Sophie McKinna

Sophie McKinna
Personal information
Born (1994-08-31) 31 August 1994 (age 30)
Gorleston, Norfolk, England
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Weight95 kg (209 lb)
Sport
SportAthletics
EventShot put
ClubGreat Yarmouth
Coached byGeoff Capes (–2014)
Mike Winch (2015–)[2]
Achievements and titles
National finalsBest Result 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Outdoors : 2019, 2020, 2021
Indoors: 2019, 2022, 2023

Sophie McKinna (born 31 August 1994) is a British Olympic athlete specialising in the shot put.[3] She won silver medals at the 2011 World Youth Championships and 2013 European Junior Championships.

Her indoor personal best is 18.82 metres (Birmingham 2022). At the 2019 World Championships in Doha she threw a new outdoor personal best of 18.61m to qualify for the final.[4] By throwing over the 18.50m required she qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. She competed in the event, throwing 17.81 m in the qualifying round to finish in 17th place.

Domestically, as of 2023 McKinna is a six-time national champion, winning both indoors and outdoors in 2019, outdoors again in 2020 and 2021, and indoors in 2022 and 2023

She is the granddaughter of the former Norwich City footballer and manager Dave Stringer.[5] McKinna works for Norfolk Constabulary as a detention custody officer.[6]

International competitions

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Great Britain and  England
2010 Youth Olympic Games Singapore 5th Shot put 15.14 m
2011 World Youth Championships Lille, France 2nd Shot put 14.90 m
Commonwealth Youth Games Douglas, Isle of Man 1st Shot put 14.75 m
2012 World Junior Championships Barcelona, Spain 6th Shot put 15.98 m
2013 European Cup Winter Throwing (U23) Castellón, Spain 2nd Shot put 16.09 m
European Junior Championships Rieti, Italy 2nd Shot put 17.09 m
2014 Commonwealth Games Glasgow, United Kingdom 5th Shot put 16.59 m
2015 European U23 Championships Tallinn, Estonia 9th Shot put 15.68 m
2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Australia 5th Shot put 17.76 m
European Championships Berlin, Germany 7th Shot put 17.69 m
2019 European Indoor Championships Glasgow, United Kingdom 10th (q) Shot put 17.18 m
European Team Championships Bydgoszcz, Poland 3rd Shot put 17.94 m
World Championships Doha, Qatar 11th Shot put 17.99 m
2021 European Indoor Championships Toruń, Poland 9th (q) Shot put 17.95 m
Olympic Games Tokyo, Japan 17th (q) Shot put 17.81 m
2022 World Indoor Championships Belgrade, Serbia 8th Shot put 18.62 m
World Championships Eugene, United States 23rd (q) Shot put 17.21 m
European Championships Munich, Germany 12th Shot put 16.29 m

Personal life

McKinna comes from Bradwell, Norfolk.[7] She is openly lesbian.[8]

After sustaining an injury in early 2024, McKinna began working at a Dogs Trust centre in Snetterton.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Team England bio". Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  2. ^ "Power of 10 profile". Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  3. ^ Sophie McKinna at World Athletics Edit this at Wikidata
  4. ^ "BBC Live Athletics". BBC Sport. October 2019.
  5. ^ Alan Hubbard (14 August 2010). "Sophie's choice to be golden shot". The Independent.
  6. ^ Sarah Dawkins (15 October 2019). "Great Britain shot putter Sophie McKinna says Tokyo 2020 Olympics qualification is a 'dream'". Sky Sports News. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
  7. ^ a b Maclean, Jack; Gordon-Farleigh, Neve (4 August 2024). "Animal rescue career is dream for former Olympian". BBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  8. ^ Hinman, Ali (1 May 2023). "British Champion Shot Putter Sophie McKinna Comes Out As A Lesbian - GO Magazine". gomag.com. Retrieved 10 July 2023.