Sally Gunnell OBE

Sally Gunnell OBE

  • World, Olympic, European & Commonwealth Gold Medallist
  • Overcoming Adversity, Wellbeing & Goal Setting
  • Awards Host & Facilitator

Sally Gunnell is one of the UK's greatest female track and field athletes. She is the only woman to have won the European, World, Commonwealth and Olympic 400 metre hurdle titles - as well as breaking the World 400 m hurdle record, a record that still stands.

Sally started out on the athletics circuit as a member of the Essex Ladies' Club, initially as a long jumper and pentathlete, subsequently switching to the 400 m hurdles where she quickly established herself as force to be reckoned with. She achieved her first Olympic gold medal at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992, and the following year set the world record for the 400 hurdles at the World Championships in Stuttgart, winning in 52.74 sec. In 1994, she added the European title to her collection of gold medals, winning comfortably in 53.33 sec.

After suffering a number of injuries, Sally retired from the athletics track in 1997 and joined BBC Sport as a presenter, becoming a well known face on British television as a result. In 2004, she teamed up with Colin Jackson as a mentor on the BBC1 sports talent search show Born to Win (fronted by Dermot O'Leary), following this in 2006 as presenter of BBC1's Marathon show Run For Glory, in which she and fellow athlete Steve Cram trained a group of 13 novice runners to compete in the London Marathon. Other TV work has included reporting on The One Show (BBC1) and taking part in ITV's The Cube, winning £20,000 for charity.

Sally has always been keen to draw on her wealth of knowledge and experience to help inspire and encourage people to become more active and healthy. For instance, in 2009 she appeared on ITV's The Feel Good Factor to mentor a group of Police men and women in their quest to loose weight and become fitter. She has also worked in the corporate sponsorship field to promote children getting involved in sports to lead active, healthy lifestyles, for instance through UK Athletics' 2009-2014 partnership with the food company McCain. And spurred on by her involvement in the TV show Run For Glory, Sally worked with Flora to head up their team of London Marathon First Timers and take on the challenge of running in the famous charity race. She has also acted as an ambassador for the UK's leading active play organisation, Tumble Tots, coordinating programmes to encourage parents to engage their children in physical activities in a fun way.

Sally was made an MBE in the 1993 New Year's Honours, and in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours she was made an OBE.

With her wealth of experience both inside and outside of the sports arena, Sally makes a perfect Motivational Speaker. This is an area in which she has become well established, sharing her experience and knowledge to provide pertinent advice that helps individual audience members to realise their own targets for success. To book Sally for your next Event, contact a Prime Performers Booking Agent via the online booking enquiry form or alternatively call 020 3500 3331 for further information.

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