Isobel Pooley (born 21 December 1992) is a former British track and field athlete who specialises in the high jump. She won a silver medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Career Pooley's first high jump was in the gymnasium at Court Moor School.
As a teenager, Pooley competed at both the World Junior Championships and European Junior Championships, failing to reach the final. In 2012, she improved her best from 1.86m, first to 1.88 m indoors then to 1.90m, which she cleared at the Bedford Games in June. She competed at that year's European Championships in Helsinki, where she was eliminated in the qualifying round with a best of 1.78m. In July 2013, she finished fourth in the final at the European Under 23 Championships in Tampere, clearing 1.90m. A month later, she improved her personal best to 1.91m.
In June 2014 Pooley won the UK Championships with 1.90m. In August she won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, with a new best of 1.92m. Three weeks later, she broke the UK outdoor record, when she improved her best by 4 cm to 1.96m in Eberstadt, Germany. The previous UK record of 1.95m had first been set by Diana Davies (then Elliott) in 1982. It was then equalled in 2001 by Susan Moncrieff and again in 2007 by Olympic Heptathlon Champion Jessica Ennis, before Pooley finally surpassed it.
In 2015 Pooley broke the UK outdoor record, and equalled the indoor record set by Katerina Johnson-Thompson earlier in the year, with 1.97m.British record for Isobel Pooley
Pooley withdrew from the Rio 2016 Olympics selection process due to injury.
She moved to Germany in November 2017 and announced her retirement in September 2018, at the age of 25.
Pooley graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2014 with first class honours. In August 2016 she undertook the Macmillan "Brave the Shave" charity challenge by having her head shaved.
International competitions Representing / 2010World Junior ChampionshipsMoncton, Canada14th (q)1.78 m2011European Junior ChampionshipsTallinn, Estonia13th (q)1.80 m2012European ChampionshipsHelsinki, Finland21st (q)1.78 m2013European U23 ChampionshipsTampere, Finland4th1.90 m2014Commonwealth GamesGlasgow, United Kingdom 2nd1.92 m2015European Indoor ChampionshipsPrague, Czech Republic17th (q)1.82 mWorld ChampionshipsBeijing, China19th (q)1.89 m2016World Indoor Championships Portland, Oregon10th1.89 mEuropean ChampionshipsAmsterdam, Netherlands16th (q)1.85 m Note: Results with a q, indicate overall position in qualifying round.
National titles
English Schools Championships - 2009, 2010 England Under 20 Championships - 2010, 2011 England Under 23 Championships - 2013 UK Championships & trials - 2014, 2015
References