British women to compete in an Olympic high jump competition until Morgan Lake competed in 2016. Atlanta would prove to be Haggett's final major championships. As of 2015, Haggett's best jump of 1.92 m from 1996 ranks her 11th on the UK all-time list. Her 1.91 m from 1991, when she was 19, stood as the UK junior record for 23 years.
/ref> Susan Jones equalled the record in 1997 before Morgan Lake broke it in 2014 by clearing 1.93 m.

International competitions

National titles

(1990, 1992, 1995) * UK Championships (1991) *

AAA Indoor Championships The AAA Indoor Championships was an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost indoor domestic athletics event during its lifetime. The event was first held in 1935, fol ...

(1995)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haggett, Lea 1972 births 2013 deaths Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain English female high jumpers British female high jumpers World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games People from Dulwich Sportspeople from the London Borough of Southwark Athletes from London Australian Athletics Championships winners