Sally Jane Janet Gunnell (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track and field athlete, active between 1984 and 1997, who won the 1992

Olympic gold medal Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece be ...

in the

400 metres hurdles 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 ...

. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won every international event open to her, claiming Olympic Games, World Championship, European Championship, Commonwealth Games, Goodwill Games, IAAF World Cup and European Cup golds in the event, and breaking the British, European and World records in it. She is the only female British athlete to have won all four 'majors'; Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth titles, and was the first female 400 metres hurdler in history to win the Olympic and World titles and break the world record. Her former world record time of 52.74 secs in 1993, still ranks in the world all-time top ten (as of 2022) and is the current British record. She was named World and European Female Athlete of the Year in 1993, and was made an MBE in 1993 and an OBE in 1998.

Early life

Gunnell was born in

Chigwell Chigwell is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, England. It is part of the urban and metropolitan area of London, and is adjacent to the northern boundary of Greater London. It is on the Central line of the Lon ...

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

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 ...

to Les and Rosemary Gunnell, and grew up on the family's three-hundred-acre farm and attended the local primary and West Hatch High schools in

Athletics career

Gunnell started out in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

with the Essex Ladies club as an accomplished

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

er and

heptathlete A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

, before specialising in hurdling. In 1984, she narrowly missed Olympic selection at both heptathlon, with a score of 5680 points and in the 100 metres hurdles, where she set a UK junior record of 13.30 secs. In 1986, having won the AAAs and UK titles, Gunnell won 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 ex ...

gold medal in the 100 metres hurdles in Edinburgh, ahead of Wendy Jeal and 1984 Olympic heptathlon champion Glynis Nunn. She would remain the UK number one in the event over the next four seasons and reach the semi-finals at the 1987 World Championships and 1988 Olympics in the event. Gunnell first attempted the 400 m hurdles event in 1987, with a 59.9 clocking. In 1988, in her first full season at the event, she would reach the Olympic final in Seoul. At the Olympic trials in Birmingham, she broke the UK record with 55.40. In Seoul she would improve this twice, first to 54.48 in the semis then to 54.03, to finish fifth in the final. This would remain her best time in the event for three years. In 1989, Gunnell won the European Indoor title at 400 metres. Outdoors, she finished second in the 400 m hurdles at the European Cup behind East Germany's Petra Krug, but ahead of Olympic silver medallist Tatyana Ledovskaya. In September at the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, she was third behind

Sandra Farmer-Patrick Sandra Marie Farmer-Patrick (née Farmer, born 18 August 1962) is a Jamaican-born American former athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres hurdles. She won silver medals in that event at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, and at the 199 ...

of the US and Ledovsakya, but this time ahead of Krug. In January 1990, she defeated 1988 Olympic champion

Debbie Flintoff-King Debra ("Debbie") Lee Flintoff-King, (OAM) (born 20 April 1960) is a retired Australian athlete, and winner of the women's 400 m hurdles event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Athletics career Flintoff-King was born in Melbourne, the daughter of ...

to win the Commonwealth title in Auckland. The 1990 summer season however was disappointing, when she only finished sixth 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, ...

. Gunnell entered into the best phase of her career in 1991, improving her own three-year-old UK record three times. In Monaco she ran 53.78, in Zurich she ran 53.62, then 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, ...

in Tokyo, she won the silver medal behind Ledovskaya with 53.16, the then third fastest time of all-time. Ledovskaya won with 53.11. Gunnell won the

400 m hurdles 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 a ...

at the 1992 Olympic Games in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

, running 53.23 to defeat Sandra Farmer-Patrick. She also anchored the British 4 × 400 m quartet to a bronze medal. In 1993, she reached her peak, when she set the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the 400 hurdles to win

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

in the

in Stuttgart, winning in 52.74, narrowly ahead of Farmer-Patrick who ran 52.79, also inside the old record. This record was broken by

Kim Batten Kim Batten (born March 29, 1969, in McRae, Georgia) is an American former 400 meter hurdles champion. She was the 1995 world record holder in the women's 400-meter hurdles. She played basketball at East High School in Rochester, New York. Bat ...

in 1995, but is still the British record. Gunnell was the first female 400 metres hurdler to have won the Olympic and World titles and broken the world record, a feat since achieved by both

Dalilah Muhammad Dalilah Muhammad (born February 7, 1990) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2016 Rio Olympics champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympics silver medalist, becoming at the latter the second-fastest ...

and

Sydney McLaughlin Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (, born August 7, 1999) is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record, and 2022 World champion with a world record time of 50 ...

. In 1994, Gunnell added the European title to her collection, winning comfortably in 53.33. She also won the

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

ahead of Kim Batten, successfully defended her Commonwealth title and won the

title in London. 1994 was her third (and final) year as the world's number one. She missed most of 1995 due to injury, an injury from which she would never fully recover. Her defence of her Olympic title in

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 498,7 ...

in 1996 was cut short when she pulled up injured in the semi-finals. This seemed a particularly cruel blow, as this race occurred on her 30th birthday. Also in 1996, she worked as a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or s ...

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordinat ...

. In September 1997, she retired after a recurrence of an

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ...

injury forced her to pull out of the World Championships semi-final. Gunnell remains the only woman to have won the European,

World In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

400-metre hurdles titles. Gunnell is now involved as one of the ambassadors for McCain's Track & Field partnership with

UK Athletics UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The org ...

Television

Gunnell worked as a television presenter, predominantly for the BBC, until 2006. She also co-hosted the game show ''Body Heat'' (1994–96) on ITV with Mike Smith and Jeremy Guscott. Gunnell was one of the four celebrity guests in the ITV's '' You Bet!'' – Series 7 (1993–94), co-winning with Michaela Strachan, donating her winnings to a charity working to find a cure for breast cancer. In 1997, she was the recipient of the "big red book" on the ''

This is Your Life This Is Your Life may refer to: Television * ''This Is Your Life'' (American franchise), an American radio and television documentary biography series hosted by Ralph Edwards * ''This Is Your Life'' (Australian TV series), the Australian versio ...

'' programme. In summer 2006, she was a celebrity

showjumper Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes s ...

in the BBC's

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Director of Educat ...

event ''

Only Fools on Horses ''Only Fools on Horses'' is a BBC reality television programme produced by Endemol UK. The show's name was a play on that of the sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses'', and first aired on 7 July 2006. It featured twelve celebrities who performed eques ...

''. She also won a ''Weakest Link'' Sporting Heroes Special, first broadcast on 25 July 2009 on BBC One. She took part in a celebrity version of TV show ''

Total Wipeout ''Total Wipeout'' is a British game show, hosted by Richard Hammond and Amanda Byram, which first aired on the BBC on 3 January 2009. In each episode, contestants competed in a series of challenges in an attempt to win £10,000. These challeng ...

'' which aired on 2 January 2010. In 2012, Gunnell took part on ITV's ''The Cube'' and won £20,000 for her charity.

Recognition

In the 1993 New Year Honours, Gunnell was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) and in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was made an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire). In 2011, Gunnell was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

. In 2012, Sally was one of five Olympians chosen as part of a series body-casting artworks by Louise Giblin exhibited in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and copies being sold in aid of the charity Headfirst.

Personal life

Gunnell is married to fellow athlete Jonathan Bigg, and has three sons; Finley, Luca and Marley. She lives in

Steyning Steyning ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Horsham district of West Sussex, England. It is located at the north end of the River Adur gap in the South Downs, four miles (6.4 km) north of the coastal town of Shoreham-by-Sea. The smaller ...

, in

, just outside

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

.David Morgan Sporting Life (PA Sport), 11 December 2000

National titles

*7-times AAAs 100 m hurdles champion (1986–1989, 1991–1993) *2-time AAAs 400 m hurdles champion (1988, 1996) *2-time UK Champion – 100 m hurdles (1986) 400 m hurdles (1997) *2-time AAAs Indoor Champion – 200 m (1987) 400 m (1988)

International competitions

Note: Represented Great Britain in all events excluding the Commonwealth Games, where she represented England and the 1989 World Cup, where she represented Europe.

References

External links

Sally Gunnell Official Website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gunnell, Sally 1966 births Living people Sportspeople from Essex People from Chigwell People from Steyning English female hurdlers British female hurdlers English female sprinters British female sprinters English television presenters British sports broadcasters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics English Olympic medallists Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Goodwill Games medalists in athletics World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Deputy Lieutenants of West Sussex Officers of the Order of the British Empire European Athlete of the Year winners The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year winners World Athletics Championships winners Competitors at the 1994 Goodwill Games