Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British middle distance

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

and television personality. Holmes specialised in the

800 __NOTOC__ Year 800 ( DCCC) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar, the 800th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 800th year of the 1st millennium, the 100th and last year of the 8th century, a ...

and

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

events and won

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

s for both distances at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. She set

British records British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

in numerous events and still holds the records over the

600 __NOTOC__ Year 600 ( DC) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 600 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for ...

, and

1000 1000 or thousand may refer to: * 1000 (number), a natural number * AD 1000, a leap year in the Julian calendar * 1000 BC, a year of the Before Christ era * 1000 metres, a middle-distance running event * 1000°, a German electronic dance music maga ...

metre distances. She held the British 800 metre record until 2021. Inspired by a number of successful British middle-distance runners in the early 1980s, Holmes began competing in middle-distance events in her youth. She joined the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, but continued to compete at the organisation's

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

events. She turned to the professional athletics circuit in 1993 and in 1994 she won the 1500 m at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

and took

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

at the

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

. She won a silver and a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

at the 1995 Gothenburg World Championships, but suffered from various injuries over the following years, failing to gain a medal at her first Olympics in

Atlanta 1996 Atlanta 1996 may refer to: * 1996 Summer Olympics * 1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a bud ...

when running with a stress fracture. She won silver in the 1500 m at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ( Malay: ), officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games (Malay: ), were a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 1998 games were the first held in Asia and the last Commonwealth Games of the 20th cen ...

and bronze in the 800 m at the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, her first Olympic medal. Holmes won the 1500 m at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

and the 800 m bronze at the Munich European Championships that year. The 2003 track season saw her take silver in the 1500 m at the World Indoor Championships and the 800 m silver medals at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and first World Athletics Final. She took part in her final major championship in 2004, with a double gold medal-winning performance at the Athens Olympics, finishing as the 800 m and 1500 m

Olympic Champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

. For her achievements she won numerous awards and was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in 2005. She retired from athletics in 2005 and was between 2018 and 2024 an honorary colonel with the

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Ar ...

Training Regiment (RACTR). She has become a global motivational speaker, published five books, her latest being ''Running Life'', and made a number of television appearances.

Early life and army career

Holmes was born in

Pembury Pembury is a large village in Kent, in the south east of England, with a population of 6,128 at the 2011 census. It lies just to the north-east of Royal Tunbridge Wells. The village centre, including the village green and High Street area is a ...

, near

Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells (formerly, until 1909, and still commonly Tunbridge Wells) is a town in Kent, England, southeast of Central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone ...

in Kent, the daughter of Derrick Holmes, a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

n-born car mechanic, and an English mother, Pam Norman. Her mother was 17 at the time of her birth, and seven years later married painter and decorator Michael Norris, whom Holmes regards as her father. Holmes grew up in

Hildenborough Hildenborough is a village and rural parish in the borough of Tonbridge and Malling in Kent, England. It is located 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of Tonbridge and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Sevenoaks. The village lies in the River Med ...

, Kent, where she attended Hildenborough CEP School, and then Hugh Christie Comprehensive School in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

from the age of 12. She started training for athletics at the age of 12, joining Tonbridge Athletics Club, where she was coached by David Arnold and went on to win the English Schools 1500 metres in her second season in 1983. Her hero was British middle-distance runner

Steve Ovett Stephen Michael James Ovett, (; born 9 October 1955) is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Ovett set five world records for 1500 metre ...

, and she was inspired by his success at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. However, Holmes later turned away from athletics, joining the

at the age of 18, having left school two years earlier to work first as an assistant in a sweet shop and later as a nursing assistant for disabled patients. In the army, she became a HGV driver in the

Women's Royal Army Corps The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992 except medical, dental and veterinary officers and chap ...

(WRAC), later becoming a basic

physical training instructor Physical training instructor (PTI) is a term used primarily in the British Armed Forces and British police, as well as some other Commonwealth countries, for an instructor in physical fitness. United Kingdom In the British Army, specialist Physi ...

(PTI). Holmes then elected in June 1990 to attend the first course to be run under the army's new physical training syllabus, and passed out as a Class 2 PTI. Although militarily quite young, Holmes's athletic prowess was impressive and she was encouraged to attend the course selection for full-time transfer to the

Royal Army Physical Training Corps The Royal Army Physical Training Corps (RAPTC) is the British Army corps responsible for physical fitness and physical education and has been headquartered in Aldershot since its foundation in 1860. Its members are all Royal Army Physical Traini ...

(RAPTC) at

Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...

. Holmes eventually qualified as a class 1 PTI, although she remained in the

Adjutant General's Corps The Adjutant General's Corps is a corps in the British Army responsible for many of its general administrative services, named for the Adjutant-General to the Forces (now the Commander Home Command). As of 2002, the AGC had a staff of 7,000 peop ...

after the disbandment of the WRAC in 1992. She also became British Army

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

champion and at an athletics event, she competed in and won an 800 metres, a 3000 metres and a relay race in a single day. She also won the heptathlon. Holmes watched the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

on television, and on seeing Lisa York in the heats of the 3000 metres – an athlete whom she had competed against, and beaten – she decided to return to athletics. For several years she combined athletics with employment in the army, until increased funding allowed her to become a full-time athlete in 1997.

Athletics career

Early and pre-Athens career

Highlights of her early and pre-Athens career included gold medals at the Commonwealth Games and silvers at the World and European Championships. In 2000 she also took a bronze at the Sydney Olympics.

2004 Athens Olympic Games

In 2017, Holmes revealed that after training in 2003 for the 2004 Summer Olympics at a French training camp where she suffered leg injuries and became depressed, she began cutting herself. "I made one cut for every day that I had been injured", Holmes stated in an interview with the ''News of the World'' newspaper. At least once, she considered suicide, but she eventually sought help from a doctor and was diagnosed with

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Intro ...

. While she could not use

anti-depressant Antidepressants are a class of medications used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain, and addiction. Common side effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, headaches, akathisia, sexua ...

s because it would affect her performance, she began using herbal

serotonin Serotonin (), also known as 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), is a monoamine neurotransmitter with a wide range of functions in both the central nervous system (CNS) and also peripheral tissues. It is involved in mood, cognition, reward, learning, ...

tablets. In 2005, after her achievements at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Holmes chose to talk about her

self-harm Self-harm refers to intentional behaviors that cause harm to oneself. This is most commonly regarded as direct injury of one's own skin tissues, usually without suicidal intention. Other terms such as cutting, self-abuse, self-injury, and s ...

to show others that being a professional athlete is an extremely difficult thing to do and places the athlete under tremendous amounts of stress. Holmes's honesty quickly won her praise from people on Twitter. 2004 saw Holmes arrive at a major competition, the Athens Olympics, with no injury worries for just about the first time in her career. She had originally planned to compete in just the 1500 m but a victory over Jolanda Čeplak before the games had many saying she should take her chance in the 800 m as well. Holmes did not announce her decision to race in both events until five days before the 800 m finals. Along with three time

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Maria de Lurdes Mutola Maria de Lurdes Mutola ( ; born 27 October 1972) is a retired Mozambican female track and field who specialised in the 800 metres running event. She is only the fourth female track and field athlete to compete at six Olympic Games. She is a th ...

and Čeplak, Holmes was considered one of the favourites for the gold medal in the 800 m. In the final, Holmes ran a well-paced race, ignoring a fast start by a number of the other competitors, and moved into the lead ahead of Mutola on the final bend, taking the gold on the line ahead of Hasna Benhassi and Čeplak, with Mutola in fourth. Holmes became the seventh British woman to win an athletics gold, and the second after

Ann Packer Ann Elizabeth Packer MBE (born 8 March 1942) is an English former sprinter, hurdler and long jumper. She won a gold medal in the 800 metres and a silver in the 400 metres at the 1964 Summer Olympics. Biography In 1959 Packer won the E ...

in 1964 to win the 800 metres. In the final of the 1500 m, again running from the rear of the field, she took the lead in the final straight, holding off World Champion

Tatyana Tomashova Tatyana Ivanovna Tomashova () (born 1 July 1975 in Perm) is a former Russian distance runner. Career At the 2000 Summer Olympics, she competed in the 5000 metres but participated in shorter races thereafter, mainly in the 1500 metres. She is a ...

of Russia. She thus became only the third woman in history to do the 800 m and 1500 m double (after

Tatyana Kazankina Tatyana Vasilyevna Kazankina (; born 17 December 1951 in Petrovsk, Soviet Union) is a Russian former runner who set seven world records and won a total of three gold medals at the Olympic Games for the Soviet Union. She was also awarded the Orde ...

of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

Svetlana Masterkova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Masterkova (; born 17 January 1968) is a Russian former middle-distance runner and former women's world record holder for the mile and the current 1000 metres world record. At the 1996 Summer Olympics, she won the gold m ...

of Russia in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

), and Britain's first double gold medallist at the same games since Albert Hill in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

. Her time of 3 minutes 57.90 seconds in the 1500 m final set a new British record for the distance. Subsequently, Holmes was given the honour of carrying the British flag at the closing ceremony of the games, on 29 August, the day after her second victory. A homecoming parade was held in her honour through the streets of Hildenborough and

on 1 September, which was attended by approximately 40,000 people. Holmes won the

BBC Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just a single award of the same name. Several new awards have been introduced, and cu ...

in 2004, saying she achieved her goals after "20 years of dreaming". She also asserted the award was "the biggest sporting honour your country can give you". The tributes to her at the BBC awards ceremony were led by the six British female athletes who had previously won gold at the Olympic Games in a " Magnificent Seven"-style feature – those six being

Mary Rand Mary Denise Rand, Member of the Order of the British Empire, MBE (née Bignal; born 10 February 1940) is a British former track and field athlete. She won the long jump at the 1964 Summer Olympics by breaking the world record, the first British ...

, Mary Peters,

Tessa Sanderson Theresa Ione Sanderson (born 14 March 1956) is a British former javelin thrower. She appeared in every Summer Olympic Games, Summer Olympics from 1976 to 1996, winning the gold medal in the Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Women's ja ...

Sally Gunnell Sally Jane Janet Gunnell, OBE, DL (born 29 July 1966) is a British former track-and-field athlete, who won the 1992 Olympic gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles. During a 24-month period between 1992 and 1994, Gunnell won every international ...

and

Denise Lewis Dame Denise Rosemarie Lewis (born 27 August 1972) is a British sports administrator and former sports presenter and athletics athlete, who specialised in the heptathlon. She won the gold medal in the heptathlon at the 2000 Sydney Olympics ...

Personal bests

* All information taken from IAAF profile and UK All time lists.

Competition record

* Note: In addition to these achievements, Holmes has also won 12 national titles.

Honours and awards

In 2007, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. In 2010, Holmes was inducted into the

England Athletics Hall of Fame The England Athletics Hall of Fame was launched in 2008 with a panel of experts selecting a list of potential inductees for athletics fans and members of the public to vote on. The Hall of Fame honours those who have made an outstanding contribut ...

. In 2018, she was made honorary colonel of the

Training Regiment, serving as such until 1 November 2024.

Dame Kelly Holmes Trust

In 2008, Holmes founded the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

, to support young athletes and help the lives of young people facing disadvantage across the UK. As part of her pledge to the charity, she participated in the Powerman UK

duathlon Duathlon is an sports, athletic event that consists of a running leg, followed by a cycling leg and then another running leg in a format similar to triathlons. The World Triathlon governs the sport internationally. Distance and format Duathlon ...

in 2014, one of several fundraising events she took part in.

Post-athletics career

Since 2004, Holmes has taken part in "On Camp with Kelly" athletics camps which train junior athletes, sponsored by insurance company

Aviva Aviva plc is a British multinational insurance company headquartered in London, England. It has about 19 million customers across its core markets of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Aviva is the largest general ...

(formerly Norwich Union). In 2005, she won the

Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year The Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year is an annual award honouring the achievements of individual women from the world of sports. It was first awarded in 2000 as one of the seven constituent awards presented during the Laure ...

. The same year, she named the P&O Cruise ship MS ''Arcadia''. On 21 August, she competed in her final race in the UK, the 800 m at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix meeting in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. Her training schedule during the summer of 2005 had been disrupted by a recurrent

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

injury, and she finished the race in eighth place, limping across the finish line and completing a lap of honour on a buggy. On 6 December 2005, Holmes announced her retirement from athletics, saying she had reassessed her future after the death of a friend, as well as citing a lack of motivation to continue. In May 2009, Holmes was named as the president of

Commonwealth Games England Commonwealth Games England (CGE) is the national Commonwealth Games Association for England. The company is responsible for supporting and managing the participation of England at the Commonwealth Games, Team England at the Commonwealth Games'. ...

, succeeding Sir Chris Chataway, who had held the post since 1994. The organisation's chairman Sir Andrew Foster said: "Dame Kelly has been an outstanding athlete both for Team England and Great Britain. She is a truly inspirational and respected figure in the sporting world and will be a wonderful ambassador for Commonwealth Games England." On 18 March 2019, Holmes, along with

Paula Radcliffe Paula Jane Radcliffe Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 17 December 1973) is a British former long-distance runner. She is a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time New York Marathon champion (2004, 2007, 200 ...

and

Sharron Davies Sharron Elizabeth Davies, (born 1 November 1962) is an English former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics and European championships and competed for England in the Commonwealth Games. Davies has attended 12 co ...

, announced they would be writing a letter to the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

targeting trans women who compete in women's sports categories. On January 2023, Holmes spoke again on the subject of transgender individuals' inclusion in sports stating she had "been ignorant", and believes that transgender individuals should receive fair outcomes in all areas of life, including sports, for those whose gender identity differs from the one assigned at birth. Holmes is known for her advocacy on various health-related topics, particularly mental health and menopause.

Television and radio

In November 2010, Holmes took part in the ITV game show ''

The Cube A cube is any regular, six-sided, three-dimensional solid object. Cube may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Cube Interactive, an interactive media company in Wales, UK Comics * Cosmic Cube, a fictional object in Marvel Comics Films * ...

''. In October 2011, she appeared live on

Dubai One Dubai One (formerly known as Ch33 and then One TV) is an Emirati English language entertainment television channel, owned by Dubai Media Incorporated. It was launched on 14 May 1994, and is currently managed by Sarah al Jarman. It airs a mix ...

lifestyle show '' Studio One'' where she talked about her life and career after athletics. In 2013 Holmes became the face of MoneyForce, a programme run by the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

to deliver money advice to the

UK armed forces The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping ef ...

. In early 2015, she took part in the ITV series '' Bear Grylls: Mission Survive'' and was the runner-up after a 12-day survival mission. In 2017, Holmes presented episode five of the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

television series ''Women at War: 100 Years of Service''. In December 2017, Holmes spoke about her 2003 mental health issues in an episode of '' All in the Mind'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

and in 2018 was one of the judges of the programme's awards. In January 2023, Holmes spoke again on the subject of transgender individuals' inclusion in sports stating "I have been ignorant in the past about the fight of the trans community and I now want to see fair and conclusive outcome for those whose gender differs from that assigned at birth, in all walks of life, including sport.". Since September 2022, Holmes has been a regular panelist on the ITV

Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about aspects of ...

talk show.

Cafe 1809 and The 1809 Hub

In 2014 Holmes opened a cafe and community hub in

named Cafe 1809 after her 2004 Olympics bib number. She opened a sister branch of the cafe in

Gravesend Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the Bank (geography), south bank of the River Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Roche ...

in 2017, but this closed after a few months. In October 2018 Holmes announced the cafe would close the following month, before re-opening as The 1809 Hub: "a space for events, pop-ups, and community gatherings".

Personal life

In June 2022, Holmes

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

in an interview with the ''

Sunday Mirror The ''Sunday Mirror'' is the Sunday sister paper of the ''Daily Mirror''. It began life in 1915 as the ''Sunday Pictorial'' and was renamed the ''Sunday Mirror'' in 1963. In 2016 it had an average weekly circulation of 620,861, dropping marked ...

'', adding that she felt "finally free". She said that she had known she was a lesbian since 1988, when she was in the army; she could not come out then as it was illegal at the time to be gay in the military. After winning two Olympic gold medals at Athens in 2004 and becoming a public figure, she feared there may still be consequences from the army if she came out after leaving, and that she may be shunned within athletics as there were no openly gay sportspeople she knew of. LGBT campaigners celebrated Holmes coming out, saying that it sheds light on the historic homophobia that can still serve as a barrier to older people coming out. Later that month, on 26 June, ITV broadcast a 55-minute documentary ''Kelly Holmes: Being Me'' in which she describes her fears of her sexuality being exposed, and meets two people who were discharged from the military for being gay. Holmes wrote: "The documentary taught me so much about generational and social advancements when it comes to the LGBTQ+ world."

Artistic recognition

In 2012, Holmes was one of five Olympians chosen for a series of body-casting artworks by

Louise Giblin Louise Giblin MRSS (born 1963) is a British body-cast sculptor. She is noted in particular for her "Body-Casting Olympians" project. Training Giblin trained under Antony Gormley and Peter Randall-Page at Brighton Polytechnic (1982–86) an ...

, exhibited in London with copies being sold in aid of the charity Headfirst. In 2017 a statue of Holmes by sculptor Guy Portelli was erected in Tonbridge.

Bibliography

* *

References

External links

* * * * * *
Kelly Holmes
at

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

"The real Holmes truth"
at

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holmes, Kelly 1970 births Military personnel from Kent Adjutant General's Corps soldiers Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners Black British sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire English female middle-distance runners British female middle-distance runners British Army honorary colonels English Olympic competitors English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent English lesbian sportswomen LGBTQ track and field athletes European Athletics Championships medalists Laureus World Sports Awards winners Living people Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes for Great Britain Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) People from Hildenborough Sportspeople from Pembury Royal Army Physical Training Corps soldiers Sportspeople awarded damehoods Women's Royal Army Corps soldiers Women in the British Army World Athletics Championships medalists Goodwill Games medalists in athletics European Athlete of the Year winners The Sunday Times Sportswoman of the Year winners Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games 20th-century British Army personnel Black British soldiers Black British LGBTQ people Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games 21st-century British sportswomen 21st-century English sportswomen 20th-century English sportswomen Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics