Ashia Hansen
Encyclopedia
Ashia Hansen, MBE
(born 5 December 1971 in Evansville, Indiana
) was a British
triple jump
er who competed internationally from 1994-2008.
.
Athletics Club in Birmingham
, along with other successful British athletes such as Denise Lewis
, Kelly Sotherton
, Mark Lewis-Francis
and Katharine Merry
. She was trained by Commonwealth Games
medallist Aston Moore
.
Hansen has also represented Great Britain (and England
) on the international stage at a senior level since 1994, competing at the Olympic
and Commonwealth Games
, as well as the World
and European Championships
and the World and European Cups.
At the 1998 European Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, Hansen won the gold medal with a world record jump of 15.16m. She is also the UK record holder for the outdoor event.
Hansen suffered a serious knee injury during the 2004 European Cup, requiring extensive surgery, however she did finally return to triple jumping and competed at the British Championships where she immediately climbed back to the top of the British rankings, however she decided not to be part of the team for the European Athletics Championships that summer. Ashia has now retired from Athletics after failing to recover from a long line of injuries.
in 2003, in the New Year Honours. She then retired 1 year after, in 2004, but still holds the UK record for the outdoor event.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 5 December 1971 in Evansville, Indiana
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...
) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
triple jump
Triple jump
The triple jump is a track and field sport, similar to the long jump, but involving a “hop, bound and jump” routine, whereby the competitor runs down the track and performs a hop, a bound and then a jump into the sand pit.The triple jump has its origins in the Ancient Olympics and has been a...
er who competed internationally from 1994-2008.
Early life
Although born in the USA, Hansen was adopted at the age of 3 months by a Ghanaian father and a British mother and grew up in the UK after spending a few years in GhanaGhana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
.
Athletics career
Hansen is a member of the Birchfield HarriersBirchfield Harriers
Birchfield Harriers is an athletics club, founded in 1877. Its home is at Birmingham's Alexander Stadium, England.Named after the Birchfield district of Birmingham, their previous home , at nearby Perry Barr, was Alexander Sports Ground. It still carries their badge, a running stag, rendered in...
Athletics Club in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, along with other successful British athletes such as Denise Lewis
Denise Lewis
Denise Lewis OBE is a retired British athlete who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.-2000 Olympics:...
, Kelly Sotherton
Kelly Sotherton
Kelly Jade Sotherton is an English heptathlete and 400m sprinter. She was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and was fourth at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also was a bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, and was the heptathlon gold medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth...
, Mark Lewis-Francis
Mark Lewis-Francis
Mark Anthony Lewis-Francis is a British track and field athlete, specifically a sprinter, who specialises in the 100 metres. A renowned junior, his greatest sporting achievement at senior level has been to anchor the Great Britain and Northern Ireland 4 x 100 metres relay team to a shock gold...
and Katharine Merry
Katharine Merry
Katharine Merry is a former English female sprinter.-Career:A member of the Birchfield Harriers athletics club, Merry won a bronze medal in the 400 metre sprint at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.Merry had a career that spanned 20 years. Aged 12 she topped the UK Under 13 Rankings in...
. She was trained by Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
medallist Aston Moore
Aston Moore
Aston Llewellyn Moore is a Jamaican former athlete who competed for Great Britain, specialising in the triple jump event. He is currently an athletics coach. Moore competed at the 1976 Montreal Olympics but failed to progress past the qualifying rounds...
.
Hansen has also represented Great Britain (and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
) on the international stage at a senior level since 1994, competing at the Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
and Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
, as well as the World
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...
and European Championships
European Championships in Athletics
The European Athletics Championships is an event organized by the European Athletic Association. It is organised every four years, the same year as the Commonwealth Games and between the Summer Olympic Games cycle. After the 2010 Championships in Barcelona, the European Championships will take...
and the World and European Cups.
At the 1998 European Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, Hansen won the gold medal with a world record jump of 15.16m. She is also the UK record holder for the outdoor event.
Hansen suffered a serious knee injury during the 2004 European Cup, requiring extensive surgery, however she did finally return to triple jumping and competed at the British Championships where she immediately climbed back to the top of the British rankings, however she decided not to be part of the team for the European Athletics Championships that summer. Ashia has now retired from Athletics after failing to recover from a long line of injuries.
MBE
Hansen was made an MBEOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 2003, in the New Year Honours. She then retired 1 year after, in 2004, but still holds the UK record for the outdoor event.
External links
- BBC
- Women's British Indoor Records at UK AthleticsUK AthleticsUK Athletics is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials....