Katharine Merry
PRESS RELEASE: May 15, 2006
Olympic Sprinter Chooses Lifetime to Help Launch Career in Health and Fitness
Katharine Merry, winner of the 400m bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, has successfully completed the Level 2 Fitness Instructor qualification at Lifetime. Having retired from athletics last year, following a series of injuries, Katharine is looking to launch a career in the health and fitness industry and felt that the Lifetime course would provide the knowledge and skills she required.
Katharine, aged 31, says, “I left school when I was 16 so I was slightly apprehensive about going back to study after all this time. However, I needn’t have worried - the Lifetime course materials were easy to follow and the friendly team made me feel completely relaxed right from the start. Apart from learning a great deal, I’ve also made some great friends and found the whole thing a very positive and worthwhile experience.”
Since retiring from athletics, Katharine has done a lot of work with the media, providing expert comment and analysis about her sport and appearing on popular shows such as GMTV and A Question of Sport. She began considering the possibility of launching her own gym-based venture after discussions with her friend, Les Antoine, who manages XX gyms on behalf of Bristol City Council. Les had already completed a number of courses with Lifetime and recommended that Katharine also sign up to gain a nationally recognised qualification to assist in her career development.
Katharine continues, “A lot of the course focused on practical gym work which I found incredibly useful. Being an athlete I already had a reasonable level of theoretical knowledge, (although I certainly increased this over the course), but it’s a completely different story when you are trying to transfer that knowledge to joe public in a manner which they can understand and make sense of. Thanks to the great advice from Lifetime’s tutors, I now have the confidence to do this effectively and I’m really looking forward to the next step in my career.”
About Katharine Merry
After making her GB under 20 debut at the tender age of 13, Katharine went on to win five medals in just three appearances at the 1993 European Junior Championships. She finished second in the 100m and 200m at the 1994 European Cup in Birmingham, where she set her 100m personal best of 11.34 seconds. She also broke the British women’s 400m indoor record, clocking just 51.54 seconds. Katharine has won several medals in national, European and World Championships but is most notable for winning a bronze medal in the 400m sprint at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.