Background
Hermitage was born in Guildford, England in 1989.
Hermitage was born in Guildford, England in 1989.
She was educated at George Abbot School in her home town.
In 2015 she qualified for the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, selected for the T37 100m and 200m. She took the gold in the 400m sprint, setting a new world record. She has cerebral palsy which mainly affects the left side of her body.
Hermitage took up athletics as a school girl and joined Guildford & Godalming Athletics Club.
At the age of 14, frustrated by her lack of progress compared to her peers, she was approached by coach Hazel Childs who suggested she switch to parasports. Hermitage took the advice badly and quit athletics in protest, though she later admitted regretting this decision.
In 2012, following the London Paralympics and inspired to leave a legacy to her new born daughter, Hermitage decided to become classified as a parasport athlete. She was classified as a T37 competitor and in 2013 she entered her first meets as a disability runner.
She intended to compete throughout 2014, but a stress fracture to her foot saw her miss the majority of that year"s competition including the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea.
In February 2015 Hermitage made her international debut when she travelled to Dubai to take part in the Fazaa International, the first IPC Grand Prix of the year. At the meet she ran 14.22 to set a new personal best in the 100m sprint, winning gold in the process. In June that year Hermitage represented Great Britain again when she competed at the Berlin IPC Grand Prix.
There she entered the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints.
Just over a month later Hermitage entered her third Grand Prix of the year, held at the Olympic Park in London. There she improved on her record in the 400m winning the race in 1:02.48.
At the end of 2015 Hermitage represented Great Britain at the IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha. There she entered the T37 100m and 400m sprints.
In the heats for the 100m she recorded a personal best of 13.79, finishing second to team mate Kadeena Cox who set a new world record.
Three days later Hermitage competed in her favoured 400m event.