Jo Pavey facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Jo Pavey
MBE

Pavey at the start of the 5000 metres at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Born	(1973-09-20) 20 September 1973 (age 51) Honiton, Devon, England
Height	1.63 m
Weight	50 kg
Sport
Sport	Women's Athletics
Club	Exeter Harriers
Medal record Representing  Great Britain World Championships Bronze 2007 Osaka 10,000 m European Championships Gold 2014 Zürich 10,000 m Silver 2012 Helsinki 10,000 m European Cross Country Championships Silver 2004 Heringsdorf Team race Bronze 2004 Heringsdorf Long race Representing  England Commonwealth Games Silver 2006 Melbourne 5000 m Bronze 2014 Glasgow 5000 m IAAF World Cup Bronze 2002 Madrid 5000 m Representing  Europe IAAF Continental Cup Bronze 2014 Marrakech 5000 m

Joanne "Jo" Marie Pavey is a famous British long-distance runner. She is known for her amazing career, which lasted a very long time. She has won medals at World, European, and Commonwealth championships. Jo Pavey was also given an MBE award, which is a special honor in the UK.

One of her most famous wins was the 10,000-meter race at the 2014 European Athletics Championships in Zürich. She won this gold medal when she was 40 years old, just ten months after having her second child! This made her the oldest female European champion ever.

Jo Pavey has competed in five Olympic Games for Great Britain, from 2000 to 2016. She is the only British runner in track events to have done this. She also won a silver medal in the 10,000-meter race at the 2012 European Athletics Championships. At the Commonwealth Games, she won two medals in the 5000-meter race: a silver in 2006 and a bronze in 2014, when she was 40.

At the biggest world events, her best results include a bronze medal in the 10,000-meter race at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics. She also finished fifth in the 5000-meter race at the 2004 Olympic Games. In 2017, she was officially awarded the bronze medal from the 2007 World Championships. This happened because another athlete who had finished ahead of her was found to have used a banned substance.

Early in her career, Jo Pavey ran shorter distances like the 1500 metres, 3000 metres, and 5000 metres. After 2007, she focused on longer races, from 5000 meters up to the marathon. She has achieved impressive personal best times in these races.

Jo Pavey has won national championships eleven times in different distances. Her husband, Gavin Pavey, is also her coach and manager. They have two children together.

Jo Pavey's Running Journey

Starting Out in Athletics

Jo Pavey, whose maiden name was Davis, was born in Honiton, Devon, England. She joined the Exeter Harriers Athletics Club in 1987. In 1988, she started training with coach Tony White.

In July 1988, she won the 1500-meter title at the English Schools' Athletics Championships. She even set a new British record for athletes under 15. She finished well ahead of future running star Paula Radcliffe in that race. Jo continued to win national titles in different age groups. She first competed for Great Britain when she was just fifteen years old in 1989.

Jo Pavey made her first senior international appearance in 1997. She had just finished her degree in physiotherapy. During this time, her husband, Gavin Pavey, started coaching her. She improved a lot that year and won the British national title in the 1500-meter race. She even reached the semi-finals at the 1997 World Championships.

Moving to Longer Distances

Jo Pavey has won the national 5000-meter championship six times. She also used to hold the British indoor record for the 3000-meter race. She first tried the 5000-meter distance in 2000, after recovering from hip and knee injuries. In her very first 5000-meter race, she ran fast enough to qualify for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. She reached the Olympic final and finished 12th, setting a new personal best time.

Her strong performance in 2000 showed she had a bright future in the 5000-meter race. She aimed to break the national record in 2001. She trained hard, but a shin injury made her miss the start of the season. She still managed to win the British 5000-meter title and was chosen for the World Championships in Edmonton.

In 2002, Jo Pavey had a great start to the season with a very fast 3000-meter race. She later finished second in the 5000-meter race at the European Cup. Before the 2002 Commonwealth Games, she got a bacterial infection, but she still competed. She finished fifth and needed medical help after the race due to a magnesium problem. Later that year, she set new personal bests in both the 3000-meter and 5000-meter races.

In 2003, Jo Pavey tried cross country races for the first time. She also focused on the 1500-meter race at the World Championships in Paris, reaching the final. She finished tenth in a very tactical race. At the World Athletics Final in Monaco, she set a personal best in the 1500-meter race, finishing fourth. She also came third in the 3000-meter race the next day.

Records and Olympic Appearances

In 2004, Jo Pavey set a new UK national record for the 3000-meter indoor race. She broke this record again in 2007. These records were also Commonwealth records and are still English records today. In 2007, she even set a European record for two miles indoors.

During 2004, Jo Pavey won a European bronze medal in cross country. She also finished fifth in the 5000-meter race at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. She was Europe's fastest 5000-meter runner in 2005 and 2006. She has won the National Championships many times in both the 5000-meter and 10,000-meter races. Her first national title was in 1997, and her 10,000-meter win in 2014 showed her incredible long career.

Jo Pavey often competed in two events at championships. For example, at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, she won bronze in the 10,000-meter race and then finished eighth in the 5000-meter race. At the 2004 Olympic Games, she had a very tough schedule, running multiple races over a few days.

She has also won two European Cup titles. Representing Europe, she finished third in the 5000-meter race at the 2002 IAAF World Cup and again at the 2014 IAAF Continental Cup. She was even the captain for the European women's team at the 2014 Continental Cup.

Road Running and Later Career

While mostly a track runner, Jo Pavey started doing road races in 2006. After the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where she finished 12th in the 10,000-meter race due to illness, she decided to keep running until 2012 and possibly try the marathon. She won the Great South Run twice (2006, 2012) and the Great Manchester Run twice (2007, 2008).

In 2009, Jo Pavey announced she was pregnant and would miss some major races. In September 2009, she and Gavin had their first child, Jacob. She returned to racing in April 2010 and ran her first marathon, qualifying for the Olympics. She faced stress fractures in 2010 and 2011. Even though she missed the 2012 London Marathon, she still qualified for the Olympics by running fast times in other races.

At the age of 38, she qualified for her fourth Olympic Games. Jo Pavey is the only female athlete in modern times to have competed in the 1500m, 5000m, and 10000m at both the Olympic Games and World Championships.

At the 2012 European Championships in Helsinki, Jo Pavey won a silver medal in the 10,000-meter race. At the London 2012 Olympic Games, she finished seventh in both the 5000m and 10,000m races. Her time in the 10,000m was the second fastest ever by a British athlete. It is also recognized as a world record for an athlete over 35 years old.

Jo Pavey at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, she won a bronze medal in the 5000-meter race. Her time was a new world record for a female athlete over 40. This race was very exciting, with Jo battling hard against younger Kenyan runners right to the finish line.

Just ten days after the Commonwealth Games, Jo Pavey won her first major championship gold medal. She won the 10,000 meters at the 2014 European Athletics Championships. She was almost 41 years old, making her the oldest female to win a gold medal in the history of the championships. She finished her 2014 season with a bronze medal at the Continental Cup. She was also honored to be the female captain of the European Team.

After her amazing 2014 season, Jo Pavey received many awards. She came third in the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award. She was also named British Sports Woman of the Year at the SJA Awards and received many other national and regional honors. She was given the Freedom of the City of Exeter and an honorary doctorate from the University of Exeter.

In 2016, Jo Pavey aimed to compete in her fifth Olympic Games. Despite being ill, she managed to run a fast time at the European Championships in Amsterdam. This time was the fastest by a British athlete in 2016 and set a new world record for an athlete over 40. A week later, she was selected for the Rio Olympics.

At the Rio Olympic Games, at 42 years old, she finished 15th. Jo Pavey became the first British runner and track athlete to compete in five Olympic Games. Her time of 31:33.44 is recognized as the official world record for an athlete over 40.

Jo Pavey's career shows incredible consistency. She reached the finals of all major championships between 2000 and 2008. She is one of only three British women to have won global outdoor medals in long-distance running. In 2017, she finally received her bronze medal for the 2007 World Championships in Osaka.

Jo Pavey's Achievements

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  England
2002	Commonwealth Games	Manchester, United Kingdom	5th	5000 m	15:19.91
2006	Commonwealth Games	Melbourne, Australia	2nd	5000 m	14:59.08
2014	Commonwealth Games	Glasgow, United Kingdom	3rd	5000 m	15:08.96
Representing  Great Britain
1997	World Championships	Athens, Greece	semi-final	1500 m	4:11.22
2000	Olympic Games	Sydney, Australia	12th	5000 m	14:58.27
2001	World Championships	Edmonton, Canada	11th	5000 m	15:28.41
2002	European Championships	Munich, Germany	5th	5000 m	15:18.70
	World Cup	Madrid, Spain	3rd	5000 m	15:20.10
2003	World Athletics Final	Monaco	3rd	1500 m	4:01.79
2003	World Championships	Paris, France	10th	1500 m	4:03.03
2004	Olympic Games	Athens, Greece	heats	1500 m	4:12.50
			5th	5000 m	14:57.87
	European Cross Country Championships	Heringsdorf, Germany	3rd	5.6 km
2006	European Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	4th	5000 m	15:01.41
	European Cup	Málaga, Spain	1st	3000m	8:52.54
2007	World Championships	Osaka, Japan	3rd	10,000 m	32:03.81
2008	Olympic Games	Beijing, China	12th	10,000 m	31:12.30
2012	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	2nd	10,000 m	31:49.03
	Olympic Games	London, United Kingdom	7th	5000 m	15:12.72
			7th	10,000 m	30:53.20
2014	European Championships	Zurich, Switzerland	7th	5,000 m	15:38.41
			1st	10,000 m	32:22.39
	Continental Cup	Marrakech, Morocco	3rd	5000 m	15:58.67
2016	European Championships	Amsterdam, Netherlands	5th	10,000 m	31:34.61
	Olympic Games	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	15th	10,000 m	31:33.44

Other Races and Awards

• 2012 Great South Run – first place (10 miles)
• 2008 Great North Run – third place (half marathon)
• 2008 Great Manchester Run – first place (10k)
• 2007 Great Manchester Run – first place (10k)
• 2006 Great South Run – first place (10 miles)
• 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final – third place (3000 m)
• 2003 IAAF World Athletics Final – fourth place (1500m)

Jo Pavey's Life Outside Running

Jo Pavey started running when she was a student at the King's School, Ottery St Mary. Her teachers encouraged her to join an athletics club. A road near her old school is now named 'Pavey Run' in her honor. She joined Exeter Harriers in 1987.

She studied physiotherapy at Bristol University and graduated in 1995.

Jo married Gavin Pavey in 1995. They met at Exeter Harriers in 1988. Gavin became her coach in 1996/97 and again in 2001. He has coached her to reach the finals in many big championships. Jo and Gavin have two children, a son born in 2009 and a daughter born in 2013.

In July 2016, Jo Pavey released her autobiography, titled Jo Pavey: This Mum Runs.

In 2019, Jo Pavey appeared on the BBC show Pointless Celebrities for charity. She was partnered with presenter Ade Adepitan.

A unique thing about Jo Pavey is that she always runs wearing long white compression socks.

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