Hollie Beth Arnold (born 26 June 1994) is a British parasport

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

competing in category F46 javelin. Although born in

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town in Lincolnshire, England with a population of 86,138 (as of 2021). It is located near the mouth on the south bank of the Humber that flows to the North Sea. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes dir ...

, she now lives and trains in Loughborough. She represents Wales in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

. Arnold was the youngest ever field athlete to ever compete in the Paralympics, at the age of 14 at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China, from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

in Beijing, under the guidance of Olympic Javelin Thrower Shelley Holroyd, throwing a personal best. She also threw a personal best in

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London. She took the gold medal in the F46 javelin in the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

, also throwing a new world record at the same time. In 2021, at the delayed

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

, she took the bronze medal in the same event. In 2018, she became the first ever Para Javelin thrower in history to hold all four major titles in the same Paralympic 4-year cycle: Rio Paralympics and world record 2016, London World Championships and world record 2017, Berlin European Championships and course record 2018 and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and world record 2018. In 2019 Arnold lost her World Record to New Zealand F46 Para Javelin Thrower Holly Robinson with the first 45m+ throw in history. She also holds four consecutive world titles: 2013 Lyon, 2015 Doha, 2017 London, and 2019 Dubai.

Personal life

Arnold was born in Lincolnshire in 1994, growing up in

Holton-le-Clay Holton-le-Clay is a village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England, around south of Grimsby. History Ditched enclosures and boundaries of possible prehistoric or Roman origin have been found, and earthworks of ...

. She was born without her right forearm. When attending a Star Track Athletics course during her Summer holidays she discovered an ability at the javelin. She joined Cleethorpes Athletic Club and began her career under the watchful eye of Olympic Javelin Thrower, Shelley Holroyd. She later moved to

Hengoed Hengoed () is a village on the west side of the Rhymney Valley - between Ystrad Mynach to the south and Cefn Hengoed to the north. Across the valley it looks towards Maesycwmmer. The village is in the county borough of Caerphilly, in the t ...

in Wales to be near her former athletics coach. In 2017, she relocated to train with her present coach at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. In November 2020, Arnold took part in the twentieth series of ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' where she was the first contestant voted off the show. Arnold is an ambassador for two charities: Caudwell Children and St. Andrews Hospice, in Grimsby where she was born.

Athletics career

Her first disability sports event was at the age of 11, winning seven gold medals across several events. In 2008, at the age of 14, she was selected to represent Great Britain at the Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, finishing 11th in the women's F42–46 javelin. She was the youngest member of the 2008 Great Britain team. The next year she won her first significant medals when she competed in the 2009

IWAS World Abilitysport (formerly the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation or IWAS) is an international sports organisation that governs sports for athletes with Physical disability, physical impairments. It is a registered charity ...

World Junior Championships in Switzerland, winning silver in the F46 discus and bronze in the F46 javelin. 2009 was the last year Arnold competed at championships in discus, concentrating fully on the javelin. The following year she improved on her javelin medal when she took silver at the 2010 IWAS World Junior Championship and then took gold at the 2011 Championship which was held in Dubai. The year 2011 saw Arnold step up to the senior level representing Britain at the

IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

in New Zealand; she finished third in the F46 javelin, taking the bronze medal. In 2012, she took the silver medal at the IPC Championships. Her personal best at F46 javelin was recorded at 35.88m in June 2012 at the Welsh Championships in Cardiff, ranking her as the world number two in her event going into the 2012 Paralympics. Arnold's personal best was increased at the

in London with a throw of 36.27m. On 22 July 2013, Arnold competed in the

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. She won gold with a winning throw of 37.45m, furthering her personal best. In 2014, Arnold was preparing for the buildup to the

IPC Athletics European Championships The World Para Athletics European Championships (''European Para Athletics Championships''), known prior to 2018 as the IPC Athletics European Championships is an event organized by World Para Athletics Championships, World Para Athletics, the int ...

in Swansea, hoping to improve on the silver medal she won in Stadskanaal two years prior. With only a few weeks to the event, Arnold was informed that due to a lack of competitors her F46 event had been removed. Her next chance for a major international medal came at the

2015 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships were a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. The event was the 7th edition of what is now known as the World Para ...

in Doha, where she threw a championship record distance of 40.53 to retain her gold medal. In September 2016, Arnold won the gold medal at the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

in Rio de Janeiro with a world record throw of 43.01 metres. She was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to field athletics. In April 2018, Arnold won the gold medal with a world record throw of 44.43 metres at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

in Gold Coast, Australia, where she represented Wales. In June 2021 she was among the first dozen athletes chosen to represent the UK at the postponed

2020 Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympi ...

in Tokyo. At the

2023 World Para Athletics Championships The 2023 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was the 10th edition of the event and was held in the Charlety St ...

, Hollie won gold in the F46 Javelin Throw. At the

2024 World Para Athletics Championships The 2024 World Para Athletics Championships was a para-athletics meet organized by the World Para Athletics, the respective sport branch of the International Paralympic Committee. This was the 11th edition of the event and was held at Kobe Univ ...

, Hollie won her sixth world title in the F46 Javelin throw, ahead of

Saška Sokolov Saška Sokolov (born 15 May 1995) is a Serbian athlete who competed for her nation in the javelin throw at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, and 2020 Summer Paralympics. Career Saška Sokolov was born in Pirot, Serbia, the daughter of football coach ...

and

Noëlle Roorda Noëlle Roorda (born 19 May 2000) is a Dutch Paralympic athlete who competes in the javelin throw at international elite competitions. She is a European champion and has been selected to compete at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. She won the silve ...

. At the

2024 Summer Paralympics The 2024 Summer Paralympics (), also known as the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games (), and branded as Paris 2024, were the 17th Summer Paralympic Games, an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event governed by the International P ...

, held in Paris, France, Hollie won the bronze medal in the F46 Javelin Throw.

References

External links