Legends
Ashia Hansen
Ashia represented Great Britain (and England) in triple-jump since 1994, competing at the Olympic and Commonwealth Games as well as the World and European Championships and the World and European Cups.
Although born in the USA, Hansen was adopted at the age of 3 months by a Ghanaian father and a British mother and grew up in the UK after spending a few years in Ghana.
As a Birchfield Harrier she went on to represent her country and became one of the world’s greatest athletes. Ashia switched from long jump to triple jump in 1992 and never looked back.
At the Atlanta Olympics in 1996 she narrowly missed out on a medal, and was placed fourth. In 1997 Ashia won her first major medal, silver at the World Indoor Championships in Paris.
At the 1998 European Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, Ashia won the gold medal with a world record jump of 15.16m. She is also the UK record holder for the outdoor event.
Ashia was awarded an MBE in 2003.
Honours
- World Indoor Champion 1993
- World Indoor Champion 1998
- World Record 1998
- Commonwealth Champion 2002
- European Championship 2002
- Sport: Athletics
