Kate Staples

Last updated

Kate Staples
MBE
Personal information
Birth nameKatharine Joanna Staples
NationalityBritish (English)
Born (1965-11-02) 2 November 1965 (age 59)
Westminster, London, England
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event Pole Vault
Club Essex Ladies AC

Katharine Joanna Staples (born 2 November 1965) is a British female former pole vaulter. [1] In 1992, she became the first British woman to vault over three metres. [2]

Contents

Biography

Born in Westminster, London, [3] Staples went on to win the 1993 UK Championships, the AAA Championships three times (1993, [4] 1994, 1996), [5] [6] and the AAA Indoor Championships three times (1994, 1995, 1996), and broke the British record more than 25 times, peaking at 3.90 metres on 26 May 1996 (she cleared an unofficial 3.90 m in June 1995).

She is also known for her role as Zodiac in the ITV series Gladiators , from 1993 to 1996. [7] She had a daughter, Gabriella, with fellow Gladiators performer Mark Griffin.

She later married Chris Sheasby, an England rugby union international, and the couple had two children, but separated in 2011 and divorced in 2016. [8]

In 2025, Staples was awarded an MBE for "services to the promotion of Sport and Fitness". [9]

International competitions

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
1996 European Indoor Championships Stockholm, Sweden11th3.85 m

References

  1. ↑ Katherine Staples. Track and Field Statistics. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  2. ↑ "Staples vauulting under the sign of Zodiac". the Independent. 25 January 1995. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  3. ↑ Zodiac (Kate Staples). Gladiators TV. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  4. ↑ "Panasonic AAA Championships" . Sports Argus. 17 July 1993. Retrieved 31 March 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  6. ↑ "AAA Championships (women)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 31 March 2025.
  7. ↑ "Zodiac". Gladiators. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  8. ↑ Pocklington, Rebecca (20 January 2016). "Gladiators star Zodiac divorces former rugby player husband Chris Sheasby". mirror. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
  9. ↑ "The King's Birthday Honours List 2025". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
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