MTC

Personal Best
Heptathlon: 6547 points 

One of Britain's leading female athletes, Kelly Sotherton is a Commonwealth gold medallist and Olympic bronze medallist.  After the toughest year of her career plagued with injury and illness, Kelly battled back to form to take part in the hepthalon at the Beijing Olympics and fight for the gold medal that she had been tipped to take by many.  Even setting 3 personal bests wasn't quite enough and Kelly narrowly missed out on a medal and came in fourth place.  This was a bitter disappointment for Kelly but true to her usual grit and determination, she has bounced back and is determined to be a prominent figure at London 2012.

Kelly Sotherton was a relative newcomer to international level heptathlon when she left for Athens in 2004 but she returned a new British star and Olympic medallist. Having played netball for Hampshire as a teenager, she first made her mark on the Heptathlon when she won the English Schools Championship as an intermediate in 1992 and again as a senior two years later. 1997 was a breakthrough year for her, achieving a personal best of 5513 points and taking her long jump best to 6.10 and all this training paid off when the following winter she took silver in the AAA indoor 400m.

A knee injury kept her out of competition for the next year but her gradual return to form, whilst also holding down a job, showed the focus and relentless determination that Kelly had, to keep upping her game and Kelly spent the next few years smashing her personal bests time after time. In 2003, Isle of Wight-born Kelly finally left her job working in a bank to train full time as an athlete and ten months later her dedication was rewarded when she won a bronze medal and narrowly missed out on silver at her first major Championships - the 2004 Olympic Games

After breaking onto the International scene in such spectacular style, Kelly's progress continued apace in 2005. The first half of the year saw her smash the British pentathlon record and secure Silver at the European Indoor Championships in Madrid. Kelly managed to maintain this form going into 2006 and in March of that year she took the Gold at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.  She went on to win a Bronze medal at the 2007 World Championships out in Osaka before further adding to her ever growing medal collection with a second Silver medal in the pentathlon at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia in 2008.

2009 proved to be a more frustrating year for Kelly as she struggled with injuries and decided to withdraw from the World Championships to have an operation on a troublesome heel. After this injury and with the goal of success at London 2012, 2010 saw Kelly switch from being a hepthalete to concentrate on competing in the 400m. After setting a time indoors of 52.47 in 2008, the fastest time of any GB athlete that year, the switch to focus on the 400m seemed to be justified as on her first appearance of the 2011 season, Kelly won the national 400m title. A few weeks later and Kelly collected another medal at the European Indoor Championships as she put in an accomplished performance to help the GB 4x400m team to secure a deserved silver medal.

An unfortunate niggling injury ruled Kelly out of the 2011 World Championships in Daegu but after a relatively injury free season, Kelly and her coach have decided to switch her attentions back to her first love, the heptathlon. Ahead of London 2012, Kelly still has an ambition to qualify as part of the 4x400m team but also plans on making heads turn once again in the heptathlon where her natural all-round abilities will undoubtedly come to the fore on the biggest stage.

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