Lee McConnell

Lee McConnell

220px Lee McConnell in Osaka 2007
Personal information
Born	(1978-10-09) 9 October 1978 Glasgow, Scotland
Height
Weight	64 kg (141 lb)
Sport
Country	Great Britain Scotland
Club	Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers
Turned pro	2000
Retired	2014
Achievements and titles
World finals	2003 – 7th
Highest world ranking	8th (2002)
Personal best(s)	100 m 11.67 200 m 23.16 400 m 50.86 HJ 1.88 m
Medal record Representing Great Britain Women's athletics World Championships 2005 Helsinki 4x400 m relay 2007 Osaka 4x400 m relay European Championships 2002 Munich 400 m 2010 Barcelona 4x400 m relay European Indoor Championships 2011 Paris 4x400 m relay 2005 Madrid 4x400 m relay 2007 Birmingham 4x400 m relay Commonwealth Games 2002 Manchester 400 m 2006 Melbourne 400 m Hurdles Universiade 2001 Beijing 4x400 m relay

Lee McConnell (born 9 October 1978) is a retired Scottish athlete, who competed in the 400 metres. She is a triple-Olympian having competed for Great Britain at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics and is a nine-time medalist at major championships.

Voted Scottish Athlete of the Year in 2002, 2003 and 2007, McConnell is the joint record holder for the 4 × 400 metres relay times for both Great Britain and Scotland.

Career

Lee McConnell attended Holyrood R.C. Secondary School in Glasgow before graduating from Loughborough University in 2000 with a degree in Sports Science. She became the Scottish 200 metres champion in 2002, and 2005. She also won the 400 m in 2001, and the 400 m at the AAA Championships in 2002.

Internationally, in 2002, McConnell won a bronze medal at the 2002 European championships in the 400 m, then added a Commonwealth Games silver in the 400 m. In 2003 at the European Cup, McConnell came second in both the 400 m and the 4 × 400 m relay. She went to finish fifth in the 400 m final at the 2003 World Championships.

Her personal best time over 400 m is 50.82 seconds.

McConnell was originally a high jumper (becoming Scottish champion in 1998, 1999 and 2000), before turning to the 400 m and then the 400 metres hurdles (winning Commonwealth Bronze in a PB time).

After the 2007 season, McConnell decided to give up hurdling, as her transition from the flat had not been as successful as she had intended, and she returned to the 400 m flat. She broke the stadium record in the 400 m at the 2008 FBK Games, producing her fastest season opener.

At domestic level, McConnell later won the British 400 m title in 2008 and 2010, the British Inter-Counties 200 metres title in 2009, and two more Scottish 200 m titles (outdoor again in 2011 and indoor in 2013).

Relays

In addition to winning medals in individual contests, she has been a fairly successful relay runner. McConnell was known for participating in the Great Britain 4 × 400 m relay team at major events.

McConnell won bronze medals in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships. She ran the first leg in a team with Donna Fraser, Nicola Sanders and Christine Ohuruogu in 2005 and ran the third leg in team with Ohuruogu, Marilyn Okoro and Sanders in 2007, which a set a national record.

In addition at the World Championships, she ran the first leg for the 4 × 400 m relay teams that finished fifth in 2001, sixth in 2003, and fourth in 2009, also running fourth leg for the team that finished fourth in 2011.

McConnell alongside Fraser, Catherine Murphy, and Ohuruogu finished fourth in the 4 × 400 m relay at the 2004 Olympics, but could inherit bronze medals from this event as American athlete Crystal Cox was later found guilty of doping offences. Cox and not the US team had her medal revoked but that could still change.

At the 2012 Olympics, she ran the second leg as Great Britain finished fifth in the 4 × 400 m relay.

She has also accumulated relay medals from the 4 × 400 m event from the Universiade Games (in 2001), the European Championships (in 2002 and 2010) and the European Indoor Championships (in 2005, 2007 and 2011).

For Scotland, McConnell ran in the 4 × 400 m relay at the Commonwealth Games in 2002 and 2010 (where a national record was set).

Retirement

McConnell missed the 2013 season after becoming pregnant with her first child. She returned to training nine weeks after giving birth to her son with a view to competing at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in her hometown of Glasgow – however she announced her immediate retirement from athletics in April 2014.

International competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing the United Kingdom and Scotland
1999	European U23 Championships	Göteborg, Sweden	12th	High jump	1.82 m
2001	Summer Universiade	Beijing, China	2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:30.40
2002	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, England	2nd	400 m	51.68
	European Championships	Munich, Germany	3rd	400 m	51.02
2005	European Indoor Championships	Madrid, Spain	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:29.81
	World Championships	Helsinki, Finland	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:24.44
2006	Commonwealth Games	Melbourne, Australia	3rd	400 m hurdles	55.25
2007	European Indoor Championships	Birmingham, United Kingdom	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:28.69
	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:20.04
2010	European Championships	Barcelona, Spain	3rd	4 × 400 m relay	3:24.32
2011	European Indoor Championships	Paris, France	2nd	4 × 400 m relay	3:31.36

Personal Life

McConnell is a huge rugby union fan, and is supporter of the Glasgow Warriors and the Scotland national team.

External links

• Lee McConnell profile at IAAF
• MTC profile

Preceded by Lesley Owusu Nicola Sanders Christine Ohuruogu

British champion in women's 400 m 2002 2008 2010

Succeeded by Helen Karagounis Christine Ohuruogu Perri Shakes-Drayton