Shelley Jean Newman, now Parr and (née Drew), (born 8 August 1973) is a female retired

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

discus thrower. She was born in Carshalton, London and competed for Great Britain at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athletics career

Her personal best throw is 61.22 metres, achieved in June 2003 in Loughborough. This was the English record for many years and at the time and placed her fourth on the British outdoor all-time list, behind Meg Ritchie,

Venissa Head Venissa Anne Head (born 1 September 1956 in Merthyr Tydfil) is a former international track and field athlete from Wales. Biography She went to secondary school at Cyfarthfa Castle Grammar School in Wales, and it was whilst there that she w ...

and

Philippa Roles Philippa Kate Roles OLY (1 March 1978 – 21 May 2017) was a Wales, Welsh discus thrower who competed at two Olympic Games, Olympic and four Commonwealth Games. Roles was British junior athlete of the year – an honour presented at Buckingham Pal ...

. She represented

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 b ...

in the discus event, at the

1998 Commonwealth Games The 1998 Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel 1998)'', officially known as the XVI Commonwealth Games ''(Malay: Sukan Komanwel ke-16)'', was a multi-sport event held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This edition is marked by several unprecedent ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Four years later she won a bronze medal at the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

in Manchester.

Personal life

Shelley has a degree in

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

, which she gained at the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

in 1994. She earned her doctorate in the subject in 1999 and became a Professorial Fellow in Medical Education in 2016. She currently works as the Director of the Centre for Higher Education Practice at the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. Previously she held posts at the University of Birmingham and, until 2007,

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

International competitions

References

* 1973 births Living people Athletes from London Sportspeople from Carshalton British female discus throwers English female discus throwers Olympic athletes for Great Britain Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain Alumni of the University of Birmingham Competitors at the 1999 Summer Universiade Medallists at the 2002 Commonwealth Games {{England-athletics-bio-stub