Philippa Kate Roles (1 March 1978 – 21 May 2017) was a Welsh

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

er who competed at two

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

and four

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 ...

. Roles was British junior athlete of the year – an honour presented at Buckingham Palace. She was the first British discus thrower to medal at junior European level; and narrowly missed out on a medal at under 23 level, finishing 4th. She competed 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 ...

in Athens and at the

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

in Beijing.

Biography

Born in

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

, she studied at Neath Port Talbot College from where she gained her degree, and was resident in London. Roles worked for the train operating company Southern as a

train driver A train driver is a person who operates a train, railcar, or other rail transport vehicle. The driver is in charge of and is responsible for the mechanical operation of the train, train speed, and all of the train handling (also known as bra ...

on services in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

. She represented Swansea Harriers at club level. Proudly Welsh, she was a popular member of Team Wales and Team GB due to her sense of humour and self-deprecating manner. Roles was a five-times British discus throw champion after winning the 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 in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009. Her personal best throw was 62.89 metres, achieved in June 2003 in

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

. This placed her third on the British outdoor all-time list, behind Meg Ritchie and Venissa Head. It also ranked her in the World top 20. Roles competed in the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, in Manchester in 2002, in Melbourne, Australia in 2006 and Delhi in 2010. She competed in two Olympics - in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008. On 16 July 2008, Roles appeared as Jonny Saunders' guest in the feature "Who's in the Locker, Cocker?" on '' Chris Evans Drivetime'' on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

. Roles died suddenly and unexpectedly on 21 May 2017 aged 39.

International competitions

References

External links

*
Philippa Roles
at the

British Olympic Association The British Olympic Association (BOA; ) is the National Olympic Committee for the United Kingdom. It represents the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but also incorporate represen ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roles, Philippa 1978 births 2017 deaths Sportspeople from Neath Welsh female discus throwers British female discus throwers Olympic female discus throwers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games athletes for Wales Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2010 Commonwealth Games British Athletics Championships winners Swansea Harriers Athletics Club People educated at Neath Port Talbot College