Kathy Cook
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Olympic medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Women’s Athletics | |||
| Bronze | 1980 Moscow | 4x100m Relay | |
| Bronze | 1984 Los Angeles | 400m | |
| Bronze | 1984 Los Angeles | 4x100m Relay | |
Kathy Cook (nee Smallwood) (born 3 May 1960) is the most successful female sprinter in British athletics history.
As of 2006 she still holds British records for:
- 100m 11.10 secs,
- 200m 22.10,
- 400m 49.43 and
- 4x100 Relay 42.43.
The Great Britain Women's 4x100 Relay team 1978-84 won a total of eight medals in Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth Championships. Kathy was a permanent member of the team, always running the second 'leg', her rangy gait and superb speed endurance making her perfect for this position. She also successfully competed in the 4x400m Relay, although less often than the shorter event.
Her major results include a Bronze at the 1980 Moscow Olympics in the sprint relay, in a British record time. She also made both sprint finals. In 1984 at the Los Angeles Olympics, she won a further two Bronzes: over 400m in a British record, and as part of 4x100 Relay team 43.11. At the inaugural World Championships in 1983 she won yet another bronze, over 200m in 22.37 and a silver in the sprint relay in a time of 42.71 behind the powerful East German squad.
No British woman has since come close to emulating these achievements. They are the more significant, because many of her rivals after the fall of the 'Iron Curtain' were found to have been performing illegally. She retired from competition in 1986 after the European Championships in Stuttgart to start a family with husband Garry Cook. She is currently a P.E teacher in Walsall, England.
[edit] Major championships results
- Olympics:
- 1980 bronze 4x100 Relay
- 1984 bronze 400m, 4x100 Relay.
- World Championships:
- 1983 bronze 200m, silver 4x100 Relay.
- Europeans:
- 1978 silver 4x100 Relay
- 1982 silver 200m, silver 4x100 Relay.
- Commonwealth:
- 1978 gold 4x100 Relay, 1982 silver 200m, gold 4x100 Relay
- 1986 silver 200m, bronze 400m, gold 4x100 Relay, silver 4x400 Relay
