Elizabeth Bird
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British |
| Born | 4 October 1994 |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
Event | 3000 metres steeplechase |
| Club | Shaftesbury Barnet Harriers |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Personal bests | |
Medal record | |
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Elizabeth Bird (born 4 October 1994)[1] is a British athlete who specialises in the 3000 metres steeplechase. She won the silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and bronze medals at the 2022 and 2024 European Athletics Championships.
Bird is the current British record-holder in the 3000 m steeplechase with a time of 9:04.35. She is a three-time (2021, 2022 and 2024) British national champion.
Early career
[edit | edit source]Bird began running in St Albans, and her first club was Hertfordshire Phoenix Athletic Club.[2] She studied at Princeton University, graduating in Public and International Affairs in 2017. She was an NCAA Honorable Mention All-America honoree in the steeplechase in 2015 and was a four-time NCAA Regional qualifier. Bird was a two-time Ivy League champion in the steeplechase and part of the 4x800 m team that won a conference title in 2017 as well as being the Ivy League cross country champion in 2015.[3]
Career
[edit | edit source]Bird competed in the women's 3000 m steeplechase event at the 2019 World Athletics Championships and did not advance from the heats clocking a personal best of 9:30.13.[4]
Having qualified for the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in her specialist event, she reached the final after finishing fifth in her heat.[5] In the final Bird broke the national record with a time of 9:19.68, placing ninth.[1]
In July 2022, she did not qualify for the final at the World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon in a time of 9:23.17. About three weeks later, Bird won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games Birmingham 2022 in a personal best of 9:17.79.[1] She set new lifetime best and a British record of 9:07.87 at the Monaco Diamond League five days later.[6] Also in August, she earned a bronze at the European Athletics Championships in Munich, clocking 9:23.18.[1]
She won a second European bronze medal in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome.[7] Bird was selected to represent Great Britain at the 2024 Summer Olympics[8] where she finished seventh setting a new national record time of 9:04.35.[9]
Personal life
[edit | edit source]Bird lives in Reno with her partner. She studied for a master's degree in International Studies at the University of San Francisco between 2017 and 2018 but deferred a place at law school in Boulder, Colorado in order to focus on the 2020 Summer Olympics. She has been involved in advocacy and support for human rights organisation Detention Action.[2]
References
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External links
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- Elizabeth Bird at Team England
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- 1994 births
- Living people
- English women middle-distance runners
- British women middle-distance runners
- British women steeplechase runners
- Olympic athletes for Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- Medallists at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
- World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Olympics
- British Athletics Championships winners
- European Athletics Championships medalists
- People educated at St Albans School, Hertfordshire
- 21st-century English sportswomen
- University of San Francisco alumni
- Princeton University alumni
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics