Emily Pidgeon


Emily Pidgeon born 1 June 1989 in Cheltenham, to parents Stephen and Jessica, is a former UK athlete, specialising in long and middle distance events.

Junior career

Considered an athletics prodigy as a junior, she is a former 5000 metres European Junior Champion. She was bronze medallist in the 2007 European Junior Championships in Hengelo. In December 2006, Pidgeon, the 2005 silver-medalist at the European JuniCross Country Championships, was in the victorious junior female team at the European Cross Country Championships. She finished fourth individually behind fellow Briton, Stephanie Twell. Pidgeon holds the world record for 5000 meters for 14-year-old girls with a time of 16:24.28.

Senior career

At the World Cross Country Championships in Mombasa on 24 March 2007, Pidgeon finished 17th; the second British runner and the second European.
The Great Britain & NI team finished 5th; the top European team.
Pidgeon and her coach controversially withdrew from a number of events because of disagreements with UK Athletics over training
Having failed to qualify for the 2012 Summer Olympics, and dogged by injury and form issues since leaving the junior ranks, Pidgeon announced her retirement from the sport, at the age of 24, in January 2014.

Personal bests

Source: IAAF