 Steel in 2012 | ||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Women's athletics | ||
Representing Great Britain | ||
| European Cross Country Championships | ||
 | 2014 Samokov | Senior individual |
| 2014 Samokov | Senior team |
| 2011 Velenje | Senior team |
| 2013 Belgrade | Senior team |
| 2015 Hyrès | Senior team |
 | 2013 Belgrade | Senior individual |
| 2010 Albufeira | Senior team |
| 2016 Chia | Senior team |
 | 2011 Velenje | Senior individual |
Gemma Steel (born 12 November 1985) is a Britishlong-distance runner who competes inroad running andcross country running competitions. She was the 2014gold medallist at theEuropean Cross Country Championships. She has represented Great Britain internationally in cross country, road and track events. She has won at three of theGreat Run series events: theGreat Ireland Run,Great Birmingham Run andGreat Yorkshire Run. She has also won theBristol Half Marathon and placed seventh at the2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.
A member ofCharnwood Athletic Club inLoughborough, she is coached by Liz Nuttall. She began competing in local level road races in 2005, running for Hermitage Harriers ofWhitwick[1] over distances ranging from five miles (8 km) to thehalf marathon (21.1 km). She improved her times year-upon-year from 2006 to 2009; she brought her 10k best from over 40 minutes to 34:34 minutes and took her best for the ten-mile race from 67:05 minutes down to 58:03 minutes. She began to establish herself as a national level runner in 2009, taking theLeicestershire cross country title, placing second at theSheffield Half Marathon and coming third at theBrooks Brighton 10K.[2]
In 2010 Steel was eleventh at the national world cross country trials but at November'sUK Cross Challenge in Liverpool she came third and made the Great Britain team for the first time.[2] Running at the2010 European Cross Country Championships, she finished in 27th place and shared in the teamsilver medal with the British women.[3] She also competed in her first road races abroad that year, coming second at theBerliner City-Nacht 10k and second at theBern Grand Prix. She ran a personal best of 33:16 minutes to finish as runner-up at theCardiff 10k and had another best of 53:44 minutes for fifth at theGreat South Run 10-miler a month later. She also had top three finishes at theSwansea Bay 10k andGreat Yorkshire Run.[2]
She began her 2011 with international level cross country races. She was ninth at theGreat Edinburgh Cross Country, sixth at theCinque Mulini, and won at theHannut Lotto CrossCup.[2] After a fourth-place finish at the English championships, she made her world level debut at the2011 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, taking 54th place.[4] She had runner-up finishes at both theGreat Ireland Run andLondon 10,000 (improving her best to 32:48 min), but managed only seventh at the5000 metres British trials on the track. Her road running season remained at a high standard as she had a number of victories including theFrank Duffy 10 Mile Race,Bristol Half Marathon, Great Yorkshire Run, and theGreat Birmingham Run.[2] She was the pre-race favourite for the European Cross Trials, but was beaten at the line byHatti Dean.[5] At the2011 European Cross Country Championships, Steel was among the leaders and the midpoint of the race and was in second place by the final lap. She was overtaken by Portugal'sAna Dulce Félix in the final stages, but managed to take third place for an individualbronze medal (her first international podium finish) and to lead the British women to their second ever European team title at the event.[6]
She was runner-up toFionnuala Britton, the European champion, at the 2012Great Edinburgh Cross Country andAntrim Cross Country.[7][8] She set a personal best time of 9:01 minutes in the 3000 m at theAVIVA Indoor Grand Prix.[9] Returning to grass, she won the English National Cross Country championships held at Parliament Hill Fields,[10] as well as the inter-counties championships held at Cofton Park. After warm-weather training in Portugal, she beat defending championCharlotte Purdue at the Great Ireland Run.[11] She had a string of ninth-place finishes at theGreat Manchester Run,European Cup 10000m and in the10,000 metres at the2012 European Athletics Championships.[12] She defended her title at the Great Yorkshire Run in September.[13] A switch to longer distances towards the end of the year proved successful as she set ahalf marathon best of 70:46 minutes at theGreat North Run,[14] came seventh at the2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and placed in the top five at theGreat South Run 10-miler.[12]
At the start of 2013 she finished 31st at theWorld Cross Country Championships and was runner-up at the Great Ireland Run.[15] She focused on10K runs for most of the year: she was fourth in Manchester, third at theNew York Mini 10K, winner at theGreat North 10K, runner-up at theBeach to Beacon 10K with a best of 31:36 minutes, third at thePrague Grand Prix, and winner at the Great Yorkshire Run. She also took second place at theFalmouth Road Race 7-miler.[12] She won the Great Birmingham Run for a second time and broke the course record with a personal best of 70:19 minutes.[16] Returning to New England in summer 2014 she ran a PB for 10K, defeating Shalane Flanagan at the TD Beach to Beacon 10 km in 31:26.5.[17] Returning home on a high, she also ran a PB of 68:13 in the Great North Run.[18]
The 2014 season represented something of a high point for Steel. Highlights since include first place in the 2017 edition of theGreat South Run with a time of 55:25,[19] and first place in the 10KGreat Scottish Run in 2018 with a time of 34:00 minutes.[20]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)European Cross Country Championships champions in women'scross country running | |
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