Julia Machin (née Bennett, born 26 March 1970) is a former

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er who competed for England and Epsom and Ewell Harriers.

Biography

Bennett achieved her best of 1.92 metres on 6 March 1990, when winning at the

AAA Indoor Championships The AAA Indoor Championships was an annual indoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost indoor domestic athletics event during its lifetime. The event was first held in 1935, fo ...

at the age of just 19. Bennett became the British high jump champion after winning the 1990 UK Championships and British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title at the 1994 AAA Championships, where in the latter, she set her outdoor best of 1.89 metres on 11 June 1994. Shortly afterwards she represented

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

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games ( French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, between 18 and 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, box ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Canada. She also has a

Heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek ἑπτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hep ...

best of 5747 (1996) and an indoor

Pentathlon A pentathlon is a contest featuring five events. The name is derived from Greek language, Greek: combining the words ''pente'' (five) and -''athlon'' (competition) (). The first pentathlon was documented in Ancient Greece and was part of the Anci ...

best of 4297 (1998). The latter score (as of 2022) ranks her 10th on the British all-time list. Bennett finished second behind Susan Jones at the 2003 AAA Championships. Having cleared 1.88m aged 35 in 2005, she represented

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 ...

in Melbourne. She went on to break the British masters age 40+ record with 1.78m in 2010, and to equal the British masters 45+ record with 1.65m in 2016.

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Julia 1970 births Living people English female high jumpers British female high jumpers Commonwealth Games athletes for England Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games British pentathletes English heptathletes British heptathletes 21st-century English sportswomen 20th-century English sportswomen