MTC

Personal Bests
400m hurdles: 54.18s
400m: 51.47s

Aged just 23, Perri Shakes-Drayton is one of the most talked about up and coming names in athletics. Perri narrowly missed out on making the team for the Beijing Olympics, but has been strongly touted as a potential medallist for London 2012. Perri, who specialises in the 400m hurdles, has the backing of Olympic 400 hurdles champion Sally Gunnell to go all the way in 2012 and after her exploits at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona, where she stormed to 2 bronze medals, many athletics experts are predicting big things for the Londoner.

Perri went to Barcelona hoping to gain experience of the big stage and get to a major final but exceeded all expectations as she claimed a fabulous bronze medal in the 400m hurdles setting a new lifetime best in the semifinal and then again in the final. Her exploits placed her as the third fastest British female in history in the 400m hurdles and as if that was not enough, two days later Perri anchored home Great Britain's 4 x 400m relay team with an astonishing run of 49.7s, which was faster than all of the specialist 400m runners on the GB team, to secure the bronze medal for the team and her second of the championship.

Skipping the indoor season to complete her degree in Sports Science at Brunel University (Perri graduated in July with a 2:1), Perri began the outdoor season with an invite to race at the Rome leg of the Samsung Diamond League. Finishing a respectable 6^th with a new PB in the 400m in an extremely strong field, Perri went on to compete in 4 further Diamond League meets (Oregon, Oslo, Paris & Crystal Palace) which provided further evidence that her talent belongs alongside the best 400m and 400m hurdlers in the World.

On the domestic front, Perri reigned supreme, making history by becoming the first person to be crowned National 400m and 400m hurdles champion in the same year. With confidence high, she headed to the World Championships in Daegu with a view to qualifying for the final as a bare minimum. Having sailed through the first round, Perri got an unlucky draw for the semifinals which saw her line up against the 3 of the fastest girls of the year and subsequently missed out on a place in the final by an agonising 0.01 seconds. Selected to run the first leg in the 4x400m relay final, Perri again recorded the fastest time but the team were unable to replicate their success in Barcelona the previous summer, eventually finishing 4^th.

Undeterred and fully focused as a full time athlete, Perri will be working harder than ever to iron out any weaknesses, thus ensuring she enters 2012 in the best possible shape to challenge for glory at her home Olympics.

Sponsored by Nike, Perri is also a brand ambassador for UKA principal partner McCain and is supported by the Sky Sports Scholarship scheme.                             

www.mccaintrackandfield.co.uk

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Sky Sports Scholarship Scheme