Katharine Merry - 200m & 400m

If you would like further information please contact us on:
'Nuff' Respect
Email: nuff_respect@msn.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8891 4145

Katharine is one of Britain’s most outstanding female athletes of all time. Having been the fastest girl in the world aged 14 she then, 12 years later, became the fastest woman in world over 400m, as well as picking up an Olympic medal. Labeled as one of Britain’s most talented female sprinters ever, Katharine’s success at junior level was outstanding.

She achieved an unprecedented 9 AAA’s age group titles over 100m and 200m, as well as winning 4 English Schools titles, including the pentathlon. She set a World Age record aged 12 of 25.4secs over 200m in 1987 and made her GB under 20 debut at the astonishingly young age of 13 years old, going on to a record 6 years as a GB junior International.

Still today she holds UK age records in a variety of events including the pentathlon and hurdles.

Aged just 14 she ran a stunning 7.35secs indoors for the 60m, becoming the fastest girl in the world ever over the distance. Outdoors that year she also ran 11.47secs for the 100m and 23.72secs for the 200m in her first ever overseas competition in America.

In only three appearances at the European Junior championship Katharine won 5 medals, including gold over 200m and 4 x 100m in 1993.

Before the 1999 season, 1994 had been Katharine’s best year to date. In her first year as a senior, she won the 100m and 200m at the AAA’s Championships in Sheffield and took second place for GB in both events at the European Cup in Birmingham confirming her transformation to UK number one in the sprints. In doing so that year Katharine set her 100m personal best of 11.34secs, and broke the British 200m indoor record.

Katharine’s rapid rise was unfortunately interrupted by injury, which prevented her from fulfilling her true potential on the international circuit. A recurring knee injury, which led to two left knee operations in 9 months, held Katharine down to the 200m quarter finals in her first Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 and the quarter finals at the World Championships 200m event in Athens in 1997.Although she did anchored the GB women’s 4x100m relay team in the 1996 Atlanta Olympic final.

In 1997, Katharine continued her British No.1 status, winning the British title and recording her best time to date of 22.77 secs.

In 1998 Katharine joined the sports management agency “Nuff” Respect and subsequently trained in Lanzarote and Australia alongside fellow international athletes such as Frank Fredericks and Darren Campbell. Katharine again dominated the domestic season winning the 200m National Championships and representing GB at the European Championships in Budapest. Despite a disappointing semi-final place in the 200m she discovered her amazing ability to run 400m. She dominated the 4x400m final, running the fastest split time by any athlete in the race of 50.37secs, ensuring a Bronze medal for the British team.

Katharine unfortunately was not able to compete at the Commonwealth Games later that year due to illness.

The 1999 season started very well for Katharine as she worked exceptionally hard over the winter with her coach Linford Christie. Despite her interest in the 400m, she was persuaded to continue to train for the 200m by her coach to provide the raw speed that is necessary to succeed in both the 200m and 400m events. Katharine had only one indoor race at the BUPA Indoor Games in which she broke the UK 200m Indoor record again with a run of 22.83secs, which placed her 4^th in the World Rankings. She declined the offer to compete for GB at the World Indoor Championships in preference to winter training in Australia with her group.

Katharine’s 1999 outdoor season started differently with a mix of 200m and 400m. She continued to show a big interest in the one lap distance after running a very credible 51.02secs at the end of 1998. Without any serious training Katharine won the 400m in Nuremberg in 51.09secs, which persuaded her to run in the 400m in the AAA’s World Champs trials. Currently UK ranked No.1 in both 200m & 400m Katharine had an excellent trials winning by over 40metres in a championship record of 50.62secs, the third fastest ever by a British female athlete, and a time that took her into the world top 10 rankings that season. This made Katharine the first woman ever to have won all 3 sprints events at the AAA’s having won the 100m and 200m back in 1994. After the AAA’s success the “which event” decision was then made and Katharine went into the World Championships in Seville looking to do her best in an event that she had not specifically trained for. Despite a gruelling four heats she ran a personal best in the semi final of 50.21secs to gain a place in the final, something a British woman had never before achieved, where she finished a fantastic fifth. Her 50.21sec time moved her to 2^nd position in the all time British rankings behind her heroine Kathy Cooke.

Under the ever-watchful eye of her Coach, Linford Christie, Katharine embarked on her first full year of 400m training. As part of “Team Linford”, Katharine made the difficult decision not to compete in the 2000 indoor season and spend four long months training in Australia. After a short period at their normal training camp in New South Wales, the group moved up to a sports island off the Queensland Coast called Couran Cove. It was here that Katharine spent hours in the Gym and on the track, building a solid base of hard work in preparation for the tough 400m season ahead of her.

Katharine came into the 2000 season with one sole objective, The Olympics. She burst onto the outdoor season winning in Helsinki, Nuremberg, Glasgow and Nice, where she beat the 1992 & 1996 Olympic Champion Marie Jose Perec, and running a personal best time of 50.05secs. She also lowered her 200m personal best in Barcelona to 22.76sec into a strong headwind. An illness though forced her to curtail her racing prior to the Olympics in Sydney. However Sydney was her ultimate objective and having stormed through the rounds she faced the task of beating Cathy Freeman in the final. With a 112,000 capacity crowd Katharine ran a fantastic race where she came third and collected the Bronze medal, and broke the magical 50sec barrier for the first time. Afterwards her radiant smile told the story of an athlete who was only in her first full year of 400m running.

Everyone agrees that the women’s 400m was the race of the Games and Katharine ran a fantastic personal best of 49.72secs to race to that bronze medal behind the Jamaican Lorraine Graham and the new Olympic Champion Cathy Freeman.

Katharine looked forward to the 2001 season determined to win the World Championships in Edmonton (Canada). Katharine went indoors only twice in that year after a bet with training partners Darren Campbell and Jamie Baulch that she could break the British Record (Katharine believing she couldn’t!) She smashed the record on her first run ever over the distance in Cardiff, running 51.54secs. A week later she reduced her new British Record by over a second, and set the 9^th fastest time ever indoors over 400m running 50.53secs, taking the Commonwealth Record too. Going 2^nd ranked in the World with her time she still decided to pass on the World Indoor Champs that year to concentrate on the outdoor season.

In June, in only her 2^nd race outdoors Katharine continued her good form breaking her personal best time and going clearly in to the World Number One spot, running 49.59secs. With no Cathy Freeman that year, everything looked good. She was named captain of the Women’s GB squad for the European Cup but then Katharine received the devastating news a week before the World Championships that the pain she had been experiencing in her foot was in fact a partial tear to her Achilles tendon, and if she competed in Edmonton she would run the risking of her Achilles rupturing. A devastated Katharine took the only sensible decision open to her and decided to join her teammates in Edmonton, but instead of competing spent her time writing for The Telegraph and commentating for the BBC.

Katharine again returned to Australia with “Team Linford” in 2002 and despite being in excellent physical shape she had to make the difficult decision to undergo surgery to a very frustratingly only recently discovered bone spur on her right foot, which was damaging her Achilles, meaning she had to undergo surgery and rehabilitation for the major part of the 2002 season.

In the spring of 2003 Katharine went to Arizona with “Team Linford” for warm-weather training in preparation for the up-coming outdoor season. During the early part of the season Katharine was plagued by illness but made her GB return by running a great 3^rd leg of the 4x400m relay in the European Cup, handing the baton over 1^st, and then she made her individual international season debut at the Norwich Union Super League in Gateshead in July where she ran 52.35secs in the 400m to place 5^th. Unfortunately she then started suffering from numerous bouts of tonsillitis and 2 bouts of quinsy that required surgery and brought the 2003 season to a premature end.

Katharine traveled to Phoenix with ‘Team Linford’ in April of 2004 for warm weather training. She was unable to compete though on the track in 2004 due to her ongoing foot injury and instead of defending her Olympic Medal spent all her time seeking further treatment and a clear diagnosis on her continuing foot problems.

In 2005, after discovering a good doctor in the USA, she decided to move to Phoenix, Arizona to live and train in one last attempt to get her career back on track. She was in great shape over there and raced a couple of times early in the outdoor season over 100m. This was after recovering fully from her foot problems and battling back from a left knee operation in February. After picking up another troublesome Achilles injury to her left foot, Katharine sadly decided to retire from Track & Field Athletics in early June.

Having been at the top of International Athletics as a junior and senior for over 13 years, Katharine fulfilled the potential Linford first spotted in her when they first met when she was aged 13. However, after years of coping with various injuries and several operations, she decided it was time to focus on her next career.

Katharine moved back to the UK and begun to build her media career, working on Radio5 Live, BBC News 24 & BBC Breakfast, BBC Wales and Sky Sports over the Helsinki World Championships. She also became an ambassador for UK Athletics and Norwich Union and promoted their grassroots sports initiative on a regular basis.

Katharine has always been in demand off the track, her blonde hair and good looks have seen her featured in magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Sunday Express, Good House Keeping, Health & Fitness and Marie Claire. Television appearances include BBC’s “A Question of Sport”, “They Think It’s All Over”, “Superstars” and “Through the Keyhole” and “Diet Doctors”. She has been a Sports Pundit for BBC TV and Radio, Eurosport and Sky TV, as well as the lead presenter of the London Triathlon for BBC Grandstand, BBC’s ‘Olympic Diary’ feature on Grandstand, and a programme for Open University on “Stars”.

Katharine’s media career is now established and she reinforced this in 2006 when presenting a series of features and live programmes for regional BBC TV and radio, including coverage of a number of sports at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. She then followed this up in 2007 with her involvement with Radio 5 on their coverage of the World Championships in Osaka.

Her journalistic skills have also been honed through regular columns for the Telegraph and health and fitness magazines.

In 2006 UK Athletics appointed Katharine as UKA and Norwich Union Athlete Mentor to assist current junior athletes in their long term preparations for major championships and their lives as professional athletes. She is also an experienced motivational speaker, working with both sporting organisations and other corporate clients.

Outside of her career Katharine loves red meat, chocolate, Baileys (with milk and ice!), and is a keen property developer. She is also an avid sports fan with an in-depth knowledge of a variety of sports and a fully trained spinning instructor and personal trainer.

Kath was part of the successful BBC Radio 5 Live commentary team in Beijing, where she covered Athletics, Triathlon and Modern Pentathlon. She is also the infield presenter at all GB televised Track and Field events and a presenter for Nova International (Great North Series).

February 2009