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Elizabeth Bird

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the British academic, see Liz Bird.

Elizabeth Bird
Personal information
NicknameLizzie
NationalityBritish
Born (1994-10-04) 4 October 1994 (age 29)
Manila, Philippines
Sport
CountryGreat Britain & N.I.
England
SportAthletics
Event3000 metres steeplechase
Achievements and titles
Personal best9:07.87
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Great Britain
European Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Munich 3000m st.
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Rome 3000m st.
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 3000m st.

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.

Bird is the current British record-holder in the 3000 m steeplechase with a time of 9:07.87. She is a two-time British national champion.

Early career[edit]

Elizabeth Bird began running in St Albans, and her first club was Hertfordshire Phoenix Athletic Club.[2] She studied at the 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]

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. At 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]

Personal life[edit]

Bird 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]

  1. ^ a b c d "Elizabeth BIRD – Athlete Profile". World Athletics. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Athletics - BIRD Elizabeth - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Olympics.com. IOC. Archived from the original on 17 October 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Lizzie Bird '17 Advances to Steeplechase Final". Princeton University Athletics.
  4. ^ "3000 Metres Steeplechase Women - Round 1" (PDF). IAAF (Doha 2019). Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  5. ^ "Lizzie Bird qualifies for Olympic Steeplechase final - runbritain". www.runbritain.com.
  6. ^ Barden, Katy (8 November 2022). "How they train: Lizzie Bird". AW. Retrieved 8 November 2022.
  7. ^ 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.

External links[edit]

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