Personal information | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nationality | British (Welsh) | |||||||||||
Born | Caerphilly, Wales | 19 January 1980|||||||||||
Height | 163 cm (5 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||
Weight | 52 kg (115 lb) | |||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||
Sport | Gymnastics / Athletics | |||||||||||
Event(s) | floor, horse, uneven bars, beam / pole vault | |||||||||||
Club | Spelthorne Gymnastics Club | |||||||||||
Medal record
|
Sonia Lawrence (born 19 January 1980) is a British gymnast and later pole vaulter, who competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics. [1]
Lawrence grew up in Bedwas and joined the Heol Ddu Gymnastics Club in Bargoed at a young age. At the age of 12 Lawrence moved to Staines near London in order to gain full-time coaching. [2]
After gaining selection for the British Squad, she went to a Pre-Olympic Camp and also represented Wales at the 1994 Commonwealth Games, where she won a silver medal in the vault. [2] At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Lawrence represented Great Britain in five events. [3] Injury problems hampered her ability to compete for medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia before retiring from gymnastics at the age of just 16. [2]
Lawrence took up pole vault and her greatest achievement was finishing third behind Tracey Bloomfield in the pole vault event at the 2003 AAA Championships. [4] [5] [6]