Sussex Olympians 2008
Above: Successful swimmer Gemma Spofforth
Tina Cook (Equestrian)
Tina Cook arrived home from Beijing to her husband and two children in Findon, West Sussex, triumphantly clutching her two Olympic Bronze medals.
The 37-year-old has followed in her parents’ footsteps, with the help of her trustee horse Miners Frolic, the youngest horse to compete at only ten years of age, to win the two bronze medals for Britain. Her dad, Josh Gifford, is a four-time champion jockey, and, her mum Althnea Roger-Smith, a successful international show jumper. She has won the Queen Elizabeth Cup, come runner-up in Hickstead Derby and represented Great Britain in the Nation Cup.
Coming from this highly-achieving background, it seems almost inevitable for Tina to have won an Olympic medal. Not only did she win one, but two medals, with her score of 57.4. In turn, this score has helped Great Britain to achieve fourth place in the equestrian leader board.
Elise Laverick (Rowing)
One more Olympic bronze medal for Great Britain was won by another competitor from West Sussex, but this time it was won by Elise Laverick in the women’s rowing.
The 33-year-old competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing alongside Anna Bebington.
The pair were only 0.23 seconds away from clinching a gold medal. But despite this disappointment, however, the duo are pleased with their achievements and hope to compete in the 2012 Olympics when it comes to London.
Elise, who’s from Rustington, West Sussex, didn’t have a very smooth road to achieving her Olympic success. In 2004 she was a victim of a hit-and-run incident as she was riding her bicycle along Charing Cross Road in London, where she now lives. It took several operations and a spell in hospital until Elise was able to compete competitively once more in 2005.
Ben Hawes (Hockey)
Brighton–born hockey captain for Great Britain’s Olympic team, Ben Hawes, led his team to victory in the 2004 but sadly not in Beijing.
In Britain’s first Olympic hockey match, of 2008, against Pakistan on 11th August, the team won 4 - 2, before they drew with Canada, a few days later, on 17th. Their hopes of achieving any Olympic medals were dashed even further two days later, after their match against Canada, when the team drew 3 - 3 with the defending champions, Australia. They needed to have won by 8 - 0 to have been in with a chance of clinching an Olympic medal.
In 2004, at the Athens Olympic Games, it was a similar story when Ben opened Great Britain to victory by scoring the first of three goals against Egypt. The final score saw Ben’s team winning 3 -1. However, this victory only saw Ben and his team finish ninth overall in the Athens Olympic Games.
Charlotte Kerwood (Shooting)
Charlotte Kerwood started shooting in her parents’ garden at their home in Cuckfield, aged just 12 years old.
Since then she has won a few county titles before making her sporting debut at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester at the tender age of 15, where she won a gold medal in the double trap. Charlotte rates this magnificent achievement as her most memorable achievement yet.
In the same year, Charlotte competed at the 2002 European Championships in Italy.
However, Charlotte’s talent didn’t see her through this year’s Olympics. Despite having a good second round, she finished in 16th place overall in qualifying for the women’s trap and failed to make the final. This meant she was eliminated at the qualifying stage and missed out on any medal.
Gemma Spofforth (Aquatics Swimming)
Sussex swimmer Gemma Spafforth made her country proud in the 2008 Olympic Games despite the rollercoaster that she has been on to get to the Games.
Her biggest achievement to date came on Sunday 17th August 2008 in the Women’s 4x100-meter Medley Relay Final, bagging her second place
By pushing herself through grueling races, some more of the 20-year-old’s best Olympic achievements include coming third in the Women’s 100-meter breaststroke heat, with a time of 1:00.11. She was the sixth fastest qualifier for the semi-finals on 10th August 2008.
Again, she came third the next day, on 11th August 2008 in the Women’s 100- meter breaststroke semi-final. This time finishing in 59:79 seconds, which not only allowed her to progress to the finals, but also to set a new British record as well as a new lifetime best.
Despite all this success, Gemma missed out on receiving a medal as she was overtaken by Natalie Coughlin of the United States, who came first, Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Conventry, who came second, and American Margarent Hoelzer. Gemma only lost out on getting an Olympic medal by 0.04 seconds. Nevertheless, she recovered from her disappointment and continued her sporting career.