Kelly Sotherton

In 2005 she came 5th at the IAAF World Championships despite a lifetime best in the 800m but finally claimed her first major gold at the 2006 Commonwealth Games with a total of 6396 despite another disappointing Javelin.

As a teenager she won two English Schools titles in the heptathlon; as an Intermediate in 1992 and a Senior two years later. In 1995 she won the AAA Under 20 title and went on to make her Junior international debut that year. 

She improved considerably in 1997 with a personal best of 5513 and also took her long jump best to 6.10m (and a wind-assisted 6.16m). The following winter she took Silver in the AAA Indoor 400m but it was 2000 before she got back to form following a knee injury.

2002 brought a 7th place finish at the Manchester Commonwealth Games.

Her indoor campaign in 2003 brought her another AAA title in the Pentathlon and a Heptathlon personal best followed in Gotzis. However, it was really the European Cup for Combined Events that saw her make a major breakthrough. A spell training in the US was the platform for a successful summer in 2004; in Tallinn she broke 6000 points and qualified for National Lottery funding as she recorded a score of 6059. She smashed her heptathlon personal best in Gotzis in May 2004 with a score of 6406 points, setting personal bests in five of the seven disciplines.