Laura Weightman (born 1 July 1991) is a former British middle-distance runner. She reached the 1500 metres final at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2016 Rio Olympics. She won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and bronze medals at the 2014 and 2018 European Championships. She also won a bronze medal in the 5000 metres at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Early life and education Weightman was born on 1 July 1991 in Alnwick, Northumberland, England,. Glasgow2014. Retrieved on 2014-09-17. where she was educated at The Duchess's Community High School. In May 2013, she graduated with a Sport and Exercise Science degree from Leeds Metropolitan University.
Career Weightman finished sixth in the 1500 metres final at the 2010 IAAF World Junior Championships in Athletics and ended the season with a 1500m best of 4:09.60. She improved this to 4:07.94 in 2011.
At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Weightman ran a personal best of 4:02.99 in the 1500 metres semi-finals, and went on to finish ninth in the final. In 2013, she ran a 3000 metres best of 8:43.46 in Stretford. She further improved her 1500 metres best to 4:00.17 on 5 July 2014 at the Paris Diamond League. She won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and a bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships in Zurich.
Weightman reached her second Olympic final in 2016, finishing 11th at the Olympic Games in Rio. She finished sixth in the 1500m final at the 2017 World Championships in London. She won bronze medals in the 5000 metres at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and in the 1500m at the 2018 European Championships in Berlin. After running a personal best of 4:20.49 for the mile in 2018, she improved to 4:17.60 in 2019, a time that moved her into the world all-time top 25.
During her career, Weightman was coached by Steve Cram and Mike Bateman (Morpeth Harriers).
She became a five times British champion when winning the 1500 metres event at the 2020 British Athletics Championships in a time of 4 min 09.76 secs. Retrieved 18 January 2021
Weightman announced her retirement from athletics in September 2023. Weightman will continue to coach distance runners at her club in the UK.
Statistics
Competition record +Representing / 2010World Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, Canada6th1500 m4:14.312012Olympic GamesLondon, United Kingdom7th1500 m4:15.602013European Team ChampionshipsGateshead, United Kingdom2nd3000 m9:03.112014Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom2nd1500 m4:09.24European ChampionshipsZurich, Switzerland3rd1500 m4:06.322015World ChampionshipsBeijing, China (sf)1500 m4:06.13 (h)2016Olympic GamesRio de Janeiro, Brazil11th1500 m4:14.952017World ChampionshipsLondon, United Kingdom6th1500 m4:04.112018Commonwealth GamesGold Coast, Australia3rd5000 m15:25.84European ChampionshipsBerlin, Germany3rd1500 m4:03:752019World ChampionshipsDoha, Qatar7th5000 m14:44.57
Personal bests Event Time Venue Date800 metres2:01.87Stretford, United Kingdom25 July 20171500 metres4:00.09Berlin, Germany13 September 2020Mile4:17.60Monaco12 July 20193000 metres8:26.07Stanford, CA, United States30 June 20195000 meters14:35.44Monaco14 Aug 2020 All information taken from IAAF profile.
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