Sharon Hutchings (née McPeake, born 22 June 1962) is a former

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 from

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. She won a silver medal at the

1986 Commonwealth Games The 1986 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a 'Cho-fhlaitheis 1986) were held in Edinburgh, Scotland, between 24 July and 2 August 1986. They were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries (largel ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

with a lifetime best of .

Career

McPeake was born in

Ballymena Ballymena ( ; from ga, an Baile Meánach , meaning 'the middle townland') is a town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is part of the Borough of Mid and East Antrim. The town is built on land given to the Adair family by King Charles I i ...

and was a member of Ballymena and Antrim Athletics Club. As a 17-year-old in 1979, she finished third at 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 1.73 metres. In 1981, she finished third at the UK National Championships with a clearance of 1.83m. In 1982, McPeake competed at her first

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 ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, finishing ninth with 1.74m. In 1985, she finished second at the UK Championships, behind fellow Northern Irish athlete Janet Boyle. The best season of McPeake's career came in 1986. She finished second behind Diana Davies at both the UK Championships and AAAs Championships with 1.80m. Then at the

, representing Northern Ireland, she achieved her lifetime best of 1.90m to win the silver medal, defeating teammate Janet Boyle and England's Diana Davies on countback. The competition, which was won by Australia's

Christine Stanton Christine Frances "Chris" Stanton (née Annison, born 12 December 1959) is a retired high jumper from Australia. She set her personal best on 26 January 1985, jumping 1.96 metres at a meet in Adelaide, South Australia. An eight-time national cham ...

with 1.92m, remains one of the highest quality Commonwealth high jump competitions in history, with nine jumpers clearing 1.83 m or better. She also competed 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, ...

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 ...

, where she was eliminated in the qualifying round. She participated in Prince Edward's 1987 charity television special ''

The Grand Knockout Tournament ''The Grand Knockout Tournament'' (also known as ''It's a Royal Knockout'') was a one-off charity event which took place on 15 June 1987, and was shown on British television on 19 June 1987 (BBC1, repeated on 27 December 1987), in addition to a ...

''. Later in 1987, she again finished second at the AAAs Championships with 1.85m. Her season's best for the year was 1.89m. In 1988, now competing as Sharon Hutchings, she narrowly missed Olympic selection for

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

. At the AAAs Championships incorporating the Olympic trials, with the top two guaranteed selection, she was third, losing second place on countback. The competition was won by Janet Boyle with 1.91m, while both Hutchings and 19-year-old

Jo Jennings Joanne Loraine "Jo" Jennings (formerly Steele; born 20 September 1969 in Pakenham, Suffolk) is a female retired high jumper from England. Athletics career Jennings twice competed for Great Britain at the Summer Olympics and won silver at the 19 ...

cleared the Olympic qualifying standard of 1.88m. The third Olympic spot went to that years UK number one Diana Davies, who had cleared 1.9 m a month before the trials. In 1989, she won the AAAs Indoor Championships title with 1.82m, to defeat

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 ...

on countback. She earned selection for the

1990 Commonwealth Games The 1990 Commonwealth Games ( mi, 1990 Taumāhekeheke Commonwealth) were held in Auckland, New Zealand from 24 January – 3 February 1990. It was the 14th Commonwealth Games, and part of New Zealand's 1990 sesquicentennial celebrations. Partic ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

in January, where she finished 13th with 1.80m. Auckland would prove to be the conclusion of her international career. Her best of 1.90m from 1986 ranks her (as of 2017) 20th on the UK all-time list and second behind Janet Boyle on the Northern Irish all-time list.

Personal life

McPeake married fellow international athlete

Tim Hutchings Timothy ("Tim") Hilton Hutchings (born 4 December 1958 in London) is a male former middle- and long-distance runner who represented England and Great Britain internationally. Athletics career Hutchings' track events were the 1500 metres, 5000 ...

in 1987. Among his achievements is a fourth-place finish in the 5000 metres final at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

, and winning silver medals at the

World Cross Country Championships World Athletics Cross Country Championships is the most important competition in international cross country running. Formerly held annually and organised by World Athletics (formerly the IAAF), it was inaugurated in 1973, when it replaced the Int ...

in 1984 and 1989. They have two children, Laura and Jamie.

Achievements

*AAAs National Indoor Champion (1989) *2nd at the AAAs National Championships (1986, 1987) *2nd at the UK National Championships (1985, 1986) *6 Times Northern Irish Champion (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1989)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McPeake, Sharon 1962 births Living people Female high jumpers from Northern Ireland Sportspeople from Ballymena Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Northern Ireland Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games