Sonia Lannaman

Sonia Lannaman

Personal information
Nationality	British (English)
Born	(1956-03-24) 24 March 1956 (age 68) Aston, Birmingham, England
Height	165 cm (5 ft 5 in)
Weight	57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Sport	Athletics
Event	Sprints
Club	Solihull Athletic Club WBAC, Wolverhampton
Medal record Women's Athletics Representing   Great Britain Olympic Games 1980 Moscow 4x100 m relay European Championships 1978 Prague 4 x 100 m relay Representing   England Commonwealth Games 1978 Edmonton 100 metres 1978 Edmonton 4 x 100 m relay 1982 Brisbane 4 x 100 m relay 1974 Christchurch 4 x 100 m relay 1978 Edmonton 200 metres Representing Europe World Cup 1977 Düsseldorf 4 × 100 m relay 1977 Düsseldorf 100 metres

Sonia May Lannaman (born 24 March 1956) is a British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres title in Edmonton 1978 and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1980 Moscow Games. In the 1977 Track and Field News world merit rankings, she was ranked number two in the world at both 100 metres (to Marlies Gohr) and 200 metres (to Irena Szewinska).

Biography

Lannaman, born in Aston, Birmingham, finished second behind Della Pascoe in the 100 metres event at the 1972 WAAA Championships. ^[1] The following month she competed in her first Olympics in 1972 (held in Munich), where she set a British junior record of 11.45 sec. ^[2]

In 1973 she became European junior champion winning gold in the 100 metres, followed by a bronze in the 4 x 100 metres relay. She represented England at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, New Zealand, and won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 metres relay. ^[3]

In 1976, Lannaman won a silver medal over 60 metres at the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Munich. In the summer of that year she made a major breakthrough into world-class sprinting. She ran the 100 metres in a hand-timed, wind assisted (+3.6) 10.8 sec. She also set a British record in the 200 metres. She was strongly tipped for medals in both sprints at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, but due to injury was unable to compete. ^[4]

In 1977, Lannaman was ranked second only to world record holder Marlies Göhr in the 100 metres. In the European Cup of that year she was second in both the 100 and 200 m and in the inaugural World Cup, second again in the 100 m and first in the 4 × 100 m representing Europe. She also ran the fastest ever electronically timed 100 metres by a British woman with 10.93 sec in Dublin, which was wind assisted (+3.8), so did not stand for record purposes. Additionally she became both the British 100 metres champion and British 200 metres champion, after winning the British WAAA Championships titles at the 1977 WAAA Championships. ^[5]

In 1978, Lannaman won the 100 m gold medal and 200 m silver medal in the 1978 Commonwealth Games for England ^[6] and for Great Britain in the 1978 European Championships won a silver in the 4 × 100 m relay with teammates Kathy Smallwood-Cook, Beverley Goddard and Sharon Colyear.

In 1980, she ran her fastest official time in the 100 m of 11.20 sec in July, having set another British record in the 200 m of 22.58 sec in May. She competed again for Great Britain in the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow, Russia in the 4 × 100 m relay, where she won the bronze medal with her teammates Heather Hunte, Kathy Smallwood-Cook and Beverley Goddard. She also reached the 200 m final, finishing eighth.

In 1982, Lannaman competed in her third Commonwealth Games, winning a gold in the 4 × 100 m relay.

She currently lives in the village of Chorley in Lichfield District, Staffordshire. She is married to Michael Garmston, former British athletics team physiotherapist. They have one son, Bradley Garmston, a professional footballer for Grimsby Town. ^[7]

Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing   Great Britain /   England
1972	Olympic Games	Munich, West Germany	quarterfinal	100 m	11.72 (11.45)
1973	European Junior Championships	Duisburg, West Germany	1st	100 m	11.73
			3rd	4 × 100 m	45.38
1974	Commonwealth Games	Christchurch, New Zealand	semifinal	100 m	11.93
			2nd	4 × 100 m	44.30
	European Championships	Rome, Italy	semifinal	100 m	11.53
1977	World Cup	Düsseldorf, West Germany	2nd	100 m	11.26
			1st	4 × 100 m	42.51
1978	Commonwealth Games	Edmonton, Canada	1st	100 m	11.27
			2nd	200 m	22.89
			1st	4 × 100 m	43.70
	European Championships	Prague, Czechoslovakia	8th	100 m	11.67
			semifinal	200 m	23.36
			2nd	4 × 100 m	42.72
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	semifinal	100 m	11.38
			8th	200 m	22.80
			3rd	4 × 100 m	42.43
1982	Commonwealth Games	Brisbane, Australia	9th	100 m	11.48
			1st	4 × 100 m	43.15

Note: Results in brackets, indicate superior time achieved in earlier round.

References

1. "Women's AAA Champions" . Sunday Mirror. 9 July 1972. Retrieved 7 March 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
2. "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
3. "Christchurch 1974 Team". Team England. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
4. "Touch and Go for injured Lannaman" . Newcastle Journal. 22 July 1976. Retrieved 7 March 2025– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
6. "Christchurch 1974 Team". Team England. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
7. Marston, Carl. "U's new boy Garmston recalls his days as a sprinter". East Anglian Daily Times.

External links

• Sonia Lannaman at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)