Elizabeth "Lizzie" Bird (born 4 October 1994)[1] is a British athlete who specializes 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.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Lizzie | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 4 October 1994 Manila, Philippines | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country | Great Britain & N.I. England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 3000 metres steeplechase | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal bests | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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
editBird 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
editBird 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
editBird 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
edit- ^ a b c d "Elizabeth BIRD – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Athletics - BIRD Elizabeth". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
- ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Lizzie Bird '17 Advances to Steeplechase Final". Princeton University Athletics.
- ^ "3000 Metres Steeplechase Women - Round 1" (PDF). IAAF (Doha 2019). Retrieved 30 September 2019.
- ^ "Lizzie Bird qualifies for Olympic Steeplechase final - runbritain". www.runbritain.com.
- ^ Barden, Katy (8 November 2022). "How they train: Lizzie Bird". AW. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
- ^ Ingle, Sean (9 June 2024). "Dina Asher-Smith powers to 100m gold for first major title in five years". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
- ^ "TEAM GB ATHLETICS SQUAD CONFIRMED FOR PARIS 2024". GB Athletics. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
- ^ "St Albans' Lizzie Bird sets British record in Olympic final". The Herts Advertiser. Retrieved 9 August 2024.