Lee McConnell (born 9 October 1978) is a retired Scottish athlete, who competed in the 400 metres and

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 ...

having started her career as a high jumper. She is a three-time Olympian who represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

in 2004,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

. With 12 medals from major championships, McConnell is the third most decorated Scottish

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 ...

athlete of all-time (after Eilidh Doyle with 19 medals and

Laura Muir Laura Muir (born 9 May 1993) is a Scottish middle- and long-distance runner. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic silver medallist in the 1500 metres, having previously finished seventh in the event at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Muir won the bronze meda ...

with 13). She was voted Scottish Athlete of the Year in 2002, 2003 and 2007. McConnell is a four-time World Championship bronze medallist in the 4 x 400 metres relay in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011, with the 2007 team setting the British record of 3:20.04. Her individual honours include winning a 2002 Commonwealth silver at 400 metres, 2002 European Championship bronze at 400 metres, and 2006 Commonwealth bronze at 400 metres hurdles.

Career

Lee McConnell attended

Holyrood R.C. Secondary School ("By this conquer!") , established = 1936 , closed = , type = Comprehensive , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic , president = , head_name = , head ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

before graduating from Loughborough University in 2000 with a degree in Sports Science. Originally a high jump (becoming Scottish champion in 1998, 1999 and 2000), before turning to the 400 m and then the

(winning Commonwealth Bronze in a PB time). She was the Scottish

200 metres 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 ...

champion in 2002, and 2005. She also won the 400 m in 2001, and the 400 m at the

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Airports * Anaa Airport in French Polynesia (IATA airport code AAA) * Logan County Airport (Illinois) (FAA airport code AAA) Arts, entertainment, and me ...

Championships in 2002. Internationally, in 2002, McConnell won a bronze medal at the 2002 European championships in the

400 m The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is o ...

, then added 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 Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

in the

. In 2003 at the European Cup, McConnell came second in both the 400 m and the 4 × 400 m relay. She went to finish fifth in the

final at the 2003 World Championships. Her personal best time over 400 m is 50.82 seconds. After the 2007 season, McConnell decided to give up hurdling, as her transition from the flat had not been as successful as she had intended, and she returned to the 400 m flat. She broke the stadium record in the 400 m at the 2008

FBK Games The FBK Games is an annual track and field event at the Fanny Blankers-Koen Stadion in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of the IAAF World Challenge Meetings. It was first organized in 1981. Its name honours Fanny Blankers-Koen, who won four gold med ...

, producing her fastest season opener. At domestic level, McConnell later won the British 400 m title in 2008 and 2010, the British Inter-Counties 200 metres title in 2009, and two more Scottish 200 m titles (outdoor again in 2011 and indoor in 2013). In 2018, McConnell was one of fifteen athletes inducted in to the Scottish Athletics Hall of Fame.

Relays

In addition to winning medals in individual contests, she has been a fairly successful

relay A relay Electromechanical relay schematic showing a control coil, four pairs of normally open and one pair of normally closed contacts An automotive-style miniature relay with the dust cover taken off A relay is an electrically operated switch ...

runner. McConnell was known for participating in the Great Britain 4 × 400 m relay team at major events. McConnell won bronze medals in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. She ran the first leg in a team with

Donna Fraser Donna Karen Fraser (born 7 November 1972) in Thornton Heath, Croydon is an English former athlete, who mainly competed in the 200 and 400 m. Career An exceptional junior, Fraser won six English Schools 200 m titles (as well ...

, Nicola Sanders and Christine Ohuruogu in 2005 and ran the third leg in team with Ohuruogu,

Marilyn Okoro Marilyn Chinwenwa Okoro (born 23 September 1984, in London) is a British track and field athlete. She finished third in the 800 metres at both the 2007 and 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final. She was on the bronze winning 4 × 400 m relay at the ...

and Sanders in 2007, which a set a national record. In addition at the World Championships, she ran the first leg for the 4 × 400 m relay teams that finished fifth in 2001, sixth in 2003, and fourth in 2009, also running fourth leg for the team that finished fourth in 2011. McConnell alongside Fraser, Catherine Murphy, and Ohuruogu finished fourth in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2004 Olympics, but could inherit bronze medals from this event as American athlete Crystal Cox was later found guilty of doping offences. Cox and not the US team had her medal revoked but that could still change. At the 2012 Olympics, she ran the second leg as Great Britain finished fifth in the 4 × 400 m relay. She has also accumulated relay medals from the 4 × 400 m event from the Universiade Games (in 2001), the European Championships (in 2002 and 2010) and the European Indoor Championships (in 2005, 2007 and 2011). For

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, McConnell ran in the 4 × 400 m relay at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and 2010 (where a national record was set).

Retirement

McConnell missed the 2013 season after becoming pregnant with her first child. She returned to training nine weeks after giving birth to her son with a view to competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in her hometown of Glasgow – however she announced her immediate retirement from athletics in April 2014.

International competitions

Personal life

McConnell is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

fan, and is supporter of the

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

and the Scotland national team.

References

External links

*
MTC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McConnell, Lee 1978 births Living people British female sprinters Scottish female sprinters Scottish female hurdlers British female hurdlers British female high jumpers Scottish female high jumpers Olympic female sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Scotland Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1999 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2001 Summer Universiade Alumni of Loughborough University People educated at Holyrood Secondary School Sportspeople from Glasgow Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games