Emily Pidgeon born 1 June 1989 in Cheltenham, to parents Stephen and Jessica, is a former UK athlete, specialising in long and middle distance events. [1]
Considered an athletics prodigy as a junior, she is a former 5000 metres European Junior Champion (2005). She was bronze medallist in the 2007 European Junior Championships in Hengelo. In December 2006, Pidgeon, the 2005 silver-medalist at the European JuniCross Country Championships, was in the victorious junior female team at the European Cross Country Championships. She finished fourth individually behind fellow Briton, Stephanie Twell. Pidgeon held the world record for 5000 meters for 14-year-old girls with a time of 16:24.28. It was broken in 2023 by Sophia Rodriguez of the United States of America with a time of 16:22.30.
At the World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa on 24 March 2007, Pidgeon finished 17th; the second British runner and the second European. [2] The Great Britain & NI team finished 5th; the top European team.
Pidgeon and her coach controversially withdrew from a number of events because of disagreements with UK Athletics over training [3]
Having failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and dogged by injury and form issues since leaving the junior ranks, Pidgeon announced her retirement from the sport, at the age of 24, in January 2014.
Saif Saaeed Shaheen, formerly Stephen Cherono, is a steeplechase runner. He was born in Keiyo, Kenya but now he represents Qatar. He was, for 19 years, the world record holder for 3000 metre steeplechase. He is a two time World Champion in the event. His older brother Abraham Cherono is also a steeplechase runner.
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Jéssica de Barros Augusto, ComM is a Portuguese runner who competes in cross country, road running and in middle-distance and long-distance track events. At club level, she represents Sporting CP.
Ancuța Bobocel is a Romanian middle-distance runner who specializes in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented Romania at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics and is a three-time participant at the World Championships in Athletics. In 2009, she won the European U23 and Jeux de la Francophonie steeplechase titles, as well as a silver at the Summer Universiade.
Sara Isabel Fonseca MoreiraComM is a Portuguese runner who competes in cross country, road running and in middle-distance and long-distance track events. She represents Sporting CP at club level.
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Hamid Ezzine is a Moroccan long-distance runner who specialized in the 3000 metres steeplechase. He is a younger brother of the Olympic runner Ali Ezzine. He finished twelfth in the 5000 metres at the 2002 World Junior Championships, but then turned to the steeplechase. He finished fourth at the 2004 African Championships, won the gold medal at the 2005 Jeux de la Francophonie, finished fifth at the 2006 African Championships and eleventh at the 2007 World Athletics Final. Ezzine also competed at the 2005 World Championships, the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympic Games without reaching the final.
Habiba Ghribi is a Tunisian middle- and long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, giving her country its first Olympic medal by a woman. She is also the Tunisian record holder in the event, having run 9:05.36 at the Memorial van Damme in Brussels in September 2015.
Katarzyna Kowalska is a Polish long-distance runner who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She represented Poland at the 2008 Olympic Games and 2012 Olympic Games and reached the final of the 2009 World Championships in Athletics. She also competed at the 2006 European Athletics Championships and the 2007, 2009, and 2013 World Championships.
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