Wendy Patricia Hoyte (née Clarke; born 17 December 1957) is a British former sprinter, who won a

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the a ...

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

and a 1982 European Championships

silver medal A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc ...

in the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

. She also competed at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. She is the holder of the United Kingdom indoor 50 m record, which she set in 1981. As of 2016, the record still stands.

Career

Hoyte was born in London, England. She was a member of Highgate Harriers and later the Borough of Hounslow Athletic Club. As Wendy Clarke, she first came to prominence at the age of 17 in 1975, when she won two medals at the European Junior Championships in Athens. She won

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

in the

100 m 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

in a wind assisted 11.53 secs, behind the East German pair of Petra Koppetsch and Marlies Oelsner (the future

Marlies Gohr Marlies may refer to the following: Sports teams *Toronto Marlies, an American Hockey League team *Toronto Marlboros, a former junior hockey team in the Ontario Hockey League, colloquially nicknamed "The Marlies" for short People Marlies is a Du ...

), then won silver behind Koppetsch in the

200 m The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

in 23.85. In 1976, she competed in the sprint relay at the

Montreal Olympics Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, running the first leg for the British quartet that finished eighth in the final. In 1979, she finished fourth in the

60 m 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior ath ...

final at the European Indoor Championships in Vienna. She was selected for the relay squad for the 1980 Moscow Olympics but did not get to compete. In 1981, she broke the UK indoor record for the 50 m with 6.21 secs in the heats of the European Indoor Championships, before placing sixth in the final (usually a 60 m race, the event was held over 50 m in 1981). The record (as of 2014) has stood for over thirty three years. In the late 70s and early 80s she won six AAAs national titles. She was the AAAs 100 m champion in 1981 and 1982 and the AAAs indoor 60 m champion in 1977, 1980, 1981 and 1982. Hoyte's best year was in 1982. Indoors, she won a bronze medal in the 60 m at the European Indoor Championships in Milan. 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, ...

in Athens she reached the 100 m final, placing eighth, then won a silver medal as part of the British 4 × 100 m relay quartet, along with

Kathy Smallwood Kathryn Jane Cook (née Smallwood; born 3 May 1960) is a former elite athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze meda ...

, Bev Callender and Shirley Thomas. 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 ...

in Brisbane, representing

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 ...

, she finished fifth in the 100 m final and won a gold medal in the relay, along with Smallwood, Callender and

Sonia Lannaman Sonia May Lannaman (born 24 March 1956) is a British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres title in Edmonton 1978 and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 19 ...

. Hoyte missed trying for the 1984 Olympics due to pregnancy. In 1986, she competed at the

in Stuttgart, finishing fifth in the 4 × 100 m relay final. In 1987, Hoyte competed at three major Championships, she finished fifth in the 60 m final at the European Indoor Championships in Lievin and reached the semi-finals of the 60 m at the World Indoor Championships in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

. Outdoors, she ran in the sprint relay 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 Rome. She competed at the 1988 UK Olympic trials in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, but failed to earn Olympic selection.

Personal bests

*50 metres 6.21 Grenoble 22 February 1981 (UK Record) *60 metres 7.20 Lievin 22 February 1987 (7th on UK all-time list) *100 metres 11.31 Brisbane 4 October 1982 *200 metres 23.48 London (Crystal Palace) 7 June 1975

Personal life

She is married to Les Hoyte, also a leading sprinter (brother of Trevor Hoyte, 1978 Commonwealth

finalist), and is the mother of footballers

Justin Justin may refer to: People * Justin (name), including a list of persons with the given name Justin * Justin (historian), a Latin historian who lived under the Roman Empire * Justin I (c. 450–527), or ''Flavius Iustinius Augustus'', Eastern Rom ...

, a former England U21 and Trinidad & Tobago international, and

Gavin Gavin is a male given name originating from Scotland. It is a variation on the medieval name Gawain, meaning "God send" or "white hawk" (or falcon). Sir Gawain was a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is an ep ...

, who plays for

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

and was an England U19 international. She is the aunt of the British sprinter Chris Clarke.

International competitions

*Note: Results in brackets, indicate superior time achieved in an earlier round

References

External links

*
Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoyte, Wendy 1957 births Living people Athletes from London English female sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain