Sophie Hitchon (born 11 July 1991) is a retired British
hammer throw
The hammer throw is one of the four throwing events in regular track and field competitions, along with the discus throw, shot put and javelin.
The "hammer" used in this sport is not like any of the tools also called by that name. It consis ...
er. She is the
British record-holder with a throw of 74.54 metres, set when winning the Olympic bronze medal at the
2016 Rio Games, Great Britain's first ever Olympic medal in the event. She also reached the hammer final at the
2012 London Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, and is the
2010 World Junior Champion, the
2013 European U23 Champion, and the
2014 Commonwealth Games
The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...
bronze medallist.
Early life
Hitchon was born in
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, Lancashire, and attended Wellfield Church Primary School,
Ivy Bank Business and Enterprise College and Thomas Whitham Sixth Form. She is studying for a BSc in Business and Sport Management from the
University of Hertfordshire
The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a public university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield Technical College, was founded in 1948 and was ident ...
. Hitchon practiced
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
between the ages of 4 and 14 and credits it for teaching dedication to sport.
Achievements
In April 2007, Hitchon set a new UK Under 17 Women's record with a throw of 49.61m at the
Kingston-upon-Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east o ...
AC Open meeting.
The previous record was 48.94m achieved by Frances Miller of
Elgin Harriers at the
2001 IAAF World Youth Championships in
Debrecen
Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and i ...
, Hungary.
In March 2008, at the age of 16, Hitchon set a new junior record with a throw of 59.74m at the UK Throws event in Birmingham, followed by a 59.49m throw at the Blackpool Open Meeting the same weekend.
In July 2009, Hitchon won bronze in the hammer at the European Junior Championships. In doing so she also improved her own national junior record to 63.18m and took Britain's first ever European Junior medal in the women's hammer.
A year later, Hitchon was captain of the UK women's team at the IAAF World Junior Championships (Moncton, Canada, 19–25 July), as well as remaining the UK junior hammer record holder.
In July 2011, Hitchon represented the UK in the European Under-23 Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic (14–17 July), taking the bronze medal.
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Hitchon achieved a bronze medal in the women's Hammer throw with a distance of 68.72m. This was her first success at a senior level championship.
At the
2016 Rio Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...
, Hitchon achieved a bronze medal in the
women's hammer throw with a distance of 74.54 metres on her final attempt, setting a new GB record in the process. It also made her the first British hammer thrower to win an Olympic medal and ended a 28-year Olympic medal drought for GB in women's field events since
Fatima Whitbread
Fatima Whitbread (' Vedad; 3 March 1961) is a British retired javelin thrower. She broke the world record with a throw of in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, and became the first British athle ...
's silver at
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 ...
in 1988.
Hitchon announced her retirement in May 2021.
International competitions
*q = in qualifying
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitchon, Sophie
1991 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Burnley
English female hammer throwers
Olympic female hammer throwers
Olympic athletes for Great Britain
Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain
Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field)
Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England
Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games
Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
British Athletics Championships winners
Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games