Katrina Jane Weston (née Colebrook, formerly Finch; born 8 November 1957) is a former British

middle-distance runner Middle-distance running events are track races longer than sprints, ranging from 500 metres up to . The standard middle distances are the 800 metres, 1500 metres and mile run, although the 3000 metres may also be classified as a middle-distanc ...

who specialised 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 ...

. Competing as Jane Colebrook, she equalled the world indoor best to win at the 1977 European Indoor Championships and won a bronze medal at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics was held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with a ...

. Competing as Jane Finch, she won a silver medal at the

1985 World Indoor Games The World Indoor Games were arranged by the IAAF and held at the Palais Omnisports Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from January 18 to January 19, 1985. In 1987 the championship was renamed to the IAAF World Indoor Championships and gained official st ...

Early life

Born Jane Colebrook in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

, she started out as a sprinter and won the under-15s

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400-metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

race at the 1972 AAAs Junior Championships, with her sister Teena, at Yarborough School in Caistor, living in Nettleton.

Career

She stepped up to longer distances over the next two years, winning both indoor and outdoor under-17s title in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

and

. She was the winner of the intermediate 800 m race at the 1974 English Schools Championships. In December 1976 she ran a British indoor junior record of 2:05.0 minutes for the 800 m (later bettered by Kirsty Wade in 1981). She had her greatest achievement at the 1977 European Athletics Indoor Championships at the age of nineteen, where after qualifying for the final as one of the fastest losers she went on to beat

Totka Petrova Totka Nikolaeva Petrova (, born 17 December 1956) is a retired female middle-distance runner who represented Bulgaria in the 1970s and the early 1980s. She specialized in the 800 and 1500 metres, and won numerous international medals. She was n ...

to win the 800 m

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 ...

with a world indoor record-equalling time of 2:01.1 minutes. This time was a British indoor record for 26 years, becoming the longest-standing British record at one point, and was improved upon by

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 ...

in 2003. It remains the fastest ever time by a female British under-23 runner. That July, she ran her lifetime best for the 800 m outdoors in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

, Finland, clocking a time of 2:00.6 minutes, which made her the second best British performer in the event at that point, behind Rosemary Stirling. Colebrook also won the women's title at the North of England Cross Country Championships that year. She won a 400/800 m double at the

UK Athletics Championships The UK Athletics Championships was an annual national championship in track and field for the United Kingdom, organised by the British Athletics Federation. The event incorporated the 1980 Olympic trials for the British Olympic team. The venue ...

in 1978. Colebrook went on to represent England in the latter event at the

and won the

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 ...

behind Judy Peckham and Tekla Chemabwai. When married, she moved to Aylesby in the 1980s, and ran for Cannock Chase, where she trained every Tuesday. She ran 23 miles each week in the summer, and 30 miles in the winter. She won the final major medal of her career at the

1985 IAAF World Indoor Games The World Indoor Games were arranged by the IAAF and held at the Palais Omnisports Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from January 18 to January 19, 1985. In 1987 the championship was renamed to the IAAF World Indoor Championships and gained official st ...

, where she took the 800 m

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

behind the Romanian Olympic medallist

Cristieana Cojocaru Cristieana Cojocaru (later Matei, born 2 January 1962) is a retired Romanian runner who specialized in the 400 m hurdles and flat 800 m events. She won a bronze medal in the hurdles at the 1984 Olympics. In the 800 m she won the 1985 world indoo ...

. She brought her professional career to a close in order to focus on her family and raising her three children. She returned to competition as a

masters athlete Masters Athletics managed by World Masters Athletics is a class of the sport of athletics for athletes of 35 years of age and over organized by World Masters Athletics. The events include track and field, road running and cross country running. ...

and won the over-35s

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 ...

title at the European Veterans Indoor Championships. In her later career she was known under her married name Finch. She was later divorced, competing as Jane Colebrook again, and then remarried and ran as Jane Weston. She was coached by Dave Sunderland. Her sister, Teena Colebrook, was also a runner and won seven

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

titles in middle distance events for

California Polytechnic State University California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Cal Poly) is a public university in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States, - Cites the location of the university and shows that the university ...

International competitions

Personal life

She married Terry Finch of

Healing With physical trauma or disease suffered by an organism, healing involves the repairing of damaged tissue(s), organs and the biological system as a whole and resumption of (normal) functioning. Medicine includes the process by which the cells ...

, in August 1979 at Caistor register office. Her older sister Teena had moved to

Deeping St James Deeping St James is a large village in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish (including Frognall) was reported as 7,051 at the 2011 census. History Based around a now lost 12th-century Bened ...

by 1983. Her sister Teena (born October 1956) was a P E instructor for eight years in the WRAF until 1981, with her last three years at

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire ...

, in 1980, training at St Athan in 1975''Glamorgan Gazette'' Friday 3 October 1975, page 11 Teena represented the UK in the

in the 1990 European Championships.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Colebrook, Jane Living people 1957 births Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England English female middle-distance runners British female middle-distance runners People from Caistor Sportspeople from Lincolnshire World record setters in athletics (track and field) World Athletics Indoor Championships medalists Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games 20th-century English sportswomen Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in athletics