Peirresha Alexandra Shakes-Drayton (born 21 December 1988) is a British retired track and field athlete. After specialising in the

400 metres hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

in the early part of her career, a knee injury at the 2013 World Championships forced Shakes-Drayton to concentrate on 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 (sport), athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor runn ...

on her return to athletics. She is the 2013 European Indoor Champion in the 400 metres and won a 2012 World Indoor Championship gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay. She has also won silver and bronze medals in the 4 × 400 m relay at the World Championships. In 2018, Shakes-Drayton took part in the tenth series of the ITV show ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series presented by Phillip Schofield alongside Holly Willoughby from 2006 to 2011, who then returned in 2018, and Christine Bleakley from 2012 to 2014. The series features celebrities and their profe ...

''.

Personal life

Shakes-Drayton was born in East London, to parents from

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

and grew up in Bow, where she continues to reside. She attended Holy Family R.C. Primary School in Poplar and Bishop Challoner Catholic Collegiate School in Stepney. She studied sports science at Brunel University, where she graduated with a 2:1. She married her fiancé, high-jump athlete Mike Olayemi Edwards in London in June 2019. Shakes welcomed her first child with Edwards on 26 August 2020.

Athletics career

Shakes-Drayton at 2010 Josef Odlozil Memorial

Shakes-Drayton came to prominence at the English Schools Championships where she set a UK junior record time in the 400 m hurdles. She made her first major international appearance at the

2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 2006 World Junior Championships in Athletics is the 2006 version of the World Junior Championships in Athletics. It was held from 15 August to 20 August at the Chaoyang Sports Centre in Beijing, the capital of the People's Republic of China. ...

where she finished eighth, achieving a new personal best of 57.52 seconds.future Olympics stars
''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' (2007-07-23). Retrieved on 2009-03-13. She took the silver medal at the

2007 European Athletics Junior Championships The 19th European Athletics Junior Championships were held between 19 and 22 July 2007 at the FBK-Stadium in Hengelo, in the eastern Netherlands. Medal summary Men Women Medal table See also *2007 in athletics (track and field) ...

with a time of 56.46 s, a national junior record in the event. Shakes-Drayton won the 400 m hurdles at the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

GB trials, but veteran

Tasha Danvers Tasha De'Anka Danvers (born 19 September 1977) is a British Olympic bronze medallist, who finished in third place in the 400 metres hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She was born in London to two athletes, Dorrett McKoy and Donald Danvers, ...

was chosen to represent Great Britain instead, going on to win the bronze medal. Despite the non-selection, Shakes-Drayton was considered to be a medal prospect for the next Olympics in 2012. At the 2009 British Championships in Birmingham, she finished second in the

behind reigning world champion

Christine Ohuruogu Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu , MBE (born 17 May 1984) is a British former track and field athlete who specialised in the 400 metres, the event for which she is a former Olympic, World and Commonwealth champion. The Olympic champion in 2008, and s ...

, setting a new personal best. Further success came on the junior circuit at the

2009 European Athletics U23 Championships The 7th European Athletics U23 Championships were held between 16 and 19 July 2009 in the S. Darius and S. Girėnas Stadium in Kaunas, Lithuania. Complete results and medal winners were published. Men's results Women's results Medal tabl ...

, where she won the 400 m hurdles gold medal with a run of 55.26 seconds, another personal best. Having secured a place on the Great Britain team, she set her sights on the

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

, remarking: "I like people talking about me. It means I must be doing some things right. Now I have to live up to the hype because hype is pointless if you don't live up to it.". She ran at the

in Berlin and reached the semi-finals of the competition. However, she finished seventh in the race with a time of 57.57 seconds and did not compete in the final. She ran a personal best of 54.91 seconds for the 400 m hurdles to win at the Memorial Primo Nebiolo in June 2010. In the absence of Tasha Danvers, Shakes-Drayton and Eilidh Child were the sole representatives for Great Britain at the

2010 European Athletics Championships The 2010 European Athletics Championships were the 20th edition of the European Athletics Championships, organised under the supervision of the European Athletic Association. They were held at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in Barcelona, Cat ...

. Shakes-Drayton finished 2nd in her heat, with a time of 55.35. She then finished 3rd in her semi-final to qualify for the final in a new personal best of 54.73. In the final she finished third to win the bronze medal with a new personal best of 54.18. Perri Shakes-Drayton - 400m Match - England 6 - 2

Perri Shakes-Drayton - 400m Match - England 6 - 2

At the 2012 London Grand Prix, the final

Diamond League The Diamond League is an annual series of elite track and field athletic competitions comprising fourteen of the best invitational athletics meetings. The series sits in the top tier of the World Athletics (formerly known as the IAAF) one-day mee ...

meeting prior to the 2012 London Olympic Games, Shakes-Drayton recorded another personal best for the 400m hurdles of 53.77, a time that put her second in the world rankings for the year and also made her the second fastest British athlete of all time in the event behind only Sally Gunnell. However, in the Olympic 400m hurdles she was unable to reach the final, finishing third in her semi-final heat. She was also part of the GB 4 × 400 m relay team which finished fifth in the final of that event. At the

2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2013 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at Scandinavium and Svenska Mässan in Gothenburg, Sweden, on 1–3 March 2013. Bidding process The decision to grant the event for Gothenburg was made by the European Athletics Council a ...

in Gothenburg, Shakes-Drayton went on to win gold in the Women's 400m final with a Personal Best of 50.85 ahead of another Great Britain runner Eilidh Child. She was also part of the Women's 4 × 400 m team along with Eilidh Child, Shana Cox and

which won gold at the same championships.

Personal bests

References

External links

Official website
*
Agency website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shakes-Drayton, Perri Living people 1988 births People from Bow, London Athletes from London English female hurdlers British female hurdlers British female sprinters English female sprinters Olympic female hurdlers Olympic female sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Commonwealth Games competitors for England Athletes (track and field) at the 2018 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Indoor Championships winners European Athletics Championships winners European Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Indoor Championships winners British Athletics Championships winners Black British sportswomen Alumni of Brunel University London English sportspeople of Grenadian descent