Sally Gunnell OBE

    (£5,500 - £7,000)

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Biography

Sally Gunnell OBE is the greatest female athlete this country has ever produced and the only woman in history to have ever concurrently held all four major championship gold medals - Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European as well as the World record.
Sally started out on the athletics circuit with Essex Ladies' Club, initially as a long jumper and pentathlete, before switching to the 400m hurdles, where she had her most famous successes.  Sally quickly established herself as a force to be reckoned with in British athletics and in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympic Games she achieved the one missing piece from her already impressive trophy cabinet; an Olympic Gold medal.

Following her retirement in 1997, Sally moved from the track to the television studio and, after a spell with BBC Sport commentating on their athletics coverage, she moved to prime time television.  In 2004 she teamed up with Colin Jackson as a mentor on the BBC1 sporting talent search show Born to Win fronted by Dermot O'Leary and she returned to our screens in 2006 in the BBC's hugely successful Marathon show, Run For Glory. The BBC were so thrilled with her newfound role that she was signed to appear in the BBC1 show, Only Fools on Horses in association with Sport Relief where she learnt the art of show jumping.  Sally also had a stint reporting on BBC1's The One Show and appeared on ITV's The Feel Good Factor mentoring a group of Police men and women, helping them to loose weight and get fit.

As an energetic mother of three, and former athlete, Sally is always keen to draw on her wealth of knowledge and experience to help inspire and encourage families to get active and healthy.  In 2006 she worked alongside Raisingkids.com and Crystal Holidays to promote this and in 2007, spurred on by her involvement in Run For Glory, she teamed up with Flora to head up their team of First Timers and take on the challenge of running the London Marathon.  On a hot Sunday in April, Sally completed her first ever marathon in an impressive time of 3 hours 50 mins.  Continuing the active families theme, Sally acts as the lead ambassador for UK Athletics principal partner, McCain, working with them to encourage kids to get involved in athletics so they can lead active, healthy lifestyles and potentially become the champions of tomorrow.  She also acts as a consultant and ambassador for the UK's leading active play organisation, Tumble Tots, working with them to help parents get their kids active in a fun and engaging way.

As well as this, Sally still finds time to spearhead charity events such as Cancer Research UK's Race for Life and continues to fulfill her role as figurehead for the British Heart Foundation where she is involved in a number of their key initiatives.

Recently voted one of the country's top ten Olympic heroes in a public poll by the National Lottery company Camelot, Sally is a popular, inspirational and motivational corporate speaker.  Approachable and down-to-earth, she not only tells her own incredible story but she works with businesses to help them get the very best out of their staff and show that with the right mindset, it is possible to achieve anything.

Sally holds a place in the hearts of the nation as the most popular female sportswomen of our times, and our most successful. She is the only woman to hold four titles concurrently - Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth. Sally's unwavering motivation, dedication and self-belief that ensured her on-track success now inspires audiences everywhere...
Sally is a confident and established speaker.  She moves freely around the stage with a relaxed yet focused approach.  Her natural, unassuming manner draws her audiences in so they immediately identify with her and make for a warm and truly inspirational presentation.

Sally's standard presentation concentrates on her drive for success and how she adapted her training regime and life as a whole to ensure she would achieve her ultimate goal of Olympic Gold; the specific techniques she absorbed to ensure her body was finely tuned at exactly the right moment for the ultimate competition; the inevitable low points and how one can use mental power to overcome failure and use it to your advantage - these are the signs of a true winner.  Sally believes winning is 70% mental and 30% physical and offers insight into the strategies she employed to ensure she won and won again.  She relates all her experiences to the non-sporting world offering tips to improve everyday performance.  She also relates her experiences to her post competitive career and current goals.

Sally's experience allows her to tailor her presentation to incorporate specific corporate messages. She has provided dedicated sessions on coaching and working with the team around you, work-life balance and maintaining excellence.  She can work closely to a brief bringing her competitive experience into a concise corporate message.  Her natural and relaxed demeanor also ensures she is an effective awards host.