Desirèe Henry (born 26 August 1995) is a British sprinter who competes in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and

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 slight ...

. She won an Olympic silver medal in the women's 4 × 100 metres relay at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris, the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2016 Rio Games, and a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay at the

2017 World Athletics Championships The 2017 IAAF World Championships, the sixteenth edition of the IAAF World Championships, were held from 4 to 13 August at London Stadium in London, United Kingdom. London was officially awarded the championships on 11 November 2011. Bidding p ...

in London.

Early life

Henry was born on 26 August 1995 in

Edmonton, London Edmonton is a town in north London, England within the London Borough of Enfield, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London. The northern part of the town is known as Lower Edmonton or Edmonton Green, and the southern ...

. She attended Highfield Primary School and St Anne's Catholic High School. She is of Antiguan and Guyanese descent.

Career

Henry is the 2011 World Youth Champion in the

200 meters 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 slight ...

. Her personal bests are 11.06 for the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

, 22.46 for the

and 52.27 in the

400 meters 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 ...

all set in 2016. Henry was one of seven young people who lit the

Olympic cauldron The Olympic flame is a symbol used in the Olympic movement. It is also a symbol of continuity between ancient and modern games. The Olympic flame is lit at Olympia, Greece, several months before the Olympic Games. This ceremony starts the Olymp ...

at the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony. All were nominated by famous British Olympians, with Henry being nominated by decathlete

Daley Thompson Francis Morgan Ayodélé Thompson, (born 30 July 1958) is an English former decathlete. He won the decathlon gold medal at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984, and broke the world record for the event four times. He was unbeaten in competit ...

. She ran the anchor leg as Great Britain won the 4 × 100 metres relay at the 2014 European Championships in Zurich. Henry improved her personal bests in 2016 to 11.06 in the

and 22.46 in the

and earned selection for the Rio Olympics. She began sprinting over

in 2015 but soon returned to shorter distances. In Rio, she reached the semifinals of the 100 metres, running 11.09, having run 11.08 in her heat. She went on to win a bronze medal in the sprint relay, setting a new British record of 41.77, along with her teammates Asha Philip,

Dina Asher-Smith Geraldina Rachel Asher-Smith (born 4 December 1995) is a British sprinter competing in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. Internationally competing since 2011, she holds national records in all three sprint events, making her the fastest British ...

and

Daryll Neita Daryll Saskia Neita (born 29 August 1996) is a British sprinter. She won a silver medal in the 200 metres at the 2024 European Championships along with bronze in the 100 metres at the 2022 European Championships, 2022 Commonwealth Games and i ...

. She won a silver medal as part of the 4 × 100 metres relay team at the

in London and gold in the same event at the

2024 European Athletics Championships The 26th European Athletics Championships were held from 7 to 12 June 2024 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy. It was the third time Italy staged this sporting event after the inaugural 1934 European Athletics Championships, 1934 edition in T ...

in Rome. On 5 July 2024, Henry was named in the British 4 × 100 metres relay squad for the Paris Olympics. She won a silver medal in the event, having run on the last leg in the heats.

International competitions

Note: Results in brackets indicate superior time achieved in qualifying rounds. ¹Did not finish in the final

References

External links

* * *
Desirèe Henry
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Henry, Desiree 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Blackpool English female sprinters British female sprinters European Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Olympic cauldron lighters English people of Antigua and Barbuda descent Sportspeople of Antigua and Barbuda descent English people of Guyanese descent Sportspeople of Guyanese descent Black British sportswomen Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic female sprinters Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships medalists 21st-century English sportswomen