Shelley Holroyd

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Shelley Holroyd
OLY
Shelley Holroyd throwing.jpg
Personal information
Full nameShelley Holroyd OLY [1]
NationalityBritish (English)
Born (1973-05-17) 17 May 1973 (age 52)
Salford, England
Height178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
Sport Athletics
Event(s)
Javelin
Club Essex Ladies Athletic Club
Sale Harriers
Turned pro1993
Coached byWilliam Nicholls (1986–1993),
Fatima Whitbread (1993–1995)
Retired2006 due to injury
Achievements and titles
Olympic finals 23rd
World finals16th 1993 World Championships
Regional finals1st
National finals1st
Highest world ranking4th
Personal best(s)Official Javelin: 60.12 m
(unofficial 65.40 & Standing throw 52 m)

Shelley Holroyd (born 17 May 1973) is a British Olympic javelin thrower. [2]

Contents

Athletics career

Holroyd was the sixth British javelin thrower to throw over 60 metres (1993) and the first thrower to reach an Olympic Games since Tessa Sanderson. At the age of 23 she had already competed in every major championship. She started throwing at the age of 12 and at 13 threw 37m58cm with the 600g javelin to win the English Schools Championships. At the age of 16 Holroyd threw 52m50 and became a senior international athlete. In 1992 she broke the English Schools record with 56m50 and it is still the longest throw in the history of the English Schools female javelin. Later that year Holroyd was picked for the GB Junior team and subsequently came fourth at the World Junior Championships (1992) and was ranked Britain's number one thrower. In 1993 Holroyd threw 60m10cm to win the World Championship Trials and qualified for the World Championships, Stuttgart.

Noted sponsors as a junior were Reebok, British Gas & Apollo Javelins

In March 1995 Holroyd was involved in a car accident that was deemed to be the end of her throwing career but she overcame her injuries to start training in July the same year. In December she was involved in a freak training accident and broke her right elbow. Once again the injury threatened her career. February 1996 saw Holroyd come back from her injury and in July 1996 she qualified for the 1996 Great Britain Olympic team.

At the 1997 World Championships in Athens Holroyd became ill during the competition after having an allergic reaction to an injection and had to pull out. It was another year plagued with injuries. She represented England in the javelin, at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. [3] [4] Eight years later she competed in the javelin again at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. [5]

After a 17-year spell as an international athlete Holroyd retired in 2006 due to injury and moved into coaching.

Achievements

YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain and Flag of England.svg  England
1992 World Junior Championships Seoul, South Korea 4th 57.08 m
1993 World Championships Stuttgart, Germany 16th57.66 m
1994 European Championships Helsinki, Finland 21st 51.26 m
1996 Olympic Games Atlanta, Georgia, USA27th54.72 m

Domestic championships

References

  1. ↑ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Olympic Profile". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020.
  3. ↑ "1998 Athletes". Team England.
  4. ↑ "England team in 1998". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation.
  6. ↑ "Panasonic AAA Championships" . Sports Argus. 17 July 1993. Retrieved 31 March 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. ↑ "Classy Crampton hits the jackpot" . Huddersfield Daily Examiner. 13 June 1994. Retrieved 31 March 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
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