 Sayers setting a new UK javelin record at theCrystal Palace Grand Prix, 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1982-07-16)16 July 1982 (age 43)[1] Newmarket, Suffolk, England[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 11 st (70 kg)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Javelin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Katherine Dinah "Goldie" Sayers (born 16 July 1982) is a British formerjavelin thrower, who won a bronze medal at the2008 Summer Olympics.
Sayers, born inNewmarket, Suffolk, England, was educated at Fairstead House School, Newmarket, and atThe King's School, Ely.[2] She played hockey, netball and tennis at county level, and was an under 11 national table tennis champion.[3]
Sayers first came to prominence when setting national junior records and winning national titles, in 2001. Sayers also served as the captain of Great Britain's women's under 20 team, this season. The following season, Sayers representedEngland at the2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and finished in sixth place.[4]
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Sayers representedGreat Britain but failed to make the final at her first Olympics.[5] She finished twelfth at both the2005 World Championships and2006 European Championships but she did finish fifth at the2006 Commonwealth Games.[6]
The early 2007 season boded well for Sayers, setting twoUK records; on 20 May 2007, Sayers set a new British record in the javelin at 65.05 m (213 ft 5 in), thus becoming the first British woman to throw over 65 metres since javelins were redesigned in 1999. Sayers set the record when competing for her university,Loughborough, at the Loughborough International match. She cemented this achievement at the Norwich Union Glasgow Grand Prix on 3 June 2007 where she beat a top-class international field in rainy conditions with a throw of 63.59 m.
She defeated high-class rivals, such as Germany's European championSteffi Nerius and the Czech Republic'sBarbora Špotáková, who went on to win the world title that season, at a championship where Sayers finished 18th in qualifying, with her worst result of the season: 57.23 m.
On 15 March 2008 Sayers won the European Cup of Winter Throwing title inSplit,Croatia, with a throw of 63.65 m.
Sayers originally finished fourth at the2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China, setting a new British record of 65.75 m. However in 2016 the Russian third placed athlete,Mariya Abakumova, tested positive for banned substances after a re-analysis of her sample, meaning that Sayers would be upgraded to the bronze medal position. She eventually received her Olympic bronze medal on 20 July 2019 at theLondon Anniversary Games, 11 years later.[7]
She improved her British record to 66.17m at theLondon Grand PrixDiamond League meeting in London in 2012.[8]
On 4 July 2012, Sayers carried theOlympic Torch throughBourne in Lincolnshire.[9]
On 7 August 2012, Sayers competed in thewomen's javelin at the2012 Summer Olympics, but had sustained an injury to her right arm and was unable to feel her throwing hand. She threw three attempts but failed to throw the qualification distance and so stepped over the line and was knocked out of the competition without recording a mark.[10][11]
Domestically, Sayers won a remarkable elevenBritish javelin throw titles, ten of which were consecutive from 2003 to 2012.[12][13][14]
Sayers subsequently had elbow surgery which involved a ligament being removed from her right wrist and inserted in her left arm. She lost her funding fromUK Athletics at the end of 2014, but philanthropistBarrie Wells agreed to fund Sayers' training in exchange for helping heptathleteKatarina Johnson-Thompson improve her javelin throwing.[15]
Sayers' father,Pete Sayers, who died in 2005, was abluegrass musician and the first Englishman to appear at theGrand Ole Opry.[16]
