As a former World Indoor Champion and World record holder Ashia dominated the runways for nearly a decade. Switching from long jump to triple jump in 1992 Ashia has never looked back. She has now become one of the world's greatest Triple Jumpers and without a doubt Britain's greatest ever-female jumper having set twenty British records.

Ashia’s first international achievement was her victory in the European Cup in Lille in 1995. At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 she narrowly missed out on a medal, and was placed fourth.

In 1997 Ashia won her first major medal, silver at the World Indoor Championships in Paris. Her progress during 1997 elevated her into the World’s elite and she was vying with Sarka Kasparkova for the World number 1 spot.  She aggravated a back injury during the 1997 World Championship, which prevented her from gaining a medal. However, she recovered to win the annual IAAF Grand Prix final with a jump of 15.15m, the fifth best of all time.

Her 1998 season started with her retaining her British Indoor Title. However, she saved her best performance to date, by jumping a World Indoor Record at the European Championships with a jump of 15.16meters.  A foot injury prevented Ashia from competing for most of the Outdoor season, but she rehabilitated sufficiently to win her second major title of the year at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpar in September.

Ashia started the 1999 Indoor Season where her 1998 season finished, a fine victory at the BUPA Indoor Games against her arch rivals gave her the confidence to dominate the World Indoor Championships in March (Japan) where, with a jump of 15.02m, she claimed her first World Indoor title. 

Click here for a full printable version of the biography or return to clients