Sarah Louise Claxton (born 23 September 1979) is a retired English athlete who specialised in the

100 metres hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

and competed at two Olympic Games.

Biography

Claxton grew up in Colchester, Essex. She attended Monkwick Infant and Junior schools then went on to The Thomas Lord Audley School aged 11. Claxton formerly competed in the long jump, finishing second behind Andrea Coore in the long jump event at the 1997 AAA Championships and fourth at the 1998 World Junior Championships. Her personal best long jump was 6.60 metres, achieved in August 2003 in

Tessenderlo Tessenderlo (; ) is a former municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg. It is where the three Belgian provinces of Limburg, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp meet at the front gate of the Averbode Abbey. The municipality Tessenderlo encompasses ...

. After switching primarily to hurdles Claxton competed at the World Indoor Championships in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. Claxton became the British 100 metres hurdles 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 at the 2004 AAA Championships. Shortly afterwards at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, she represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in the women's 100 metres hurdles. She retained her AAA title in 2005 and 2006 and competed at the 2005 World Championships,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

without reaching the final round. Claxton won a fourth AAA title in 2008 and set her personal best time for 100m hurdles is 12.81 seconds, achieved in July 2008 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 ...

. She is a former British record holder in the 60 metres hurdles, with a personal best of 7.96 seconds, achieved in February 2005 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. However, this was beaten by Tiffany Porter in 2011 with a time of 7.80s at the

2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France, from 4 to 6 March 2011. 577 athletes representing 46 countries competed at the championships. Twenty-six track and field events we ...

. She finished eighth at the

2008 Olympic Games 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 fr ...

. In 2023, she took part in the third series of DNA Family Secrets, attempting to discover who her biological father is, having never known him. Professor Turi King was able to trace her father for her.

References

External links

BOA profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Claxton, Sarah 1979 births Living people British female hurdlers British female long jumpers Olympic female hurdlers 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 England Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain British Athletics Championships winners AAA Championships winners Black British sportswomen English female hurdlers English female long jumpers Sportspeople from Colchester 21st-century English sportswomen