Stephanie Twell

Stephanie Twell
Personal information
Born (1989-08-17) 17 August 1989
Colchester, Essex, UK
Height 1.69 m (5 ft 6 1⁄2 in)
Weight 53.5 kg (118 lb; 8.42 st)
Sport
Country  Great Britain
 Scotland
Club Aldershot, Farnham & District AC
Coached by Mick Woods 2000-
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals 2008, 1500 m, 6th in heat
Personal best(s)

400m: 58.19 800m: 2:02.59 1500m: 4:02.54 3000m: 8:42.75

5000m: 14:54.08
Medal record
Women's athletics
Commonwealth Games
2010 Delhi 1500 m
World Junior Championships
2008 Bydgoszcz 1500 m
European Cross Country Championships
2014 Samatov Senior team
Updated on 10 October 2010.

Stephanie April "Steph" Twell (born 17 August 1989) is a British middle- and long-distance runner who competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. She won the 1500 metres at the 2008 World Junior Championships,[1] and is a three-time winner of the European Junior Cross Country Championships (2006–2008), as well as being part of four winning Great Britain teams. Representing Scotland, she won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

Twell is currently sponsored by sports company New Balance and is coached by one of the nation's leading endurance coaches, Mick Woods.

Personal life

Twell was born in Colchester, England. Born and raised in England, Twell announced in 2009 that she would compete for Scotland rather than England, and represented Scotland at the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games. She is eligible to compete for Scotland as her mother is from Paisley.

Career

Twell's personal best time for the 1500 metres is 4:02.70, set in Barcelona, Spain on 1 August 2010. She competed in the women's 1500 metres at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was eliminated in her heats running 4:06.68.[2]

In September 2008, Twell was named European Athletics Rising Star of 2008.[3] In January 2009 she was named "Telegraph Ten for 2012" – 10 of Britain's brightest young sports stars in The Daily Telegraph.[4][5]

She began the 2009 cross country season well, winning at the Antrim International Cross Country.[6] A few months later, Twell finished 38th in the 2009 World Cross Country Championships in Jordan. Although she was the fastest Briton in the race, she was disappointed with her performance and stated that she resolved to do better in the next championships.[7]

She set a new personal best in the 5000 metres in May 2009, winning the Artur Takac Memorial in 15:18.47 – a meeting record.[8]

She had a disappointing run at the 2009 European Team Championships over 3000 m, finishing in fourth in a time well outside her PB. At the 2009 World Championships she was never in contention in her heat at 1500 m and then when one of the favourites she was only 11th in the European Cross Country Championships (under 23 race).

Her 2010 was marked by improvements in her personal bests on the track. She set a 1500 metres best at the Weltklasse Zurich Diamond League meeting, finishing third and ahead of Lisa Dobriskey with a time of 4:02.54.[9] Stepping up to the 5000 m at the Memorial van Damme in Brussels, she smashed her previous best by 22 seconds to set a new Scottish record of 14.54.08, breaking Yvonne Murray's 15-year-old mark.[10] She ran at the Women's 5K Challenge in London in August 2010 and took third place behind Sylvia Kibet and Linet Masai. Reflecting on the race, she said: "To run 15:32 is great for me and third was just what I aimed for."[11] Twell suffered a fractured ankle competing in a cross-country race in Belgium in February 2011.[12] A further foot injury in June 2012 ended her hopes of competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[13]

Competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Great Britain /  Scotland
2006 World Junior Championships Beijing, China 8th 1500 m 4:16.58
European Junior Cross Country Championships San Giorgio su Legnano, Italy 1st 4.1 km 12:33
2007 European Junior Cross Country Championships Toro, Spain 1st 4.2 km 14:12
2008 World Junior Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 1st 1500 m 4:15.09
Olympic Games Beijing, China heats 1500 m 4:06.68
European Junior Cross Country Championships Brussels, Belgium 1st 4.2 km 13:28
2010 Commonwealth Games Delhi, India 3rd 1500 m 4:06.19
4th 5000 m 16:03.91
2015 World Championships Beijing, China 12th 5000 m 15:26.24

Personal bests

Event Time Venue Date
400 metres 58.19 Bedford, England 6 June 2006
800 metres 2:02.59 Watford, England 12 June 2010
1500 metres 4:02.54 Zurich, Switzerland 19 August 2010
One mile 4:28.16 Brussels, Belgium 14 September 2007
3000 metres 8:42.75[14] Watford, England 8 September 2010
5000 metres 14:54.08 Brussels, Belgium 27 August 2010

References

  1. ↑ Twell wins to boost Beijing hopes. BBC Sport. 13 July 2008.
  2. ↑ 'Staff and agencies' (19 July 2008). "Beijing Olympics: Twell crowns final Olympic track and field additions". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  3. ↑ Stephanie Twell is the female Waterford Crystal European Athletics Rising Star 2008 – European Athletics
  4. ↑ Simon Hart (6 January 2009). "London 2012 Olympics: Britain's young and gifted going for gold medals". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  5. ↑ 'Telegraph staff' (4 January 2009). "Debut senior win for Stephanie Twell". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  6. ↑ Landells, Steve (2 January 2009). Twell and Kiprop top the fields in Antrim – Antrim International Cross Country preview. IAAF. Retrieved on 26 January 2010.
  7. ↑ Kiplagat powers to world triumph. BBC Sport (28 March 2009). Retrieved on 30 March 2009.
  8. ↑ Ramsak, Bob (30 May 2009). Three meeting records fall in Belgrade. IAAF. Retrieved on 31 May 2009.
  9. ↑ Mills, Steven (19 August 2010). Twell sets 1500m PB. Athletics Weekly. Retrieved on 5 September 2010.
  10. ↑ Steph Twell smashes Yvonne Murray's Scottish record. BBC Sport (28 August 2010). Retrieved on 5 September 2010.
  11. ↑ Brown, Matthew (5 September 2010). Masai wins 5k Challenge in London. IAAF. Retrieved on 5 September 2010.
  12. ↑ Steph Twell suffers ankle fracture. BBC Sport (13 February 2011). Retrieved on 18 March 2011.
  13. ↑ Inspired: British captain Dai Greene will use the plight of injured runner Steph Twell as motivation at Games – Daily Telegraph, 30 July 2012
  14. ↑ "3000 m Women". Power of 10. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  15. ↑ Biographies: Twell, Stephanie. IAAF. Retrieved on 31 August 2010.

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