Joanne Wise

Background

Wise was born in Solihull, England and was a member of Coventry Godiva Harriers.

Education

In 1987, she finished fifth at the European Junior Championships in Birmingham.

Career

She also competed at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992 and the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000. In 1992, Wise competed at her first Olympic Games but had a disastrous time in the qualifying round managing only 5.87 m for 26th overall. At the 1993 World Championships, she was 23rd in the qualifying round with 6.20 m.

After struggling with injuries, Wise entered the best phase of her career at the 1997 World Indoor Championships, finishing fourth with 6.70 m, which tied the United Kingdom indoor record of Susan Hearnshaw set in 1984.

She missed the bronze medal by just one centimetre. Later that same year, she narrowly missed the final at the World Championships in Athens.

In 1999, at the World Championships in Seville, she finished fifth in the final with a jump of 6.75 m, just short of her lifetime best of 6.76 m, which she had set in Malmo two weeks earlier. Wise competed at her second Olympic Games in Sydney, 2000, failing by just one centimetre, to reach the final.

Wise"s indoor best of 6.70 m, remained the United Kingdom indoor record for fifteen years, until 2012, when Shara Proctor jumped 6.89 m.

As of 2015, Wise"s best of 6.76 m, ranks her equal 10th on the United Kingdom all-time list alongside Mary Rand.

Achievements

• In 1998, she won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in Kuala Lumpur. An excellent junior, she was American Automobile Association"s Junior champion at Under 15, Under 17 and Under 20 level She also won two English schools titles. The highlight of Wise"s junior career came in 1988 in Sudbury, Canada at the World Junior Championships, when she won a bronze medal with a wind-assisted jump of 6.69 m. Both world and European junior titles were won by Wise"s long time domestic rival Fiona May. She went on to finish seventh at the 1989 European Juniors in Varazdin (616 m) and ninth at the 1990 World Juniors in Plovdiv (614 m) In 1998, she became the Commonwealth Champion with a jump of 6.63 m, ahead of Jackie Edwards and Nicole Boegman. She was also twice American Automobile Association"s Champion (1999 & 2000), three times AAAs Indoor Champion (1992, 1997 & 1999) and was twice United Kingdom Champion (1992 & 1997).