Charlene Thomas (née Snelgrove, born 6 May 1982) is an English middle-distance runner who competes internationally for Great Britain. A successful junior athlete nationally, in 2002 she won the 1500 metres at indoor BUSA championships and came second outdoors. As a senior, she began competing on the IAAF Golden League circuit in 2007, coming tenth in the mile run at the

Memorial van Damme The Memorial Van Damme is an annual athletics event at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, that takes place in late August or early September. Previously one of the IAAF Golden League events, it now serves as a final event of the D ...

,Charlene Thomas
Power of 10. Retrieved on 2011-06-19. where her time of 4:27.95 minutes was the fastest run by a British woman in twelve years.Profile : Charlene Thomas - Athlete (1500/800m)
Sports Shoes. Retrieved on 2011-06-20. and taking second place over 1500 m at the DN Galan in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. She placed second in the event at that year's National Championships. Thomas was fifth over 1500 m at the Olympic Trials in 2008, but went on to be the surprise winner of the 1500 m at the 2009 National Championships ahead of the more favoured Stephanie Twell and Hannah England. This guaranteed her a place for the

2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15 to 23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the marathon and racewalking events started and finished at the Brandenbu ...

, where she made it into the semi-finals of the women's 1500 metres in Berlin. However, she lost a running spike mid-race and did not manage to make the final. She did not compete for Great Britain in 2010 and that September she decided to leave her job as a

Design and Technology Design and Technology (D&T) is a school subject taught in the United Kingdom to pupils in primary and secondary schools. It first appeared as a titled subject in the first National Curriculum for England in 1990. It has undergone several reviews w ...

supply teacher to focus on running full-time. She returned to the international setup the following year to compete at the 2011 European Team Championships, where she unexpectedly defeated Yekaterina Martynova and Anna Mishchenko to take full points for the team. Her winning time of 4:06.85 minutes was the third fastest of her career.Da Silva, Michael (2011-07-19)
European Team Championships: Thomas shines in 1500m
BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2011-06-20. Charlene regularly wrote about her experiences on the blog of Sportsshoes.com.

Personal life

Charlene is the cousin of professional footballers Mark and Jack Redshaw.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Charlene Living people 1982 births English female middle-distance runners British female middle-distance runners World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners 21st-century English sportswomen