Jemma Louise Simpson OLY (born 10 February in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

) is a

British 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 ...

athlete who competes in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or 800 meters (American and British English spelling differences#-re.2C -er, US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of 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 ...

. She is a former British champion over 800m, winning both 2007, 2009 and 2010 British Championships. She was formerly coached by Olympic medallist

Mark Rowland Mark Robert Rowland (born 7 March 1963 in Watersfield, West Sussex, England) is a retired male distance-runner from the United Kingdom, who specialised in the 3000m steeplechase. Athletics career Rowland came third in the men's men's 3000 m ...

Early life

Simpson attended Mount Charles Junior school, and Penrice School, before receiving a scholarship to

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding ...

at the age of 13, and graduated from St. Mary's College, Twickenham where she studied English and Media. Simpson has starred as an extra in ''

Neighbours ''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...

'', and ''

The Da Vinci Code ''The Da Vinci Code'' is a 2003 mystery thriller novel by Dan Brown. It is “the best-selling American novel of all time.” Brown's second novel to include the character Robert Langdon—the first was his 2000 novel '' Angels & Demons''� ...

''.

Career

As a junior athlete, she finished eighth at the 2001 World Youth Championships, fourth at the 2002 World Junior Championships and won a bronze medal at the 2003 European Junior Championships. She also won the gold medal for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at the 2002

Commonwealth Youth Games The Commonwealth Youth Games (CYG) is an international multi-sport event organized by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The games were held in the years, mid-way between when the Commonwealth Games are held, until 2008. They continued to be he ...

. In 2005 Simpson won a silver at the European Cup, despite only competing as a replacement for the injured

Kelly Holmes Dame Kelly Holmes (born 19 April 1970) is a retired British Middle-distance running, middle distance Track and field, athlete and television personality. Holmes specialised in the 800 metres, 800 and 1500 metres events and won gold medals for ...

. Simpson's highlights of the 2006 season were taking sixth place in the 800 metres final at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

and finishing second at the British Championships, behind Rebecca Lyne. She finished 2006, being the fifth fastest British athlete over 800 metres, behind Rebecca Lyne, Susan Scott, Amanda Pritchard and Marilyn Okoro. After an injury plagued winter, missing many indoor championships and training sessions, Simpson made her major comeback at the British Championships, taking the gold medal, and becoming Britain's number 1 over 800 m. She was then selected for the

team for the 800 m at the 2007 World Championships. At the championships, she qualified into the semi-finals, coming second in her heat with a time of 2:00.47 minutes. In the semi-final she finished sixth with a time of 2:00.48 minutes and failed to qualify for the final. Like Simpson fellow British athletes, Marilyn Okoro and

Jenny Meadows Jennifer Brenda "Jenny" Meadows (born 17 April 1981) is a retired British athlete. Her main event was the 800 metres although earlier in her career she also competed over the 400 metres. In the 800 m she won a bronze medal at the 2009 Wor ...

both failed at the semi-final stage having finished second in their respective heats. She finished eighth at the 2007 World Athletics Final. At the 2009 World Championships Simpson went out at the semi-final stage of the 800m. At the start of the 2010 outdoor season, she set a 1500 m personal best of 4:06.39 at a meeting at

Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is ...

, in the United States. She also improved her 800m personal best to 1:58.74 at the

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fifteen invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics one-day meet competitions. The inaugural season was ...

event in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

on 22 July 2010.

Personal bests

*800 metres - 1:58.74 min (2010) *1500 metres - 4:06.39 min (2010)

References

External links

* *
Profile at Powerof10 (UK Athletics)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Jemma 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Plymouth, Devon English female middle-distance runners British female middle-distance runners Olympic female middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2014 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham 21st-century English sportswomen