Simone Lucy Laidlow (née Gandy, born 28 July 1965) is a female English former

400 metres hurdler The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once ar ...

. She represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in the women's 400 metres hurdles at the

1988 Seoul Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...

. She finished second at the UK Championships three times (

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

and

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

). Her twin sister, Dawn Gandy, is also a former international athlete.

Career

Born in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, Simone Gandy finished second at the UK Championships in 1985 and 1986, and third in 1984 and 1987. Her best performance in these years was 57.56 secs at the England v Romania international in Bucharest on 14 June 1986. She represented

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

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 ...

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 ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, on 26 July 1986, where she was eliminated in the heats with 60.31. In 1988, now competing as Simone Laidlow, she finished second behind

Elaine McLaughlin Elaine Mary H. McLaughlin (born 17 November 1963) is a Northern Irish former hurdler. She competed for Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the women's 400 metres hurdles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. She was also a two-time Commonwealth Games ...

at the UK Championships in 57.66. Two months later she finished third behind Sally Gunnell and McLaughlin 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 ...

/Olympic trials, earning Olympic selection in a lifetime best of 57.00, just ahead of

Wendy Cearns Wendy Cearns (née Griffiths, born 25 August 1960) is an English former athlete who competed in the 400 metres hurdles. She won the 1981 UK Championships and 1989 AAA Championships titles, the latter in a lifetime best of 56.05 secs. Representi ...

in fourth with 57.01. Her 57.00 would stand as the Hounslow AC club record until broken by

Nicola Sanders Nicola Clare Sanders (born 23 June 1982) is a former British track and field sprinter. She began her career as a 400 metres hurdles specialist before concentrating on the 400 metres from 2006 onwards. Her 400 metres personal best is 49.65 seco ...

in 2005. At the

1988 Olympic Games 1988 Olympics refers to both: *The 1988 Winter Olympics, which were held in Calgary, Alberta, Canada *The 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul ...

in Seoul, she was eliminated in the heats running 59.28.

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laidlow, Simone 1965 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics British female hurdlers Olympic athletes of Great Britain Sportspeople from Southampton Twin sportspeople English twins Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for England