MTC

Personal bests:
1:57:93 (Outdoor)
1:58:43 (Indoor)

Jenny Meadows is firmly established as one of Britain's leading female athletes. Having always shown potential, her breakthrough came at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin where she won a magnificent bronze medal in a life-time best of 1:57.93. Since Berlin, Jenny has gone from strength to strength; improving her indoor PB first at the Birmingham Grand Prix in February 2010, breaking Kelly Holmes' record in the process, then again at the World Indoor Championships in Doha when claiming the silver medal in a time of 1:58:43. Jenny then went to Barcelona 2010 for the European Championships and showed the world her courage and ability as she came away with a bronze medal despite not being fully fit.

As a junior, Jenny initially competed at both 400m and 800m, winning the English Schools junior girls 800m in 1995 before opting to focus on the 400m. In 2005 she decided to switch her focus back to the 800m and made a huge leap forward during the 2007 indoor season in setting a national record for 600m, but more importantly, she broke the two-minute barrier in the 800m both indoors and outdoors for the first time which was the ultimate vindication of her decision to compete over the longer distance. From this point onwards, Jenny set about establishing herself as a force to be reckoned with not only on the national circuit but on the international arena at large.

From the 2007 World Championships onwards, Jenny's rise to prominence has been rapid, improving her PB at almost every competitive opportunity. In the 2008 Olympic season, she reached the World Indoor final, won the European Cup and finished 6^th at the Olympic semi-final in Beijing.

In 2009, Jenny successfully defended her UK Indoor 800m title but was denied a medal by a narrow margin when finishing fourth at the European Indoor Championships final in 2009. It wasn't long before she achieved that elusive medal that had previously escaped her when she ran the near perfect race at the World Championships in finishing third, missing out on the silver by a few hundredths of a second. With a bronze medal under her belt Jenny proved to herself and the athletics community that she was the real deal and the rest as they say is history! Silver medal at the World Indoors in Doha and another Bronze at the Europeans in Barcelona showcased that Jenny's level of performance has improved to such a consistent level; she is now without doubt a medal contender at all major championships.

Awarded the captaincy of the Great Britain team for the World Indoor Championships by UK Athletics head coach Charles Van Commenee, Jenny addressed her team mates in an inspirational talk about the need to perform without fear prior to the competition. In winning the Silver medal, she proved herself to be someone who not only heeds her own advice, but also leads by example.  

With a number of high class performances under her belt, Jenny flew to the World Championships in Daegu with one aim - to continue her impressive record of medaling at the four previous major championships.  In a blip not seen from Jenny in many years, she failed to qualify for the final but showed her pedigree in producing a fast time at the final Diamond League meet of the year in Brussels, cementing her place at the top of the table for 2011.

By winning the Diamond league series, Jenny has shown that she can produce consistently high levels of performance throughout the season and knows how to win races against the best 800m runners in the world. She will certainly be one to watch at London 2012.

Jenny is a keen Manchester United supporter and owns a miniature Schnauzer called Harvey. She is married to her coach, Trevor Painter.

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