Kathy Smallwood-Cook

A winner of 15 medals from major championships, Kathy Cook is usually considered to be the greatest female all-round sprinter that Britain has ever produced. At the start of 2011 she had held the British records at 200, 300 and 400 metres for more than a quarter of a century and her 100 metre time had only ever been beaten once by a British athlete. She was also part of the British bronze medal winning team in the 4×100 at the Moscow Olympics that has held the national record for 30 years. Cook made her championship début at the 1978 Commonwealth Games where she was part of England’s winning sprint relay team and a few weeks later added a European Championship silver in the same event.

At first she specialized in the 100 and the 200 and reached both finals at the Moscow Olympics but then gradually shifted focus towards the 400 metres. In 1982 she was the silver medallist at both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games over 200 metres and the following year was third over the same distance at the first World Championships. In relays she won Commonwealth Games gold and both European and World silver over the same period. Her best year was 1984 as she set national records at both 200 and 400 metres at the Los Angeles Olympics and won a bronze medal in the latter event. She was also a part of the sprint relay team that again won an Olympic bronze medal. After an injury ruined season in 1985 she returned to competition and won four medals (1 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) at the Commonwealth Games which would be the last major championship of her career. In 1982 she married Gary Cook who won a silver medal in the 4×400 relay at the LA Olympics and also helped set a world record in the 4×800 relay. She now works as a teacher.

Personal Bests: 100 – 11.10 (1981); 200 – 22.10 (1984); 400 – 49.43 (1984).