Elizabeth Gleadle

Elizabeth "Liz" Gleadle (born December 5, 1988 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian track and field athlete competing in the javelin throw. She is the national record holder and has twice won Pan American Games medals, thrice made the World Championship finals (with a best result of 9th) and is a three-time Olympian, making the final at the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing 12th.[1]

Elizabeth Gleadle
Gleadle at the 2015 Bislett Games
Personal information
Born (1988-12-05) December 5, 1988
Vancouver, British Columbia
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Weight78 kg (172 lb)
Sport
Country Canada
SportAthletics
Event(s)Javelin
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)64.83m NR, Kawasaki, 2015
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Canada
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2015 TorontoJavelin throw
Silver medal – second place2019 LimaJavelin throw
Continental Cup
Bronze medal – third place2014 MarrakechJavelin throw

Life and career

Elizabeth Gleadle was born in Vancouver, on December 5, 1988 to parents Dan and Sonia. Her parents enrolled her in almost every sport available throughout elementary school, including playing fastball for the Vancouver Wildcats Rep fastball team as a pitcher. In 2002, while in grade 8 at Kitsilano Secondary School, Geladle threw javelin in Caroline Wittrin's gym class. That year she won the Vancouver City's with a throw of 17 metres. In 2004, while in grade 10, Gleadle placed third at BC High School Championships and won both the BC Youth Championships and the Canadian Youth Championships. In the fall of 2004, Gleadle decided to concentrate on track and field, and joined the Vancouver Thunderbirds Track and Field Club. After winter training, she decided to focus solely on javelin. In the summer of 2005 she was the BC and Canadian Youth Champion, and made the World Youth Team to compete in Morocco, where she threw 50.51m, breaking the Canadian Youth Record and finishing fifth.

In 2005 despite offers of full scholarships from many NCAA Division 1 schools Gleadle stayed in Vancouver and competed for the University of British Columbia. Over the course of her university career, she won the NAIA Championships each of the four times she entered and broke the NAIA record twice.

In the spring of 2011, Gleadle took a break from her kinesiology degree at UBC to devote herself full-time to training. She moved to the National Training Centre for throws in Lethbridge, Alberta with coach Lawrence Steinke. After the London Olympics, she resumed her studies while also training in Lethbridge.[2] Gleadle missed the entire 2013 competitive season due to a back injury. In 2014 she placed fifth at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, throwing 60.69 meters.[3] She also placed third at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup in Marrakesh, Morocco.

Gleadle broke her own Canadian record in May, 2015 with 64.83 meters when she won the Golden Grand Prix meet in Kawasaki, Japan. On July 4, 2015 she won the 2015 Canadian Track and Field Championships throwing 59 meters in less-than-ideal conditions. She also finished 11th at that year's World Championships.[4]

During the 2016 Harry Jerome Classic in Vancouver, one of Gleadle's throws went out of bounds and narrowly missed a cameraman, piercing his shirt. The cameraman finished shooting the event and she apologized immediately afterwards. She said, "I’m not going to throw a javelin at someone and not see if they’re OK. I don’t feel like that’s polite."[5]

At the 2016 Summer Olympics Gleadle finished 16th in qualifying and did not advance to the final.[4] In 2017, she again reached the World Championship final.[4]

In 2020 Gleadle competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics,[6][7][8] finishing 23rd in qualifying and missing the final.

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
2005 World Youth Championships Marrakech, Morocco 5th 50.53 m
2006 World Junior Championships Beijing, China 12th 48.08 m
2008 NACAC U-23 Championships Toluca, Mexico 1st 51.76 m A
2009 Universiade Belgrade, Serbia 6th 58.21 m
2010 NACAC U23 Championships Miramar, Florida, United States 1st 53.72 m
2012 Olympic Games London, United Kingdom 12th 58.78 m
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 5th 60.69 m
Continental Cup Marrakech, Morocco 3rd 61.38 m1
2015 Pan American Games Toronto, Canada 1st 62.83 m
World Championships Beijing, China 11th 59.82 m
2016 Olympic Games Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 16th (q) 60.28 m
2017 World Championships London, United Kingdom 12th 60.12 m
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 4th 59.85 m
2019 Pan American Games Lima, Peru 2nd 63.30 m
World Championships Doha, Qatar 16th (q) 60.17 m
2021 Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 23rd (q) 58.19 m
2022 World Championships Eugene, United States 9th 59.59 m
NACAC Championships Freeport, Bahamas 5th 55.56 m

1Representing the Americas

References
  1. "Elizabeth Gleadle". Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved June 23, 2014.
  2. "Official Website - Biography". Archived from the original on 2014-05-24. Retrieved 2014-06-23.
  3. "Glasgow 2014 - Women's Javelin Throw Final". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
  4. "IAAF: Elizabeth Gleadle | Profile". iaaf.org. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
  5. Steve Ewen (June 18, 2016). "TV cameraman clipped by javelin at Harry Jerome Track Classic". The Province. Archived from the original on September 24, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  6. Nichols, Paula (3 July 2021). "Team Canada to have 57 competitors in athletics at Tokyo 2020". www.olympic.ca/. Canadian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  7. "57 athletes nominated to Canada's Olympic track & field team". www.cbc.ca/. CBC Sports. 3 July 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
  8. "Athletics GLEADLE Elizabeth". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 2021-08-04. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
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