Nicola Sanders
Encyclopedia
Nicola Clare Sanders is a British
sprinter
and hurdler
.
in the 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships
in Riga
at 400 m hurdles. That same year she was 4th in the 400 m hurdles at the World Youth Championships
. In 2000 she was 5th in the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics
, but won gold
in the Commonwealth Youth Championships.
) at the World Student Games.
In the 2005 Helsinki World Championships
Sanders reached the semi finals. Together with Lee McConnell
, Donna Fraser
and Christine Ohuruogu
she won a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay.
She was 4th in the Commonwealth Games of 2006
in the 400 m hurdles and won the 4 x 400 m relay (but were subsequently disqualified).
Since then she has focused on 400 m
(due to injury issues) and rarely participates in hurdles races.
Nicola Sanders finished 6th in the 400 m final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg
.
, with a personal best and national record of 50.02 seconds. This was the 5th fastest indoor 400 m time in history. She also won a bronze in the 4 x 400 m relay.
In 2007 she had suffered knee and achilles problems but on the 27th August 2007 Nicola broke 50 seconds for the first time in her career recording 49.77 seconds in the semi final of the 400 m at the World Athletics Championships
in Osaka
, Japan
to move to #3 on the British all time list. She then went on to finish 2nd in the final, behind fellow Briton, Christine Ohuruogu
. Sanders set another personal best of 49.65, which puts her as the fourth fastest British athlete over 400 m, after Kathy Cook
, Katharine Merry
and Ohuruogu, who also set a personal best in the World Championship final.
During the final day of the championships on September 2, Sanders anchored the British 4 x 400 m team to a bronze medal. In so doing she became the first female UK runner to break 49 seconds for a 400 metre relay leg, with a time of 48.76 seconds, beating Sally Gunnell
's previous record of 49.46 seconds.
Sanders went out of the 400 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics
in the third semi-final in a time of 50.71 seconds. With a tough lane draw, lane 9, and lacking the fitness that comes from an injury free run in to the season, Michael Johnson
added, 'she's got a little bit more 800 metre look to me this year than she did last year, there's just not the power, the arm drive that we saw in 2007.'
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...
sprinter
Sprint (race)
Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...
and hurdler
Hurdling
Hurdling is a type of track and field race.- Distances :There are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women...
.
Early achievements
Nicola won a bronze medalBronze medal
A bronze medal is a medal awarded to the third place finisher of contests such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The practice of awarding bronze third place medals began at the 1904 Olympic Games in St...
in the 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships
1999 European Athletics Junior Championships
The 1999 European Athletics Junior Championships is the 1999 version of the European Athletics Junior Championships. It was held in Riga, Latvia.-Men's results:-Women's results:- Medal table :-References:* - GBR Athletics* - GBR Athletics...
in Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
at 400 m hurdles. That same year she was 4th in the 400 m hurdles at the World Youth Championships
World Youth Championships
The World Youth Championships can refer to:* IAAF World Youth Championships in Athletics* FIFA World Youth Championship, now known as the FIFA U-20 World Cup* World Youth Chess Championship - An annual youth chess competition....
. In 2000 she was 5th in the 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics
2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics
The 2000 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2000 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held in Santiago, Chile.-Men:-Women:-Medals table:...
, but won gold
Gold medal
A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...
in the Commonwealth Youth Championships.
2005 to 2006
In 2005 she finished 6th (4th 4 x 400 metres relay4 x 400 metres relay
The 4 x 400 meters relay or long relay is an athletics track event in which teams comprise four runners who each complete 400 meters or one lap. It is traditionally the final event of a track meet. At top class events, the first 500 meters is run in lanes...
) at the World Student Games.
In the 2005 Helsinki World Championships
2005 World Championships in Athletics
The 10th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held in the Olympic Stadium, Helsinki, Finland , the site of the first IAAF World Championships in 1983. One theme of the 2005 championships was paralympic sports, some of...
Sanders reached the semi finals. Together with Lee McConnell
Lee McConnell
Lee McConnell is a Scottish athlete, who competes in the 400 metres. She attended Holyrood R.C. Secondary School in Glasgow before graduating from Loughborough University in 2000 with a degree in Sports Science. She became the Scottish 200 metres champion in 2002, and 2005. She also won the 400...
, Donna Fraser
Donna Fraser
Donna Karen Fraser in Thornton Heath, Croydon is an English athlete who mainly competed in the 200 and 400 metres.-Career:...
and Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu MBE is an English athlete, who specialises in the 400 metres; the event for which she is the current Olympic and former World and Commonwealth Champion...
she won a bronze medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay.
She was 4th in the Commonwealth Games of 2006
2006 Commonwealth Games
The 2006 Commonwealth Games were held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia between 15 March and 26 March 2006. It was the largest sporting event to be staged in Melbourne, eclipsing the 1956 Summer Olympics in terms of the number of teams competing, athletes competing, and events being held.The site...
in the 400 m hurdles and won the 4 x 400 m relay (but were subsequently disqualified).
Since then she has focused on 400 m
400 metres
The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...
(due to injury issues) and rarely participates in hurdles races.
Nicola Sanders finished 6th in the 400 m final at the 2006 European Athletics Championships in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
.
2007 to 2008
In 2007, she took gold in the 400 m competition in the 2007 European Athletics Indoor Championships in BirminghamBirmingham
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...
, with a personal best and national record of 50.02 seconds. This was the 5th fastest indoor 400 m time in history. She also won a bronze in the 4 x 400 m relay.
In 2007 she had suffered knee and achilles problems but on the 27th August 2007 Nicola broke 50 seconds for the first time in her career recording 49.77 seconds in the semi final of the 400 m at the World Athletics Championships
2007 World Championships in Athletics
The 11th World Championships in Athletics, under the auspices of the International Association of Athletics Federations , were held at Nagai Stadium in Osaka, Japan from 24 August to 2 September 2007...
in Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
to move to #3 on the British all time list. She then went on to finish 2nd in the final, behind fellow Briton, Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu MBE is an English athlete, who specialises in the 400 metres; the event for which she is the current Olympic and former World and Commonwealth Champion...
. Sanders set another personal best of 49.65, which puts her as the fourth fastest British athlete over 400 m, after Kathy Cook
Kathy Cook
Kathryn Jane Cook is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history....
, 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...
and Ohuruogu, who also set a personal best in the World Championship final.
During the final day of the championships on September 2, Sanders anchored the British 4 x 400 m team to a bronze medal. In so doing she became the first female UK runner to break 49 seconds for a 400 metre relay leg, with a time of 48.76 seconds, beating Sally Gunnell
Sally Gunnell
Sally Jane Janet Gunnell OBE is a former British Olympic champion in the 400 m hurdles...
's previous record of 49.46 seconds.
Sanders went out of the 400 m at the 2008 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was a major international multi-sport event that took place in Beijing, China, from August 8 to August 24, 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees competed in 28 sports and 302 events...
in the third semi-final in a time of 50.71 seconds. With a tough lane draw, lane 9, and lacking the fitness that comes from an injury free run in to the season, Michael Johnson
Michael Johnson (athlete)
Michael Duane Johnson is a retired American sprinter. He won four Olympic gold medals and eight world championship gold medals. Johnson currently holds the world and Olympic records in the 400 m and 4 x 400 meters relay. He formerly held the world and Olympic record in the 200 m, and the world...
added, 'she's got a little bit more 800 metre look to me this year than she did last year, there's just not the power, the arm drive that we saw in 2007.'
Personal bests
- 400 metres400 metresThe 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...
- 50.02 (2007 BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham 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...
, EnglandEnglandEngland 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...
) Indoors, 49.65 (2007 OsakaOsakais a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
, JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
) Outdoors - 400 metres hurdlesHurdlingHurdling is a type of track and field race.- Distances :There are sprint hurdle races and long hurdle races. The standard sprint hurdle race is 110 meters for men and 100 meters for women. The standard long hurdle race is 400 meters for both men and women...
- 55.32 (2006)
External links
- http://video.aol.co.uk/video-detail/crystal-palace-grand-prix-nicola-sanders/919419950 Nicola Sanders interview