Sharon Danville (née Colyear, born 22 April 1955) is a British former sprinter and

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. She represented Great Britain at the

1976 Montreal Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

and at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. She won a bronze medal 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 ...

at the

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

, while in the

4 x 100 metres relay 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest co ...

, she won a gold medal at the 1978 Commonwealth Games and a silver medal at the 1978 European Championships.

Career

Born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, Colyear won the 1969 AAAs Under 15 200m title in 25.5 secs and the 1970 AAAs U17 200m title in 25.0 secs. On 22 June 1976, Colyear achieved her lifetime best in the 100m hurdles with 13.11 secs in Poland. She then won the AAAs 100m hurdles title, ahead of Judy Vernon, running a wind-assisted 13.47 secs, and also finished second behind

Andrea Lynch Andrea Joan Caron Lynch (born November 24, 1952) is a British former track and field sprinter who competed mainly in the 100 metres. A two-time Olympian, the peak of her career was becoming a bronze medallist in the 100 m at the 1974 European C ...

in the 100m, running 11.39. At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, she ran 13.18 in her heat to qualify for the 100m hurdles semifinals, where she was eliminated in 17.32. She also finished second to

Sonia Lannaman Sonia May Lannaman (born 24 March 1956) is a British former athlete, who competed mainly in the 100 metres. She won the Commonwealth Games 100 metres title in Edmonton 1978 and won an Olympic bronze medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 19 ...

in the AAAs 100m final in 1977, running 11.35. Colyear won her second AAAs 100m hurdles title in 1978, running 13.51 to defeat

Shirley Strong Shirley Elaine Strong (née Strong, born 18 November 1958) is a British former athlete who competed mainly in the 100 metres hurdles. In this event, she won a silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, a gold medal at the 1982 Commo ...

, who was second. At the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, she won a bronze medal in an English sweep of the 100m hurdles final, with a wind-assisted 13.17, finishing behind

Lorna Boothe Lorna Marie Boothe (born 5 December 1954 in Kingston, Jamaica) is an English former 100 metres hurdler. She is the 1978 Commonwealth Games gold medallist and the 1982 Commonwealth Games silver medallist. She is also a former British record h ...

(12.98) and Shirley Strong (13.08). She did win a gold medal in the relay, along with teammates

Bev Goddard Beverley Lanita Callender (née Goddard, born 28 August 1956) is an English former track and field sprinter. She competed for Great Britain at the Olympic Games in Montreal 1976, Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984, winning bronze medals in the 4 x ...

Kathy Smallwood Kathryn Jane Cook (née Smallwood; born 3 May 1960) is a former elite athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze meda ...

and

. A month later at the 1978 European Championships, she won a silver medal for Great Britain in the relay with the same three teammates. In the 100m hurdles, she ran 13.23 secs in her heat to qualify for the semis, where she ran 13.25, missing the final by one place. After several quiet seasons and now competing as Sharon Danville, she ran 13.66 to finish third in the 100m hurdles at the 1983 UK Championships behind Shirley Strong and Pat Rollo. She earned selection for the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, where she ran 13.46 in her 100m hurdles heat to qualify for the semifinals, where she improved to 13.35 for fifth in the second semi, missing the final by one place.

International competitions

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colyear, Sharon 1955 births Living people English female hurdlers English female sprinters Olympic athletes of Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England