Wendy Jeal (née McDonnell, born 21 November 1960) is a female

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

former

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete who competed in the

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten Hurdling, hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first h ...

. She represented

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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 1986, 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 won a

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 ...

silver medal.

Career

Jeal was born in

Epping, Essex Epping is a market town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of the County of Essex, England. The town is northeast from the centre of London, is surrounded by the northern end of Epping Forest, and on a ridge of land between the Rive ...

, England and was a member of the Harlow Athletics Club and then the Haringey Athletics Club. As Wendy McDonnell, she won the AAAs National under 15 75 metres hurdles title in 1975 and the AAAs National under 17 80 metres hurdles title in 1977. As a seventeen-year-old, she won her first senior national championships medal in 1978, with third at the AAAs indoor 60 m hurdles. In 1982, she was second at the UK National Championships in the 100 metres hurdles. In 1985, now competing as Wendy Jeal and after several years on the edge of major championships selection, she competed in the 60 m hurdles at the

IAAF World Indoor Games The World Athletics Indoor Championships are a biennial indoor track and field competition served as the global championship for that version of the sport. Organised by the World Athletics, the competition was inaugurated as the ''World Indoor G ...

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. She ran 8.34 secs to reach the semi-finals. Jeal had the best year of her career in 1986. She finished third at both the UK National Championships and

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 ...

, behind

Sally Gunnell 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 in the 400 metres hurdles. During a golden 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunne ...

and

Lesley-Ann Skeete Lesley-Ann Skeete (born 20 February 1967) is a female English former track and field athlete who competed in the 100 metres hurdles. She represented Great Britain at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. She ...

, and ahead of 1984 Olympic silver medallist

Shirley Strong Shirley Elaine Strong (née Strong, born 18 November 1958) is a British former athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres hurdles. In this event, she won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a gold medal at the 1982 Comm ...

. She earned selection for both the

and 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, ...

. The Commonwealth Games in

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proved to be the highlight of her career, as she won the silver medal for

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, in a time of 13.41, behind Sally Gunnell and ahead of

Glynis Nunn Glynis or Glynnis is a female and rarely male given name of Welsh origin. It may refer to: *Glynis Barber (born 1955), South African actress *Glynis Breakwell, (born 1952), Vice-Chancellor of the University of Bath *Glynnis Breytenbach, South Afr ...

and Julie Rocheleau (later Baumann). At the European Championships in

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, she ran her lifetime best of 13.16 in the heats, to reach the semi-finals. In 1987, Jeal finished third behind Lesley-Ann Skeete and

Kim Hagger Kim Hagger (born 2 December 1961) is a retired English athlete who competed mainly in the heptathlon and the long jump. She represented Great Britain at the 1984 Summer Olympics, 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1988 Seoul ...

at the UK Championships and third at the AAAs Championships behind Sally Gunnell and Skeete, earning selection for 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, ...

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, where she was eliminated in the heats, running 13.44. At the 1988 AAAs Championships, incorporating the Olympic trials, Jeal once again finished third behind Sally Gunnell and Lesley-Ann Skeete, earning Olympic selection. At the

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 reached the quarter-finals, running 13.32. Throughout her career, Jeal finished second or third at senior national championships fourteen times, without winning. Her last top three result, was finishing third at the 1990 UK Championships.

Achievements

*3rd at the AAAs National Championships 100 m hurdles (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988) *2nd at the UK National Championships 100 m hurdles (1982) 3rd (1984, 1986, 1987, 1990) *2nd at the AAAs Indoor Championships 60 m hurdles (1980, 1985, 1986) 3rd (1978, 1987) *AAAs Under 17 80 hurdles Champion (1977) *AAAs Under 15 75 m hurdles Champion (1975)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeal, Wendy British female hurdlers English female hurdlers 1960 births Sportspeople from Epping Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Living people Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games