Background
Strong was born in Cuddington, Cheshire and remained in the village throughout her career.
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Shirley Strong
Edit ProfileEducation
She studied at Northwich Grammar School Foreign Girls, now known as The County High School, Leftwich.
Career
She went on to improve on that in the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane Australia, by getting the gold medal. With the eastern European countries absent through boycott at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, Strong went into the 100 metres hurdles event as favourite. However, in the final Benita Fitzgerald-Brown of the United States ran the race of her life to take gold in 12.84 seconds, 0.04 seconds faster than the Briton.
She did earn selection for the European Championships later that year, but withdrew from the team
After competing in the 1987 indoor season she retired from athletics. At the height of her career Strong was among the most popular athletes in the United Kingdom among a public who regarded her as "one of us", and even admitted to having an occasional cigarette after a race.
60 metres hurdles – 8.11sec Cosford, United Kingdom 11 March 1984
100 metres hurdles – 12.87sec Zurich, SUI 24 August 1983 – British record 1983-1988.
Achievements
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She competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United States. in the 100 metre hurdles where she won the Silver medal. Strong began her national career in 1977 with second placings in the 100 metres hurdles at both the American Automobile Association Championships and the United Kingdom Athletics Championships, achieving second place again in 1978 at both championships. Between 1979 and 1984 she won six consecutive golds at the American Automobile Association Championships and was United Kingdom Champion in 1979, 1980 and 1983. Strong"s first major championship was the 1978 Commonwealth Games, in Edmonton, Canada where she got the silver medal. Strong achieved a creditable fifth place at the 1983 World Championships with a wind-assisted time of 12.78 seconds, Great Britain"s highest placing in the event until Tiffany Porter finished in fourth place in 2011. In the years following Los Angeles, Strong was frequently troubled by problems with her achilles tendon and failed to qualify for the 1986 Commonwealth Games.
