Personal information | |
---|---|
Birth name | Hollie Beth Arnold [1] |
Born | Holton-le-Clay, Lincolnshire, England | 26 June 1994
Sport | |
Country | Great Britain Wales |
Sport | Para-athletics |
Disability class | F46 |
Event | Javelin |
Club | Blackheath and Bromley AC |
Coached by | Scott Knighton |
Achievements and titles | |
Paralympic finals | 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 |
Highest world ranking | 1st |
Personal best | Javelin 44.73m [2] |
Medal record |
Hollie Beth Arnold, MBE (born 26 June 1994) is a British parasport athlete competing in category F46 javelin. Although born in Grimsby, she now lives and trains in Loughborough. She represents Wales in the Commonwealth Games.
Arnold was the youngest ever field athlete to ever compete in the Paralympics, at the age of 14 at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, under the guidance of Olympic Javelin Thrower Shelley Holroyd, throwing a personal best. She also threw a personal best in 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. She took the gold medal in the F46 javelin in the 2016 Rio Paralympics, also throwing a new world record at the same time. In 2021, at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, she took the bronze medal in the same event.
In 2018, she became the first ever Para Javelin thrower in history to hold all four major titles in the same Paralympic 4-year cycle: Rio Paralympics and world record 2016, London World Championships and world record 2017, Berlin European Championships and course record 2018 and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and world record 2018. In 2019 Arnold lost her World Record to New Zealand F46 Para Javelin Thrower Holly Robinson with the first 45m+ throw in history. She also holds four consecutive world titles: 2013 Lyon, 2015 Doha, 2017 London, and 2019 Dubai. [2]
Arnold was born in Lincolnshire in 1994, growing up in Holton-le-Clay. She was born without her right forearm. [3] When attending a Star Track Athletics course during her Summer holidays she discovered an ability at the javelin. [4] She joined Cleethorpes Athletic Club and began her career under the watchful eye of Olympic Javelin Thrower, Shelley Holroyd. She later moved to Hengoed in Wales to be near her former athletics coach. [3] In 2017, she relocated to train with her present coach at Loughborough University. [4]
In November 2020, Arnold took part in the twentieth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! where she was the first contestant voted off the show. [5]
Arnold is an ambassador for two charities: Caudwell Children and St. Andrews Hospice, in Grimsby where she was born.
Her first disability sports event was at the age of 11, winning seven gold medals across several events. [6] In 2008, at the age of 14, she was selected to represent Great Britain at the Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, finishing 11th in the women's F42–46 javelin. She was the youngest member of the 2008 Great Britain team. [6] The next year she won her first significant medals when she competed in the 2009 IWAS World Junior Championships in Switzerland, winning silver in the F46 discus and bronze in the F46 javelin. [4] 2009 was the last year Arnold competed at championships in discus, concentrating fully on the javelin. [7]
The following year she improved on her javelin medal when she took silver at the 2010 IWAS World Junior Championship and then took gold at the 2011 Championship which was held in Dubai. [4] The year 2011 saw Arnold step up to the senior level representing Britain at the IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand; she finished third in the F46 javelin, taking the bronze medal. [4] In 2012, she took the silver medal at the IPC Championships. [4] Her personal best at F46 javelin was recorded at 35.88m in June 2012 at the Welsh Championships in Cardiff, ranking her as the world number two in her event going into the 2012 Paralympics. [7] Arnold's personal best was increased at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London with a throw of 36.27m. On 22 July 2013, Arnold competed in the IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon. She won gold with a winning throw of 37.45m, furthering her personal best.
In 2014, Arnold was preparing for the buildup to the IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea, hoping to improve on the silver medal she won in Stadskanaal two years prior. With only a few weeks to the event, Arnold was informed that due to a lack of competitors her F46 event had been removed. [8] Her next chance for a major international medal came at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, where she threw a championship record distance of 40.53 to retain her gold medal. [9]
In September 2016, Arnold won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro with a world record throw of 43.01 metres. [10]
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to field athletics. [11]
In April 2018, Arnold won the gold medal with a world record throw of 44.43 metres at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia, where she represented Wales. [12] [13]
In June 2021 she was among the first dozen athletes chosen to represent the UK at the postponed 2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. [14]
Devendra Jhajharia is an Indian Paralympic javelin thrower competing in F46 events. He is the first Indian Paralympics player to win two gold medals at the Paralympics. He won his first gold in the javelin throw at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, becoming the second gold medalist at the Paralympics for his country. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, he won a second gold medal in the same event, bettering his previous record. Devendra is currently being supported by the Olympic Gold Quest. He becomes India's most decorated Paralympic player by winning his third medal, a silver at the 2020 Summer Paralympics at Tokyo. In 2024, he was elected president of the Paralympic Committee of India.
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Mi Na is a Chinese Paralympic athlete who competes in throwing events for F37 classification cerebral palsy athletes.
Madeleine Hogan is a Paralympic athlete from Australia competing mainly in category F42/F46 javelin throw events. She has won bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Paralympics and 2012 Summer Paralympics. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics.
Wu Qing is a Paralympic athlete from China competing in throwing events in the F36 cerebral palsy classification. As of April 2014, Wu holds F36 World Records for shot put, discus and javelin.
Hania Aidi is a Paralympian athlete from Tunisia competing mainly in category F54 javelin throw events. Aidi has competed at four consecutive Summer Paralympics, winning silver medals at three of the Games. She is also a three time World Championships winner medalist and has held the F54 javelin world record on numerous occasions throughout her career.
Ntombizanele Situ, better known as Zanele Situ, was a South African Paralympian athlete competing mainly in category F54 throwing events. Specialising in the javelin throw, Situ was a two-time gold medalist at both the Paralympics and the IPC Athletics World Championships and was the first female South African black athlete to win a Paralympic gold medal.
Carlee Beattie is an Australian Paralympic athletics competitor. A congenital arm amputee, she won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and a gold medal at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in the Women's Long Jump. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Brydee Moore is an Australian athlete with cerebral palsy that competes in the shot put, discus and javelin. She won a silver medal at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics.
Mariia Pomazan is a Ukrainian Paralympic athlete. She competes in throwing events in the F35 classification for athletes with cerebral palsy. As of April 2014, she held the Women's F35 world records for shot put and discus.
The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, from 94 different countries. The event was held in the Stade du Rhône located at the Parc de Parilly in Vénissieux, in Lyon Metropolis.
Birgit Kober is a German Paralympic athlete. She initially competed in F34 seated throwing events, and from 2011 to 2013 she became the reigning champion at European, World and Paralympic level in both shot put and javelin in her class. At the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London, she broke the world record in both her events. Following changes to the IPC rules for seated throws in 2014, she chose to compete in a standing position as an F36 athlete. She won the F36 shot put at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games with a Paralympic record throw. As of April 2017 she is World Record holder in the Women's F36 shot put, a distance of 11.52 m set in July 2016.
Deepa Malik is an Indian para athlete from Haryana. She is the first Indian woman to win a medal in Paralympic Games. She won a silver medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in shot put.
Jayden Sawyer is an Australian para athlete who competes mainly in the F38 category in throwing events. He won has won gold and bronze medals at the World Para Athletics Championships. He competed at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Paralympics.
Svetlana Sergeeva in Kargopol, Arkhangelsk Oblast is a Paralympian athlete from Russia, competing mainly in category T37 throwing and sprint events. She competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China and the 2012 Games in London. At the London Games she won a track gold as part of the sprint relay and has also achieved success as an individual athlete at both World and European events.
Zac Shaw is a British Paralympic visually impaired sprinter who competes in the T12 classification. At the age of nine he became afflicted with stargardt disease. He made his first Great Britain squad for the IPC Athletics World Championships in 2015 . Shaw made the Great Britain squad for the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris after just missing out on both the 2016 Summer Paralympics and 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Holly Irene Robinson is a New Zealand para-athlete, primarily competing in the javelin throw. She represented New Zealand at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics, winning silver in 2016 and gold in 2020. At the 2016 Games, she was New Zealand's flagbearer for the opening ceremony.
Tomasz Rebisz is a Paralympian athlete from Poland competing mainly in F46 classification throwing events. The decision by the International Paralympic Committee to remove his classification form the Paralympic programme between 1998 and 2010 meant Rebisz had a gap of 16 years between winning medals at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.
Sundar Singh Gurjar an Indian Paralympic athlete from Rajasthan. He competes in javelin throw, shot put and discus throw in F46 category events. He won bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in men's javelin F46 event. He qualified to represent India at the 2024 Summer Paralympics at Paris.