| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 May 1993 |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Great Britain |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event | 20km race walk |
| Club | Oxford City Athletic Club [1] |
| Coached by | Mark Wall |
Gemma Bridge (born 17 May 1993) is an English athlete specialising in the racewalking events. [2] [3]
Born in Oxford, she studied biology at the University of Birmingham and ran cross country for the varsity team. Gemma completed her master's degree in the United States at McNeese State University where she also ran for the university. Gemma was recently awarded her doctorate from Leeds Beckett University. Gemma now works as a Research Evidence Impact Officer at Leeds Beckett University. Alongside this role, Gemma works as a marketing associate for HIIT Science, is the Leeds Area Activator for Good Gym and is a volunteer writer for Leeds Living, Leeds College of Technology and Yorkshire Art.[ citation needed ]
She became British champion for the second time when winning the 5000 metres race walk event at the 2020 British Athletics Championships with a time of 22 min 51.15 sec. [4] She also won the 20 km Race Walking Association Championships in Leeds, which doubled as the British Championships, with a time of 1 hour 32 mins. [5] She finished fifth in the women's 20 kilometres walk at the 2018 Commonwealth Games [6] and has represented her country at the World Championships in Athletics and IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships. Gemma currently trains in Leeds at Leeds Beckett University.
The World Athletics Championships, known as the IAAF World Championships in Athletics until 2019, are a biennial athletics competition organized by World Athletics, formerly International Association of Athletics Federations. Alongside Olympic Games, the championship represents the highest level of senior international outdoor athletics competition for track and field athletics globally, including marathon running and race walking. Separate World Championships are held by World Athletics for certain other outdoor events, including cross-country running and half-marathon, as well as indoor and age-group championship.
Race walking, or racewalking, is a long-distance discipline within the sport of athletics. Although a foot race, it is different from running in that one foot must appear to be in contact with the ground at all times. Race judges carefully assess that this is maintained throughout the race. Typically held on either roads or running tracks, common distances range from 3,000 metres (1.9 mi) up to 100 kilometres (62.1 mi).
Gemma Mary Spofforth is an English former competition swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games. Spofforth is the former world record-holder and former world champion in the 100-metre backstroke, and won a total of eight medals in major international championships.
The ninth edition of the European Race Walking Cup was held on the roads of Olhão, Portugal on 21 May 2011. The event was jointly organised by the Federação Portuguesa de Atletismo and the European Athletics Association. A total of 222 athletes from 26 countries participated in the competition.
Gemma Steel is a British long-distance runner who competes in road running and cross country running competitions. She was the 2014 gold medallist at the European Cross Country Championships. She has represented Great Britain internationally in cross country, road and track events. She has won at three of the Great Run series events: the Great Ireland Run, Great Birmingham Run and Great Yorkshire Run. She has also won the Bristol Half Marathon and placed seventh at the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.
Annette Sergent is a French former long-distance runner. She represented her country three times at the Summer Olympics, but it was in cross country running that she had her greatest success. She became the first Frenchwoman to win a world title in the sport at the 1987 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and won for a second time in 1989. In addition to these victories, she made eleven appearances at the competition and placed third in both 1986 and 1988.
Julia Bleasdale is a British-born long-distance runner, currently representing Germany internationally, who competes in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres. She represented Great Britain at both distances in the London Olympics, placing eighth in both finals with a personal best time of 30:55.63 in the longer distance.
The 2013 European Cross Country Championships was the 20th edition of the cross country running competition for European athletes which was held in Belgrade, Serbia, on 8 December 2013. The senior individual winners were Alemayehu Bezabeh of Spain and Sophie Duarte of France. A record 571 runners from 37 nations entered the competition, making it Serbia's largest international athletics event in over forty years.
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Marion Fawkes is a British former racewalker. She was the first official female world champion in racewalking, through her victory at the 1979 IAAF World Race Walking Cup. She broke four world records in her career.
Siv Gustavsson[nb] is a Swedish former racewalking athlete. She was the gold medallist at the 1981 IAAF World Race Walking Cup, making her the second ever female world champion in the sport.
Gabriela Kimberly García León is a female racewalker from Peru. She won gold medals in the 20 kilometres walk and 35 km walk at the 2022 World Athletics Championships, becoming the first ever Peruvian world medallist and the first Latin American to earn two titles at the same World Athletics Championships. García is the South American record holder for the longer event.
Carol Tyson was a British racewalking athlete. She was a three-time competitor at the IAAF World Race Walking Cup and was twice a silver medallist.
Ann Jansson is a Swedish former racewalking athlete.
María Reyes Sobrino Jiménez is a Spanish former racewalking athlete who competed mainly in the 3000 metres race walk and 10 kilometres race walk. Her greatest achievement was a gold medal at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 1988. She was a five-time participant at the IAAF World Racewalking Cup and twice a World Championships in Athletics competitor.
Jemima Montag is an Australian Olympic racewalker. She won the silver medal in the 2023 World Athletics Championships, won bronze medals in the 20 km walk and the Marathon walk relay in the Paris 2024 Olympics, and is a two-time Commonwealth Games champion.
Bethan Davies is a British racewalker who competes in the 20 kilometres walk event. She was the bronze medallist at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and has represented her country at the World Championships in Athletics and IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships. She holds the indoor British record in the 3000 metres walk and the Commonwealth record for the indoor 5000 metres walk.
Taylor Ewert is an American long-distance runner and college track and field athlete for the University of Arkansas and Michigan State University. In high school, she set numerous records and was the cross country OHSAA Division I individual state champion in 2019, representing Beavercreek High School. Ewert committed to the University of Arkansas later that year, and in 2020, she was named the Gatorade National Girls Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
Amarachi "Ama" Pipi is a British track and field athlete who specializes in sprinting. In 2020, Pipi became the British indoor champion in the 200-meter race. She competed in the women's 400 metres event at the 2021 European Athletics Indoor Championships.
Athletics at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris were held between 1 and 11 August 2024, featuring a total of 48 medal events across three distinct sets: track and field, road running, and racewalking. Four venues were used: Pont d'Iéna for race walking, Hôtel de Ville and Les Invalides for the start and end points of the marathon races, and Stade de France for the track and field events.
