Sophie Hitchon

Sophie Hitchon

Personal information
Born	(1991-07-11) 11 July 1991
Height	1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)
Sport
Country	United Kingdom
Sport	Athletics
Event(s)	Hammer throw
Medal record Competitor for  Great Britain European U23 Championships Gold 2013 Tampere Hammer Bronze 2011 Ostrava Hammer World Junior Championships Gold 2010 Moncton Hammer European Junior Championships Bronze 2009 Novi Sad Hammer Competitor for  England Commonwealth Youth Games Gold 2008 Pune Hammer
Updated on 14 August 2012.

Sophie Hitchon (born 11 July 1991) is a British hammer thrower. She is a former World Junior Champion, and the current senior British record holder with a throw of 72.97 metres in the 2013 European Team Championships in Gateshead.

Representing Team GB at London 2012 Hitchon has also represented England in the hammer throw at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, winning gold.

Early life

Hitchon was born in Burnley, Lancashire, and attended Ivy Bank Business and Enterprise College.^[1]

Achievements

In April 2007, Hitchon set a new UK Under 17 Women’s record with a throw of 49.61m at the Kingston-upon-Hull AC Open meeting.^[2] The previous record was 48.94m achieved by Frances Miller of Elgin Harriers at the 2001 IAAF World Youth Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.

In March 2008, at the age of 16, Hitchon set a new junior record with a throw of 59.74m at the UK Throws event in Birmingham, followed by a 59.49m throw at the Blackpool Open Meeting the same weekend.^[3]

In July 2009, Hitchon won bronze in the hammer at the European Junior Championships. In doing so she also improved her own national junior record to 63.18m and took Britain’s first ever European Junior medal in the women’s hammer.^[4]

A year later, Hitchon was captain of the UK women's team at the IAAF World Junior Championships (Moncton, Canada, 19–25 July), as well as remaining the UK junior hammer record holder.^[5]

In July 2011, Hitchon represented the UK in the European Under-23 Championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic (14–17 July),^[6] taking the bronze medal.

Competition record

Representing  Great Britain
2007	World Youth Championships	Ostrava, Czech Republic	9th q	[7]
2008	World Junior Championships	Bydgoszcz, Poland	7th	[8]
2009	European Junior Championships	Novi Sad, Serbia	3rd	[9]
2010	World Junior Championships	Moncton, Canada	1st	[10]
2011	European U23 Championships	Ostrava, Czech Republic	3rd	[11]
	World Athletics Championships	Daegu, South Korea	13th q	[12]
2012	Olympic Games	London, England	12th	[13]
2013	European Team Championships	Gateshead, England	3rd	New British Record[14]
Representing  England
2008	Commonwealth Youth Games	Pune, India	1st	[15]

• q = in qualifying

References