Jessica Zelinka (born 3 September 1981 in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

pentathlete A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) ( gr, πένταθλον). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of t ...

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 ...

, and 100 m hurdler. Her personal best score is 6599 points for the heptathlon. She was the gold medalist at the

2007 Pan American Games The 2007 Pan American Games, officially known as the XV Pan American Games, were a major continental multi-sport event that took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from July 13 to 29, 2007. A total of 5,633 athletes from 42 National Olympic C ...

. Zelinka won silver at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

and repeated her silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. At the 2012 Summer Olympics Zelinka finished in 6th overall in the heptathlon and 7th in the 100 m hurdles.

Career

Zelinka first became interested in

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 eve ...

in elementary school and competed in her first heptathlon at 16. She missed much of the 1999 outdoor season because of an illness.2006 Commonwealth Games
ZELINKA Jessica
(accessed 2012) Her first international competition was the 2000 IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics, where she was fifth in the heptathlon and also competed in the heats of the 100 meter hurdles. She missed most of the 2002 season due to a back and hamstring injury. Zelinka's first major global outing came at the

2005 World Championships in Athletics The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland (6 August 2005 – 14 August 2005), the site of the first IAAF ...

and she finished in eleventh place. She just missed out on the medals at the 2006 Commonwealth Games having finished in fourth place. Regional success came at the

as she fended off Gretchen Quintana, among others, to top the podium and take the gold medal. She set a new personal best and Canadian record points score for heptathlon, with 6343. She was selected for the

2007 World Championships in Athletics The 11th World Championships in Athletics, () under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007. 200 of the IAAF's 212 member federat ...

, but did not compete. Zelinka 2014 Commonwealth Games

She finished in fifth place at the 2008 Summer Olympics. This equalled the best place finish of a Canadian woman in a multi-events sport at the Olympics. At the Beijing Olympics, she set a new Canadian record for heptathlon, with 6490 points. After her Olympic appearance, she took the 2009 season off from competition and had a daughter with her partner Nathaniel Miller, a Canadian international in

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

. Building up to the

, she finished third in the heptathlon at the

Décastar Décastar (stylised ''DECASTAR'') is an annual athletics competition that takes place in Talence, in the department of the Gironde in France. Organised by World Athletics, it is one of the athletics meetings that make up the World Athletics Chal ...

meeting in

Talence Talence (, ; oc, Talança, ; ca, Talença, ) is a commune in the Gironde department, administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Bordeaux, and is adjacent to it on the south side. It is ...

, France. She earned a season's best total of 6204 points. At the games Zelinka was battling the

traveler's diarrhea Travelers' diarrhea (TD) is a stomach and intestinal infection. TD is defined as the passage of unformed stool (one or more by some definitions, three or more by others) while traveling. It may be accompanied by abdominal cramps, nausea, fever, ...

that affected many athletes in Delhi. Despite the challenges she managed to finish a respectable second and win the silver. Though she did medal Zelinka admitted some disappointment as she had gone to Delhi to win gold. Zelinka's medal was notable however as she just had a baby the previous year and had taken that season off and only returned to competition in 2010. As of 2012, Zelinka's coach is Les Gramantik. During the 2012 Canadian Olympic trials for track and field, she set a new personal best, of 6599 points, and new Canadian record score for heptathletes, on 28 June 2012, besting her old personal best and Canadian record, set at the 2008 Olympics. This selected her for 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 ...

for heptathlon. Two days later, she finished first in the

100 m 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 hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is p ...

, qualifying her for that event as well. She had considered foregoing it to concentrate on the heptathlon, but decided to compete in both events. At the 2012 London Olympics, Zelinka finished 7th overall in both the

Women's Heptathlon 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 ...

event and the

. Zelinka competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games following a couple years away from the sport, there she won silver behind teammate Brianne Theisen-Eaton.

Results

Honours

In 2012 Zelinka was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

References

External links

Official Website
*
Profile at Athletics Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zelinka, Jessica 1981 births Living people Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Canadian heptathletes Olympic track and field athletes of Canada Athletes from London, Ontario Track and field athletes from Ontario Athletes (track and field) at the 2007 Pan American Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Canada Canadian female hurdlers Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Pan American Games medalists in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Championships athletes for Canada Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games