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| Born | (1960-05-03)3 May 1960 (age 65) Winchester, Hampshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Sprints/400m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Reading AC Wolverhampton & Bilston AC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Kathryn Jane CookMBE (néeSmallwood; born 3 May 1960) is a former athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful femalesprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times anOlympic bronze medallist, including at 400 metres inLos Angeles 1984. Her other individual achievements include winning the 200m at the1981 Universiade, finishing second in the 100m at the1981 World Cup, and winning a bronze medal in the 200m at the1983 World Championships. She is also three-times a winner of the British Athletics Writers' Association Female Athlete of the Year Award (1980–82). Cook held the UK National records for 100m, 200m and 400m for over 25 years.
Smallwood was born inWinchester, Hampshire, and attendedthe Hurst Community School,Baughurst and laterQueen Mary's College, Basingstoke. She was a member of theReading Athletic Club and later theWolverhampton & Bilston Athletics Club.[citation needed]
Smallwood's first major competition was the 1977European Junior Championships in Donetsk, where she won three medals, bronze in the 100 & 200 metres and a silver in the sprint relay.[1]
In 1978, she competed at theCommonwealth Games in Edmonton and theEuropean Championships in Prague. In Edmonton, representing England, she finished fifth in the 200 metres final in 22.95, narrowly missing a medal, before winning gold in the 4 × 100 m relay withSharon Colyear,Beverley Goddard andSonia Lannaman. In Prague, representing Great Britain, the same quartet won a silver medal in the sprint relay.[2] Additionally Snmallwood became both theBritish 100 metres champion andBritish 200 metres champion after winning the BritishWAAA Championships titles at the1978 WAAA Championships.[3]
In 1979, at theWorld Student Games (Universiade) she won three silver medals. In the 100 metres she finished second behindMarlies Gohr in 11.27, while in the 200 metres she was second to another East German great,Marita Koch, in a PB of 22.70. She also won a silver medal in the 4 × 100 m relay.[citation needed] She also retained her 200 metres WAAA title at the 1979 WAAA Championships.[4]
Smallwood competed at her firstOlympics Games in 1980 inMoscow, representingGreat Britain, reaching the finals of both the 100 and 200 metres. In the 100 metres, she was sixth in 11.28 secs, while in the 200 metres, she finished fifth in 22.61. She then teamed up withHeather Hunte, who had also reached the 100 metres final and Beverley Goddard and Sonia Lannaman, who had both also reached the 200 metres final, to win the bronze medal in the 4 × 100 m relay, in a UK record time of 42.43.[5] A record that stood until 2014. Only one week after the Olympics, she broke the UK record for the 200 metres, with 22.31 in London.[6] She topped off 1980 by winning both the 100 and 200 at the1980 WAAA Championships.[7]
Smallwood won her biggest individual title in 1981, winning the 200 metres at theWorld Student Games in Bucharest, in 22.78 secs. She also won a silver medal in the 4 x 100 relay. Later that year, at theIAAF World Cup, she came in as a late replacement for Sweden'sLinda Haglund, to run for Europe in the 100 metres. She finished second toEvelyn Ashford in a UK record time of 11.10, defeating Marlies Gohr, who was third. This would stand as the UK record for 27 years, untilMontell Douglas ran 11.05 in 2008. Also in 1981, Smallwood had her first attempt at the 400 m distance. At a meeting in London, she finished second to the world number one that year,Jarmila Kratochvilova, running 51.08.[8]
In July 1982, Smallwood won the 200 WAAA title at the1982 WAAA Championships[7] and one month later, at theEuropean Championships in Athens, Smallwood broke her own UK 200 m record with 22.13 secs, to finish a close second to Olympic ChampionBärbel Wöckel, who ran 22.04. She won another silver in the sprint relay, along withWendy Hoyte, Bev Callender (Goddard) andShirley Thomas. In September, she added the UK 400 m record to her 100 & 200 m records, running 50.46 in London. Then in October, at theCommonwealth Games in Brisbane, she won another silver medal in the 200 metres, in a wind assisted 22.21, being edged out of victory by Jamaica'aMerlene Ottey, who ran 22.19. She did win a gold medal in the sprint relay with Hoyte, Callender and Sonia Lannamann.
In 1983, now competing as Kathy Cook, following her marriage to fellow athleteGarry Cook, she won two medals at the inauguralWorld Championships in Helsinki. On day one of the championships, she won a silver medal in the sprint relay, alongsideJoan Baptiste, Bev Callender and Shirley Thomas. She then won the bronze medal in the 200 metres in 22.37, behind Marita Koch and Merlene Ottey and ahead ofFlorence Griffith.[9] Cook also won the1983 WAAA Championships 100 metres title.[7]
In 1984, probably Cook's finest season, she won a further two bronze medals at theLos Angeles Olympics. In the 400 metres, she smashed the UK and Commonwealth record with 49.43 secs, behind the American pair ofValerie Brisco-Hooks andChandra Cheeseborough. This would remain the UK record for almost 30 years, untilChristine Ohuruogu ran 49.41 to win at the2013 World Championships. Cook then narrowly missed winning a medal in the 200 metres final, where she improved her own national record to 22.10. With a strong late surge, she closed rapidly on Florence Griffith and Merlene Ottey-Page, who won silver and bronze in 22.04 and 22.09 respectively. The race was won by 400m champion, Valerie Brisco-Hooks. Cook's 22.10, stood as the UK record for over 30 years, untilDina Asher-Smith ran 22.07 for fifth at the2015 World Championships.[10] In the sprint relay, drawn in lane one, she collected another bronze medal, along withSimmone Jacobs and two of her Moscow teammates, Bev Callender (Goddard) and Heather Oakes (Hunte). They ran 43.11[11] At the end of the 1984 season, Cook ranked 10th on the world all-time lists for both the 200m and 400m and would remain in the all-time top ten until 1986 (200) and 1988 (400). Cook won both the 100 and 200 titles at the1984 WAAA Championships.[7]
Shortly after the Los Angeles Olympics, Cook won in London over 300 metres, edging out Chandra Cheeseborough. Both were given the time of 35.46 secs, which broke the world best for the rarely contested distance.[12] The mark would remain a world outdoor best until 2003, whenAna Guevara ran 35.30, although it is worth noting that Marita Koch ran a sub 35 sec 300 m split, on her way to her 47.60 world 400 m record in 1985.[13] 1984 would prove to be the peak of Cook's career.
In 1985, her 200 metres season's best was 22.87 for fifth in the European Cup, while in 1986, she failed to run below 23 seconds. She did still manage to win four medals at that yearsCommonwealth Games in Edinburgh. She won bronze in the 400 metres, behind Australia'sDebbie Flintoff andJillian Richardson of Canada, silver in the 200 metres, behind CanadianAngella Issajenko, gold in the 4 × 100 m relay, withPaula Dunn, Joan Baptiste and Heather Oakes and ended the games with a silver medal in the 4 × 400 metres relay, withJane Parry,Linda Keough andAngela Piggford.
The Great Britain and England Women's 4 × 100 m relay teams won a medal at eight consecutive Olympic (1980, 1984), World (1983), European (1978, 1982), and Commonwealth Championships (1978, 1982, 1986). Cook was the only woman to be a member of every squad. The run ended at the 1986 Europeans, when the British quartet (again, including Cook) was fifth. She always ran the second 'leg', her rangy gait (she is 5'11' tall) and speed endurance being ideal for this position. She also occasionally competed in the4 × 400 metres relay. She won a total of sixteen senior national titles during her career.
In the1986 New Year Honours, Cook was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to athletics.[14]
Cook remains the only British athlete (male or female) to have reached Olympic finals at100 metres,200 metres and400 metres.[15] Her accomplishments are all the more significant because many of her rivals after the fall of the "Iron Curtain" were found to have been performing illegally. She retired in 1987, after competing at the UK Championships.
Cook worked as aPE teacher atMayfield Preparatory School, inWalsall. Married since 1982 to Garry Cook, they have three children, a daughter and two sons.[16]
In 2011, she was inducted into theEngland Athletics Hall of Fame.[17] She received anHonorary Doctorate from theUniversity of Wolverhampton in 2013.[18]
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Representing England | |||||
| 1978 | Commonwealth Games |  Edmonton | 5th | 200 m | 22.96 |
| 1st | 4 × 100 m | 43.70 | |||
| 1982 | Commonwealth Games |  Brisbane | 2nd | 200 m | 22.21w |
| 1st | 4 × 100 m | 43.15 | |||
| 4th | 4 × 400 m | 3:35.35 | |||
| 1986 | Commonwealth Games |  Edinburgh | 2nd | 200 m | 23.18 |
| 3rd | 400 m | 51.88 | |||
| 1st | 4 × 100 m | 43.39 | |||
| 2nd | 4 × 400 m | 3:32.82 | |||
Representing Great Britain | |||||
| 1977 | European Junior Championships |  Donetsk | 3rd | 100 m | 11.71 |
| 3rd | 200 m | 23.53 | |||
| 3rd | 4 × 100 m | 44.71 | |||
| 1978 | European Championships |  Prague | 9th (sf) | 200 m | 23.12 |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m | 42.72 | |||
| 1979 | European Cup |  Turin | 4th | 200 m | 22.84 |
| 3rd | 4 × 100 m | 43.18 | |||
| World Student Games |  Mexico City | 2nd | 100 m | 11.27 | |
| 2nd | 200 m | 22.70 | |||
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m | 43.26 | |||
| 1980 | Olympic Games | Moscow | 6th | 100m | 11.28 |
| 5th | 200 m | 22.61 | |||
| 3rd | 4 × 100 m | 42.43 | |||
| 1981 | World Student Games |  Bucharest | 1st | 200 m | 22.78 |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m | 43.86 | |||
| European Cup |  Zagreb | 2nd | 100 m | 11.27 | |
| 2nd | 200 m | 22.65 | |||
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m | 43.03 | |||
| World Cup | Rome | 2nd | 100 m | 11.10 | |
| DNF | 4 × 100 m | — | |||
| 1982 | European Championships |  Athens | 2nd | 200 m | 22.13 |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m | 42.66 | |||
| 5th | 4 × 400 m | 3:25.82 | |||
| 1983 | World Championships |  Helsinki | 3rd | 200 m | 22.37(wind 1.5) |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m | 42.71 | |||
| European Cup | London | 3rd | 200 m | 22.57 | |
| 2nd | 4 × 100 m | 43.18 | |||
| 5th | 4 × 400 m | 3:27.29 | |||
| 1984 | Olympic Games |  Los Angeles | 4th | 200 m | 22.10 |
| 3rd | 400 m | 49.43 | |||
| 3rd | 4 × 100 m | 43.11 | |||
| 1985 | European Cup | Moscow | 5th | 200 m | 22.87 |
| 7th | 4 × 400 m | 3:32.23 | |||
| 1986 | European Championships |  Stuttgart | 10th (sf) | 200 m | 23.20 |
| 5th | 4 × 100 m | 43.44 | |||
| Results with (sf) indicate overall position in semifinal round | |||||
