Kelly Sotherton

Event 400 metres

Date of Birth13 November 1976

Lives Birmingham

Club: Birchfield Harriers

Coach Aston Moore

Major International Highlights
Olympic Games – 2004 3rd heptathlon, 2008 4th heptathlon (5th 4×400m)
World Championships – 2005 5th heptathlon (8th long jump), 2007 3rd heptathlon
European Championships – 2006 7th heptathlon (15q long jump)
Commonwealth Games – 2002 7th heptathlon, 2006 1st heptathlon

Career Summary

Kelly won two English Schools championships in the heptathlon and also represented Hampshire at netball. She made her breakthrough on the international stage in 2004, when she improved her PB from 6059 to 6406 points in Gotzis to place second, which was followed by a runner-up finish at the European Cup in the long jump. Considered an outside medal hopeful in Athens, she lived up to the billing, claiming the bronze medal and finished only 11-points behind the silver medallist Austra Skujyte.

After winning silver at the 2005 European Indoor Championships in Madrid, Sotherton set her existing lifetime of 6547 points in Gotzis in May, but a poor javelin left her without a medal at the World Championships, where she placed fifth, but responded with an unexpected eighth in the long jump final.

Kelly finally won her first title at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, where she amassed a total of 6396 points. This was followed by a disappointing result at the European Championships, when a back injury affected her progress. Sotherton was seventh, which was her worst performance at a major championships.

-