Kathy Tayler | |
---|---|
Born | Katherine Mary Tayler 23 March 1960 |
Occupation | Broadcaster |
Years active | 1983–present |
Spouse(s) | Allen Olley, m. 5 September 1987 |
Children | 1 daughter, 2 sons |
Website | blogs |
Kathy Tayler (born 23 March 1960) is a British television presenter and former champion modern pentathlete. She is best known for co-presenting TV-am between 1989 and 1992, and Holiday on BBC One, alongside Des Lynam and the late Anne Gregg.
Tayler won the women's modern pentathlon World Cup in 1979 at the age of 19. [1] She was a member of the Great Britain modern pentathlon team that won gold at the Modern Pentathlon World Championships in 1981 and 1982. She also won a bronze medal in the individual competition at the same event in 1982. [2] [3] She retired from competition in 1983 and she gained a BSc Honours degree in physiology at Southampton University.
After appearing as a contestant on the TV sports quiz A Question of Sport she was offered and accepted the job of presenter on a sport-themed television programme for children called Stopwatch.
Tayler joined TV-am in 1989 as co-presenter of Good Morning Britain with Mike Morris and Richard Keys. When Jayne Irving stopped presenting the After Nine programme, in the screening slot immediately after Good Morning Britain, Tayler took her place and remained a regular presenter until the programme ended in December 1992.
She presented and reported on BBC's Holiday for 12 years, initially specialising in physically demanding outdoor assignments. After the birth of her first child in 1991, her emphasis changed to family and long haul holidays.
After taking a career break to raise her family she returned to TV as a presenter on shopping channel QVC.
Tayler married photographer Alan Olley in September 1987. The couple have three children. [4]
Anne Margaret Diamond is a British journalist, broadcaster, and children's health campaigner. She presently hosts the weekend breakfast show on GB News with Stephen Dixon as her co-presenter. She hosted Good Morning Britain for TV-am and Good Morning with Anne and Nick for BBC One, with Nick Owen. In 2023, she was made an OBE for her service to children's health and is the first non-medic to hold the Royal College of Paediatrics College Medal.
Fatima Whitbread, is a British retired javelin thrower. She broke the world record with a throw of 77.44 m in the qualifying round of the 1986 European Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, and became the first British athlete to set a world record in a throwing event. Whitbread went on to win the European title that year, and took the gold medal at the 1987 World Championships. She is also a two-time Olympic medallist, winning bronze at the 1984 Summer Olympics and silver at the 1988 Summer Olympics. She won the same medals, respectively, in the Commonwealth Games of 1982 and 1986.
Kathryn Jane Cook is a former elite athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze medallist, including at 400 metres in Los Angeles 1984. Her other individual achievements include winning the 200m at the 1981 Universiade, finishing second in the 100m at the 1981 World Cup, and winning a bronze medal in the 200m at the 1983 World Championships. She is also three-times a winner of the British Athletics Writers' Association Female Athlete of the Year Award (1980–82).
Sally Jones is a British journalist, television news and sports presenter. She is three-times a world champion at real tennis; once in the singles and twice in the doubles.
Beverley Lanita Callender is an English former track and field sprinter. She competed for Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984, winning bronze medals in the 4 x 100 metres relay in 1980 and 1984. She is also the 1981 World Student Games 100 metres champion.
Victoria Anatoliïvna Tereshchuk is a female former modern pentathlete from Ukraine. A competitor since 1999 she was awarded a bronze medal in the women's modern pentathlon event at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing but was subsequently stripped of the medal after a doping re-test. She was World Champion in the individual and mixed relay events in 2011. For her World Championship victories, she was named Ukrainian Sportswoman of the Year and received the Order of Princess Olga in the Second Class. She is also the 2008 European Champion and competed at the 2004 and 2012 Olympic modern pentathlon tournaments, where she finished seventh and twenty-third respectively.
Heather Fell is a former British modern pentathlete turned triathlete. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics, winning the silver medal in the women's modern pentathlon event.
Katherine Fiona “Kate” Allenby MBE is a British modern pentathlete who competed in two Summer Olympics, taking the bronze medal at the 2000 Games and placing in 8th place in 2004. She has won medals at four World Championships, and after retiring from sport, she became a physical education teacher in Bath, England.
The Modern Pentathlon Association Great Britain is the national governing body for the sport of modern pentathlon in Great Britain, recognised by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne. Modern Pentathlon, the sport Baron Pierre de Coubertin called ‘the veritable consecration of the complete athlete’ comprises five events: fencing, swimming, riding, shooting and running. Today's competition involves fencing épée for a single hit against each of the other competitors; swimming 200 metres freestyle; riding an unknown horse round a show-jumping course, and then running four 800 metre laps each preceded by shooting at five targets with a laser pistol. First appearing in the Olympic Games of 1912 at the specific request of de Coubertin, founder of the Modern Olympic Games, the same five sports have comprised this greatest of all Olympic challenges and the sport completed one hundred years of unbroken Olympic participation in 2012. Despite technological changes the five events have remained essentially the same. In Stockholm in 1912, competitors brought their own horses, fenced outdoors without electric equipment, used military pistols and swam and ran outdoors. The Stockholm event took six days to complete while the super-athletes of today finish in a single day; in 1912 only men competed while today women share equal billing; the 1912 competitors were nearly all military men while today civilians generally dominate the sport. The recent changes in the sport which combine shooting and running in a single event and make use of laser pistols are some of the exciting new developments that put Modern Pentathlon at the forefront of 21st century sporting advances. Even after one hundred years of Olympic competition, Modern Pentathlon's ability to move with the times has made it the true test of the all-round Olympic super athlete.
Samantha Murray is an English modern pentathlete. She won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, and the bronze medal at the 2012 World Championships. In 2014, she won individual gold and team silver medals at the 2014 World Championships. In 2015, Murray reached world number #1 in the Modern Pentathlon World Rankings after taking Gold at the USA World Cup followed by a 5th place at the Berlin World Championships. Murray finished in 8th Place at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
Annika Schleu is a German modern pentathlete. She won the gold medal of the relay event at the 2012 World Championships and 2017 World Championships. She has competed in three Olympic Games, finishing in 26th place in 2012 and in 4th place in 2016.
Mhairi Spence is a British modern pentathlete. She has won a series of medals at European and World Championships, but was not selected for the 2008 Summer Olympics by the British team due to the limited number of places available. After considering retiring in 2009, she returned to the sport and in 2012 she won gold medals in both the individual and the team events at the 2012 World Championships, and qualified to be chosen for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Anastasiya Prokopenko, nee Samusevich is a Belarusian modern pentathlete who competed at three Summer Olympics.
Leila Gyenesei is a Hungarian modern pentathlete and cross-country skier. She is a five-time medalist at the World Championships, and is currently ranked no. 19 in the world by the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM). She is also the daughter of István Gyenesei, former Minister of Local Government and chairman of the Association for Somogy party.
Joseph Choong is a British modern pentathlete. He won the gold medal in the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the World title in 2022 and 2023.
Katherine Elizabeth French is a British modern pentathlete who won the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Joanna Muir is a British modern pentathlete, who was part of the British squad that won the team event at the 2019 European Modern Pentathlon Championships, and came second in the women's relay event at the 2016 World Modern Pentathlon Championships. She came second at the opening event of the 2021 Modern Pentathlon World Cup. Muir competed in the modern pentathlon event at the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics.
Olivia Green is a British modern pentathlete. She won an individual bronze medal at the 2023 European Games and was part of the gold medal winning women's team at the 2022 World Modern Pentathlon Championships. Green was also individual European Under-24 champion in 2021.
Kerenza Bryson is a British modern pentathlete. She won a bronze medal in the women's individual event at the 2023 World Modern Pentathlon Championships and silver in the team competition. She has been selected to represent Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Blanka Guzi is a Hungarian modern pentathlete.