Louise Victoria Hazel (born 6 October 1985) is an

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 ...

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 from

March, Cambridgeshire March is a Fenland market town and civil parish in the Isle of Ely area of Cambridgeshire, England. It was the county town of the Isle of Ely which was a separate administrative county from 1889 to 1965. The administrative centre of Fenland D ...

, who specialises in the multi-event heptathlon. She has competed in four major international championships. The first was in 2006 when she came 17th at the European Championships and the second was three years later when she finished 14th 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, ...

. During 2009 she was ranked 2nd best in the country and 9th best of all time. In 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, ...

she won the gold medal for the England team, with a personal best of 6156 points. At the 2011

Mehrkampf-Meeting Ratingen The Stadtwerke Ratingen Mehrkampf-Meeting is an annual track and field meeting for decathlon and heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, mean ...

she scored 6166 points but this included wind-assisted performances and she also competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In July 2012 she appeared with Tasha Danvers, Mark Foster, Derek Redmond on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

programme '' Come Dine with Me'' prior to her Olympics competition, and won the show. In September 2013 she announced her retirement from heptathlon, although she could compete in other events. In January 2014 she announced that she would come out of retirement to defend her title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in

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 ...

after

Jessica Ennis-Hill Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill (born 28 January 1986) is a British retired track and field athlete from England, specialising in multi-eventing disciplines and 100 metres hurdles. As a competitor in heptathlon, she is the 2012 Olympic champion, ...

announced that she would miss the Games due to pregnancy. However, in June 2014 Hazel stated that she had decided to abandon her comeback due to her training schedule being disrupted by a flare-up of

ulcerative colitis Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a long-term condition that results in inflammation and ulcers of the colon and rectum. The primary symptoms of active disease are abdominal pain and diarrhea mixed with blood (hematochezia). Weight loss, fever, and ...

Early life

Hazel was born in Southwark,

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 enjoyed sports as a child. Encouraged by her father she began training at age 10 at the local athletics club. She was educated at Neale-Wade Community College in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

and graduated with a BA in French from the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingha ...

. While at university she joined the renowned

Birchfield Harriers Birchfield Harriers is an athletics club, founded in 1877. Its home is at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, England. As well as welcoming recreational runners they cater for all levels of experience up to and including Olympic athletes whether a ...

Athletics Club.

Advocacy

Hazel is an ambassador for the

British Heart Foundation The British Heart Foundation (BHF) is a cardiovascular research charity in the United Kingdom. It funds medical research related to heart and circulatory diseases and their risk factors, and runs influencing work aimed at shaping public policy ...

Competition record

2010 Commonwealth Games

2011 World Championships

2012 Olympic Games

Other ventures

In 2015 Hazel competed on '' The Chase'' and a celebrity Christmas special edition of ''

Ninja Warrior UK ''Ninja Warrior UK'' (also known as ''Ninja Warrior UK: Race for Glory'') is a British physical obstacle assault course game show, created for ITV. The show is based upon the format of the Japanese game show '' Sasuke'', created by Ushio Higuch ...

''. In 2017 Hazel appeared on a charity edition of MTVs '' The Challenge'', titled '' The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros''. She competed to raise money for

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

. In 2018, she returned to the MTVs '' The Challenge'' spinoff, titled '' The Challenge: Champs vs. Stars''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hazel, Louise 1985 births Living people People from Southwark Sportspeople from the London Borough of Southwark People from March, Cambridgeshire Sportspeople from Cambridgeshire Athletes from London British heptathletes English heptathletes Olympic heptathletes Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners Birchfield Harriers Alumni of the University of Birmingham The Challenge (TV series) contestants Commonwealth Games competitors for England Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games